Culture of Tropical Marine Aquarium Fishes By: Jeffrey A
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
GUAM-T-96-001 C2 Final Report Pacific Aquaculture Association Culture of Tropical Marine Aquarium Fishes By: Jeffrey A. Tellock TECHNICAL REPORT NO. 020 JUNE I 996 TECHNICAL REPORT SERIES OF THE GUAM AQUACULTUREDEVELOPMENT AND TINNING CENTER Departmentof Commerce Government of Guam 102 M. Street Tiyan, Guam 96913 TABLE OP CONTK'ATS SUlvCvbQtY OF FINDINGS PROJECT OBJECTI'&S METHODS RESULTS DISCUSSION OF RESULTS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CULTURE OF hhVW< AQUARIUM SPECIES CONCLUSIONS 50 LITERATLtRE CITED PERSONAI. COhQAK'4ICATIONS 53 APPENDIXES I FROZEN DIET FOR hGQUNE AQUPDGL'M FISH 54 II AQUILAi;4!ej HOBBY~RATUItE ON THE CULTURE OF 14bQt24EAQUPduUM FISH AND SHMhP III SELECTEDSCIENTIFIC LITERATURE ON THE CULTS 62 OF MAPS& FISH AND SHIt2vP IV SELECTED SCIENTIFIC LITERATLIRE ON SPA%~G 68 AND LARVAL BIOLOGY OF MAIUNE AQUPdUUMFISH AND SHI598P V LIST OFMPdUNK AQUARIUM FISEES REARED IN 70 C/ZTPv'ITY VI LIST OF MPdUNEAQU/ELM SHIulVP REAREDIN 72 CPS'/ITY ACKNOW'%.EDGMENTS; TheGADTC staff enjoyed conducting the project and would like to thankthe Pacific AquacultureAssociation forthe opportunity to do so. I wouldspeci6cally liketo thank theprogram director. Anne Bailey, who provided contmuous support and Rich Bailey for reviewingthe project.! woukl like to thankthe following GADTC stafF members fortheir assistancewith this project: Carl KitteL Wmg-Kai Wang, Victor Camacho. Frank Alig, MarkNorman, Daphane Peralta and Dana Edwards. Former GADTC staff members DanteBueasuceso, Leona Figir3g and Pedro Salas also assisted with the project.Ia additioa,I would like to thankthe Director of theDepartment of Commerce, Frank B. AguonJr., for his support and involvement. Wewould especially bketo thankthe Chief Plannerfor theEconomic Development and Plaanmg division of theDepartment of Commerce,Wilbam FitzGerald, and his successorsLinda Flynn and IaterRichard Carandangwhoall provided continuous supervisioa andadvice. I would also like to thank ClydeTamaru of HawaiiC's Aquaculture Consultant Services for assistingme in cannulatingclownfish. spawnmg sea urchms, aad taking photographs of developmental stagesoflarvae. Iaaddition. heprovided advice on several aspects ofthe project. ! would hketo especiallythank Arnie Moreao for geaemusly donating fish for use as broodstock, andfor assisting mein collecting oysters for the project. Ian Elhot and Richard Sakamoto alsoprovided fish for this project. I would like to thankGerry Davis for information on regulatoryissues conceraiag marine tropical fish and invertebrate culture. Robert Myers andRichard Pyle also provided information oathe marine aqmlrhnn trade. Finally,! would liketo thankthe following people for providinginform«tion ontheir involvement ia researchor commercial production of marine tropical 5sh «nd shrimp: William Addison, HarryAko. Chris Brown, Stanley Brown, Leroy Creswell, David Fletcher, Tom Frakes. JoanHo1t, Frank HofF. Syd Kraul, Joe Lichteabert, Martin Moe, Linda Nelson, Godfrey Waugh,and Forrest Young. PACIFIC AQUACI. LTURK ASSOCIATION PROJECT RKPORT FINAL REPORT PROJECT TITLE Culture of Tropical Marine AquarnnnFishes PROJECT PERIOD September 1994 to March 1996 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR Jeff Tellock Biologist-IV GuamAquaculture Development and Training Center EconomicDevelopment and Planning Division Guam Departmentof Commerce 102 M Street Tiyan, Guam 96913 SU7iQNARY OF FINDINGS Many new speciesof marinetropical 6sh and shrimp have been cultured m recent years and some of these are beginning to be produced at a commercial level. However. clownfishare still the main product of marineaquarian 6sh hatcheries.Commercial efforts are becomingmore successfiilRom a biological standpoint,but someare stiH struggling 6nanciallyto make this type of aquaculturepro6table. Some commercialmarine tropical fish hatcherieshave discontinuedoperations after severalyears of activity, while others havestarted up m recentyears or may start up in the near batture. Researchactivity in this area is also occurring at the university level, l.iterature on the culture of marinetropical Qshand shrimpis increasing,but occursmamly in the aquarium hobbyhterature. rather thanthe scienti6cliterature, A list of key marmeaquarium fish and shrimp available in Micronesiaand conducive for tnariculturewas compiled,and someof these speciesare particularlypromising for commercial culture. Culture methods were eiuLmined for the Cinnamon clownfish .4. HNAE. REPORT - CULTLHK OF hbVUNE AQUPdULM FISHES 92 rnelanopus.the gobiesPtereleotris -ebra and Valencienneastngatvs. and the Banded coralshrimp Stenopus hispidus. Several batches of A. melanopuswere successAdiy reared to the juveaile stage, Regular spawaiagwas obtainedfor the gaby broodstock. but no 1arvaewere reared beyond the first-feedingstage for eitherof the gobyspecies. Larvae of S. hispiduswere reared through the earlylarval stages, but noaesurvived the long larval period to becomejuveniles. Problemsencountered in the culrure of clowafishwere mainly ia the production of eggs. Success|ullarval culture of thegaby larvae was not achieveddue to a lackof a suitable firstfood for these tiny larvae. Progress was made in thelarval culture of theBanded coral shrimp,but eventualcontamination of larvaltanks by hydroidsaad jellyfish medusae resultedin completemortality before the larvae reached the juveaile stage. Suggestions are presentedto overcomeall of theseobstacles in thereariag of theseand other species of marinetropical fish and shrimp. A growing tread of interestto commercialaquarian fish producersis the increaseof restrictionsoa the importationaad exportatioaof marinetropical species,with some islandnations closing down or severelyrestkctiug exports of reef fishesand invertebrates. Guamis preparmgto prohibitthe exportof marinefish aad invertebrates fiom its reefs. Thismay be a growmgtrend among island nations as they seek to protecttheir resources. Somecountries are also begmamgto restrict imports of meme tropical fish and invertebrates. Aneconomic analysis of marinee~ariutn fish culture suggests that commercial culture of variousmarine ornamental species could be pro8table in Micronesia.The most inrportant factorsaffectin profitabihtyare consistent production of marketable6sh, market price aadsales volume. Feed costs are aot a majorfactor a5~ng economicreturn, although the unit costof feedfor marmeornamental Ssh is machhigher than commercialdiets for foodfish.Economic projectioas were made for a smallhatchery aad growwut facility raisingclownthh. PROJECT OBJKCTIVKS Theproject wasdesigned to meetthe following objectives: I. Ideatifycur@mt private aad government efforts to culturetropical marme aquarium fishesthroughout the world. 2. Conductapplicable literature review for theculture of marinetropical fishes. 3. Identificatioaand listing of keymarine aquarium fishes readily available on Micronesian reefsaad lagoons that are coaducive for maricultureapplication. 4. Choosetarget fish species and explore culture methods. PREPARED BY GADTC FINAI REPORT - CULTURE OF hbVUNK AQUAIUUM FISHES 5. Identify currem aad anticipatediateraatioaal regulatory coastrunts to the import!export of variousmarine aquarium 6shes. 6. Determmemethods of mariculturecertification of restrictedspecies. 7, Identify!determineeconomic parameters that would makethis new form of mariculture feasibleon a cotaatercialscale; from culture/growout to export. METHODS: Objective 1. Private and goverm2nentefforts to culture tropical marme aquarium fishes were identified through literature review and telephonecontacts. In addition, database reports were obtainedfrom the Breeder'sRegistry, a newsletterand databaseproviding informationoa breofmgaad propagationof marineaquarium 6sh aad invertebrates.A video from a conferenceon maxinetropical 6sh culture aad another video about a small comme' mtu~ aquarium6sh hatchery also provided information oa previous efforts at propagatingmzIme tropical 6sh. Objective 2. A review of the literature was conductedfor the culture of marme tropical aquaritunfish and invertebratesthroughout the study. A broader review of the literature oa culture methodsfor other marine6sh was conductedin the later stagesof the study, Objective 3. A list of key marine aquarium 6shesavailable in Micmnesia and conducive for maricuitmeapplicatMm was created,using the foIowiag criteria: availabihty,popularity in the aquluitnn trade, wholesaleor retail vahe, known adult and larval characteristics e.g., size of spavttners,spawn size, egg and larval size, larval duration!, available mformationon |ynvmag and larval rearing, reports of successfuladture efforts, and ease of culture of relatedspecies. Not all the speciesin the list quaii6edfavorably under every criteria.but eachspecies qualified under at leastsome of the criteriaand show potential for eventual commerce culture. Scietxti6c and common aames were checked and veri6ed through two guidebooks on mluiae aquarium6shes t Burgesset al., 1990;Myers. 1991!. Objective4. The following marine aquariumspecies were obtaiaedfrom local collectors for possibleuse in this project: Species Commoa name Number Amphipnorrchrysopterus Blue-stripeclowa6sh 3 pairs Arrtphiprionclarkii Clark's clowafish 2 pcs Amphiprion melarwpus Cianamon clowafish 30 6sh Amphiprionpenderaion Pmk skunk clowafish 1 pair Ptereleotris zebra Zebra goby 1 pair Valencienneastrigatus Blue-streak goby 1 pair Stenopushispidus ' Bandedcoral shrimp 8 pairs PREPARED BY GADTC FINAL REPORT - CULTURE OF Mc~E AQUPdUV4} FISHES ' Although this projectoriginaHy targeted aquarium 6sh oaly, it was later expandedto includethe Bandedcoral