A group of scientist from UK, Australia, the US, Sweden and France are arguing that we need to rethink how we protect our marine environment if we want to protect our reefs. The way we protect vulnerable areas today will not suffice to save the coral reefs from the threat of global warming.

The type of small protected areas that we use today were designed by researchers in the 60s and 70s and is good to prevent species from going extinct due to fishing etc but are not enough to protect against the treats reefs are facing today like global warming. This is the conclusion they have reached after extensive studies carried out in over 66 sites across seven countries over more than a decade. The team has published their result in the journal PLoS ONE. The study is the biggest of its kind done to date.

It is however important to stress that they don’t think the present protected areas are to be removed or that new such areas shouldn’t be protected. What they are saying is that this work has to be complemented with a new type of protected areas that need to be located in the right places.

Lead researcher Nick Graham, of Newcastle University’s School of Marine Science and Technology, said: “We need a whole new approach – and we need to act now.

The research the scientist did shows that the location of the protected areas are very important and that many of the world’s existing protected areas are in the wrong place to protect the reefs. New protected areas need to be setup in new locations and the focus need to change from protecting small areas to protecting entire reef systems. It is important to minimize the human impact on the reefs from actions such as over-fishing, pollution and sedimentation as coral dies if they are put under to much stress. If we remove other sources of stress the reef becomes more likely to survive the stress caused by increased water temperature caused by global warming.

Although the research seems to show a grim future with a lot of reef being damaged and showing signs of long-term degradation there were also good signs with some reefs remaining healthy or even recovering from earlier damages.

This is a short post as I think everyone should see these pictures of migrating golden rays. Not all golden rays migrate but there is one population in the Mexican gulf that each year migrate, clockwise from western Florida to the Yucatan. They migrate in large schools, often up to 10 000 fish strong and color the sea where they swim. Each ray grow to be 7ft (2.1 meters) wide from fin tip to win tip.

Enough talk. Visit this site to see the great pictures

A new species of giant clam has been encountered by researchers in the Red Sea and given the name Tridacna costata. The new species is fairly similar to two other well-known species of Red Sea clams and it was therefore first suspect to be a hybrid, but genetic analysis has now deemed it a separate species. Further research carried out in the Red Sea also supports this; there are significant differences in behaviour between the two other species and the newly discovered clam. The two previously known clams spawn during a long period in summer while the new clam spawns during a short period in spring.

Fossil evidence uncovered by researchers has now unveiled something even more interesting; Tridacna costata might be one of the earliest examples of marine overexploitation by humans. Fossil records suggest that the Red Sea Tridacna costata population began do decline rapidly roughly 125,000 years ago. This is the part of our early history when scientists believe modern humans to have first begun to migrate out of Africa. Before this point in history, Tridacna costata accounted for over 80 percent of giant clams in the Red Sea – at least according to current fossil studies. Tridacna costata is a two feet long clam and it is not unreasonable to suspect that it would have been a splendid catch for early humans in search of food. Today, the species is believed to constitute less than one percent of giant clams, but this figure can of course change as the Red Sea becomes even more thoroughly explored.

Tridacna costata is the first new living species of giant clam found in two decades and was accidently discovered by scientists engaged in a Tridacna maxima breeding project. Tridacna maxima, another giant clam, is a much sought after clam in the aquarium trade.

If you want to find out more, the researchers behind the finding have posted their article online in the journal Current Biology on August 28.

For many aquarists, the joy of keeping an aquarium is not only about watching colourful fish dart around in the living room, it is also a way of learning more about the delicate web we call an ecosystem and how dead matter and living organisms interact with each other to create an environment where life can not only exist but flourish. It therefore comes as no surprise that you can find a lot of environmentally conscious aquarists, and that many of today’s expert biologists and wildlife authorities were steered into the path of environmental science at a very young age while striving to keep the inhabitants of their fish tank alive. Keeping an aquarium can unfortunately be a problematic hobby for the environmentally conscious, but don’t loose heart – there are loads of things that you can do to make your aquarium less of a burden for mother earth. As a matter of fact, many aquarists have actually helped in preservation work, e.g. by keeping and breeding endangered fish from severely damaged habitats, thus preventing species from becoming completely eradicated.

1.) Pick species that appreciate the same temperature as you do

Keeping an aquarium heated can require loads of energy and dig a large hole in your pocketbook. Many aquarists automatically chose tropical species in need of a temperature in the 75-82ºF (24-28ºC) range, despite the fact that they keep their homes heated up to 70°F (21°C) or so. By choosing subtropical species that prefer roughly the same temperature as you do you can save considerably amounts of energy in the long run. It can however still be a good idea to keep a heater with a thermostat in the aquarium as a precaution against sudden drops in temperature. The smaller your aquarium, the more rapidly it will loose heat if the surrounding temperature drops. Choose a supplier that sells green electricity.

2.) Never release fish or other creatures into the wild

If you for any reason cannot care for your aquarium inhabitants anymore, you need to find them a new keeper or euthanize them. It might be tempting to release them into the wild, but this is a big no-no. Releasing living organisms into environments where they don’t belong can wreck havoc with existing ecosystems and must therefore be avoided. Even if you keep species that occur naturally in your local environment you shouldn’t release them back into the wild because they may have come in contact with non-native bacteria, viruses, parasites etcetera in the aquarium that could cause problems for wild flora and fauna.

Fish are so called cold blooded animals and it is therefore easy to euthanize them by decreasing the water temperature. If you need to euthanize a fish or other cold blooded aquarium creature, simply place it in a water filled container and put the container in the freezer. As the water temperature gradually decreases, the metabolism of the animal will slow down and it will fall into a comatose like state before dying.

3.) Purchase locally bred or caught fish

Instead of purchasing fish that have to be flown in from the other side of the planet, you can search for fish that are being bred or caught in your area, country or (at least) part of the world. As a bonus for you, locally bred fish are often better acclimatized to the tap water in your area and more prone to breed in captivity.

4.) Turn your back on unsuitable harvesting methods

Unfortunately, devastating harvesting methods like dynamite fishing are still fairly common within the aquarium trade. Always make an effort to find out which technique that has been used to catch the fish you’re interested in purchasing. It can be hard to find unbiased information, but it is still worth trying. Paying a little extra for fish that has not been caught with dynamite and similar can also be a very sound investment since unsuitable harvesting methods tend to cause a lot of damage to the fish and decrease its chances of survival in captivity.

5.) Participate in breeding programs

By participating in a breeding program you can help supply the aquarium market with captive bred fish and ease the strain on wild populations. You can naturally do this on your own as well, but joining a breeding program is a great way of getting information on how to breed high quality fish and avoid common pitfalls. You may also be able to purchase or borrow hard to find species to use in your breeding efforts, especially if you have had success in breeding similar species in the past.

6.) Keep the fish alive

This last point might seem like a no-brainer, but many beginner aquarists are coaxed by fish shops into thinking that four months is a perfectly normal lifespan for all sorts of aquarium fish and that you should expect to constantly purchase new fish to keep your tank populated. It is true that some species have a natural life span of less than six months, but the overwhelming majority of known fish species live much longer than this and there are actually quite a few species that will live for 10 years or more in a well kept aquarium. If all your fish goes belly up after just a few months in your tank, you’re probably doing something wrong. If aquarists all over the world would become better at actually keeping their fish alive, less energy would have to be devoted to transporting replacement fish, and it would also alleviate the strain on wild populations of desirable aquarium fish.

So, how can we increase our chances of keeping healthy and long-lived fish in our tanks? First and foremost, always read up on each species you wish to keep before you make a purchase. By learning about a species preferred environment, temperature, water chemistry, diet, tank mates, and so on, you will be more apt at keeping it alive throughout its natural life span. Do not mix species with different preferences in water chemistry, temperature and similar. You might very well be able to keep them alive, but they will not thrive and they will be more prone to health problems which increase the risk of an untimely death.

It is also important to read up on aquarium management techniques and always strive to increase ones knowledge on general aquarium maintenance. Do not hesitate to ask more experienced aquarists for advice. Today, the Internet has made it easy to keep in touch with aquarists from all over the world through aquarium forums and e-mail. If you’re lucky, there will also be a local aquarium club in your area.

Raw fish, such as sushi and salmon tartar, is considered a delicacy and is served in restaurants all over the world. Before you decide to make your own raw fish dishes, it is however important to store the fish in the freezer for at least 72 hours prior to preparation. The recommended freezer temperature is -18°C / -0.5° F or colder. A quicker method is to store the fish at – 35°C / -31°F for 15 hours.

If the fish is really large, ideally keep it in the freezer even longer than the recommendations above since it can take some time for the cold temperature to reach all the way into the fish. For really thin fish, e.g. a slice of salmon, a shorter period can be acceptable. The important thing is that the entire fish is deep frozen all the way through.

By freezing the fish, you will kill potentially harmful parasites that may be present inside the flesh. The popular salmon can for instance be infested with Diphyllobothrium latum, a tapeworm capable of taking up residence in the human digestive tract. You don’t want this tapeworm inside you because it will deprive you of nutrients and can for instance cause vitamin B12 deficiency.

Some connoisseurs dislike freezing fish prior to serving it raw and will instead pay meticulous care when preparing the fish. The fish is carefully cleaned out and all specimens that show signs of parasite attacks, e.g. the presence of tiny worms, are discarded. It is also common to slice the fish into really thin slices since this makes it easy to spot parasites. This method should however only be considered by those who have received proper training in spotting parasites and is not as reliable as freezing the fish.

I thought I would write a few words about some of the many good fish cams that are available on the net even though they sometime can be hard to find among all the bad ones.

I would like to start by mentioning the Amazon River cam that is provided by the Smithsonian national zoological park. This cam allows you to follow the action in a Amazon river basin aquarium containing turtles, piranhas, arapaima and red tailed catfish. You can view this camera here . The Smithsonian national zoological park website also offers a webcam where you can see cats fish as well as a number of other good animal web cams.

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry features a salmon can where you can see young salmon that is growing up in aquarium. You can watch this cam in your browser or in your media player. On the negative side can be said that it can be hard to see any fish on this feed.

Myfishcam.com offers a koi fish webcam that can be interesting to watch. Click here to watch. Sometimes this feed only work in Media player and not in the browser.

Biotactic Fish & Wildlife features a web came that show the life in Grand River, Ontario, Canada. During the days this cam provides color pictures and during the night it provide infrared imagery. Recent sightings in this cam includes rockbass spawning, crayfish mating, predation. Visit the camera now.

You might also want to step by the fish-school.com cam. Here you can se them training their goldfish comet using the training methods they have developed and teaching others to use. The feed is empty between training sessions but there are archived clips that you can see if there is nothing going on in the live feed. You can see that camera, here

A Couple of Other Aquarium website i stumbled on while looking for these:

Fish Med: Everything you should know to cure and prevent aquarium fish disease

Marine biologists being filmed for a BBC TV series about the ocean have managed to find no less than 13 species of fish previously unknown to science. The group also reports having 15 other animals in their possession that they suspect to be new species.

The newfound species have been gathered during deep reef dives in Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean during explorations of the so called “twilight zone”. Located at a depth of 60 to 150 meters (500 to 200 feet), the twilight zone forms a transitional region between sunlit shallow waters and the perpetually dark depths of the sea.

One of the findings is of special importance to marine aquarists – a new species of damsel fish. Damsels are very popular among saltwater fish keepers since they are one of the most robust groups of marine fish and generally adapt well to a life in aquaria. The new damsel species was caught 120 meters down off Palau and sports a bright blue colouration.

The bright blue damsel was actually spotted over a decade ago by Dr Richard Pyle, and it has been occasionally seen since then by other researchers as well, but it was during the BBC filming that the species could be captured and brought up to the surface for scientific examination for the very first time. The fish has now been scientifically described and named by Dr Pyle from the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Recreational scuba divers with ordinary scuba gear are not advised to venture any deeper than 40 meters (130 feet), so the researchers of this expedition had to use special closed-circuit rebreathers to access the twilight zone. Even with rebreathers, you quickly run out of air at such a great depth and there is no time for any meticulous investigation of the environment.

The expedition will be portrayed in the BBC series “Pacific Abyss” and the new species of damsel have been appropriately named Chromis abyssus.

Pacific Abyss starts its three-part run on Sunday, 17 August, on BBC One, at 2000 BST.

Video from the dives

Src: bbc.co.uk

I have updated AC with a brand new saltwater section as a step on the way towards become the most complete aquarium websites on the web. There is still a lot of marine fish Ac don´t have information about and I will add more as I can.

For now you have to be satisfied reading these new articles:

Anglerfish
Anthias
Basses
Batfish
Blennies
Butterflyfish
Cardinalfish
Clown fish
Corals
Damselfish
Files
Goatfish
Gobies
Gorgonians
Grammas
Groupers
Grunts
Hawkfish
Jawfish
Jellyfish
Lionfish
Dragonets
Mantis shrimp
Marine angelfish
Marine Catfish
Moray eels
Nudibranch
Octopus
Pipefish
Pufferfish
Rabbitfish
Rays
Snappers
Scorpionfish
Sea Anemones
Sea horses
Sea Stars
Shark Fish
Shrimps
Snails
Squirellfish
Surgeonfish
Triggerfish
Wrasses
Setting up a marine aquarium /by ILMGB
Cheap marine aquarium (economical and environmnetal….)by ILMGB
Cinnamon Clownfish
Clarkii Clownfish
Maroon Clownfish
Ocellaris Clownfish
Percula Clownfish
Pink Skunk Clownfish
Saddleback Clownfish
Green Chromis
Blue Green Chromis
Blue Devil
Yellowtail Damsel
Fiji Blue Devil
Striped Damsel
Blacktail Damsel
Domino Damsel
Blue Velvet Damsel
Lined Seahorse
Common Seahorse
Long Snout Seahorse
Banded pipefish
Highfin Blenny
Bicolor Blenny
Midas Blenny
Redspotted Rockskipper
Redlip Blenny
Lawnmower Blenny
Green Mandarinfish
Spotted Mandarinfish
Starry Dragonet
Leaf Scorpionfish
Fu Manchu Lionfish
Dwarf Lionfish
Zebra Lionfish
Antennata Lionfish
Radiata Lionfish
Red Volitans Lionfish
Volatins Lionfish
Threadfin Anthias
Bartlett’s Anthias
Bicolor Anthias
Lyertail Anthias
African Flameback Angelfish
Asfur Angelfish
Bicolor Angelfish
Blueface Angelfish
Cherub Angelfish
Coral Beauty
Emperor Angelfish
Flame Angelfish
French Angelfish
Herald’s Angelfish
Koran Angelfish
Lamarck’s Angelfish
Potter’s Angelfish
Queen Angelfish
Regal Angelfish
Rock Beauty Angelfish
Rusty Angelfish
Watanabe’s Angelfish
Harlequin Bass
Chalk Bass
Immaculate Puffer
Saddled Toby
Pajama Cardinalfish
Bangaii Cardinalfish
Copperbanded Butterflyfish
Golden Butterflyfish
Klien’s Butterflyfish
Lined Butterflyfish
Longfin Bannerfish
Raccoon Butterflyfish
Saddleback Butterflyfish
Schooling Bannerfish
Threadfin Butterflyfish
Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish
Bicolor Foxface Rabbitfish
Coral Rabbitfish
Foxface Rabbitfish
Magnificent Rabbitfish
Onespot Foxface Rabbitfish
Virgate Rabbitfish
Oribiculate Batfish
Redfin Batfish
Longfin Batfish
Dash-and-Dot Goatfish
Yellowhead Jawfish
Flame Hawkfish
Longnose Hawkfish
Arc-eye Hawkfish
Crown Squirellfish
Red Coat Squirellfish
Hawaiian Squirellfish
Striped Eel Catfish
Panther Grouper
Peppermint Basslet
Bluelined Snapper
Achilles Surgeonfish
Atlantic Blue Tang
Blue Hippo Tang
Chevron Tang
Clown Surgeonfish
Convict Surgeonfish
Desjardinii Tang
Kole Tang
Mimic Surgeonfish
Naso Tang
Orangeshoulder Surgeonfish
Powder Blue Tang
Powder Brown Tang
Purple Tang
Sailfin Tang
Scopas Tang
Whitecheek Surgeonfish
Yellow Tang
Orangespotted Shrimp Goby
Pinkspotted Shrimp Goby
Randall’s Shrimp Goby
Yellow Clown Goby
Yellow Watchman Goby
Bird Wrasse
Dragon Wrasse
Harliquin Tuskfish
Neon Wrasse
Ornate Wrasse
Queen Coris
Radient Wrasse
Spanish Hogfish
Striated Wrasse
Yellow Coris
Fourline Wrasse
Sixline Wrasse
Eightline Wrasse
Exquisite Fairy Wrasse
Lubbock’s Fairy Wrasse
Scott’s Fairy Wrasse
Solar Fairy Wrasse
Carpenter’s Flasher Wrasse
Dot-and-Dash Flasher Wrasse
Filamented Flasher Wrasse
McCosker’s Flasher Wrasse

Not saltwater but still a new article.

Snail control & copper

I hope you will enjoy our new saltwater section.

Genetic and morphological analysis has now confirmed the existence of a second species of manta ray, and possibly a third one as well. Up until know, the scientific community only knew about one single species of manta ray and all encountered manta rays were viewed as variants within the same species. PhD marine biologist Andrea Marshall did however suspect that there might be more than one species of manta ray luring in the ocean and in 2003 she to a small coastal village located in southern Mozambique to be able to study the manta rays found off the African coast. During the last five years, she has been carrying out a manta ray study sponsored by the Save Our Seas Foundation and discovered a new species as well as collected invaluable information about the reproductive habits of the manta rays.

The two manta rays species have overlapping geographical ranges, but they have significantly different life styles. One species is migratory while the other one – the smaller and more commonly known species – is resident to particular costal regions where it stays year round. There are also noticeable differences in reproductive biology, skin texture and colouration.

The small, stationary species is commonly encountered by divers and researchers at coral reefs, while the larger, migratory species is much more elusive.

The pectoral fins of a manta ray can span almost 8 meters in width and the weight of this baffling shark relative can exceed 2000 kg. Unlike the stingray, the manta ray is not equipped with a functioning stinging barb, but one of the manta ray species actually has a non-functioning type of sting on its tail.

According to the Save Our Seas Foundation, Andrea Marshall’s new finding is the marine equivalent of discovering an unknown species of elephant.

You can find out more by visiting the Save Our Seas Foundation (http://www.saveourseas.com/manta-rays-a-new-species) and the Mozambique Manta Ray project page (http://www.saveourseas.com/manta-rays-mozambique).

A technology that can be used to prepare nutrition enriched ice cream using fish has been developed by Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), one of India’s leading fishery research institutes, Newindpress.com reports. The technology can also be used to enrich noodles.

Just like most other modern ice-creams, the “Maricream” produced by CIFT contains water, suger, butter and egg white, as well as stabilisers, emulsifiers and flavouring substances. What makes it so species is that its major ingredient is cooked cuttle fish.

Afraid of smelling fishy? Don’t be – the ice cream has been deodourised to remove the smell of fish.

Read the full article in the Indian e-paper Newindpress.com

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEB20080512151841&Page=B&Title=Business&Topic=0