Proposed Listing Of The Percula Clownfish (Amphiprion Percula) Under The U.S. Endangered Species Act: What It Means, And What Aquarists Need To Know (Part 1)

Right now the marine aquarium hobby in the U.S. is in a state of deep concern, if not outright panic. Recently, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced that it would list 20 species of coral as Threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). These 20 new species join two others which were listed as Threatened in 2006 (Caribbean Elkhorn and Staghorn corals, Acropora palmata and A. cervicornis). This coral listing was in response to a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) to list 83 coral species under the ESA. Of the 22 coral species listed (the two Caribbean Acropora, and the 20 recently listed species) seven occur in the Caribbean and were generally unavailable to marine aquarists prior to the petition. The remaining 15 species are found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and several of them are common aquarium corals. Listing of these species has caused concern among many aquarists about the future of the …read more

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