New populations of Celestichthys discovered
Imports of C. margaritatus were banned several months ago. (Picture Aaron Koo)
Fisheries authorities in Myanmar have discovered a number of other populations of the Celestial pearl danio, Celestichthys margaritatus, a fish believed to have been driven to near extinction by over-collecting for the aquarium trade.Myanmar's Department of Fisheries (DOF) banned further exports of the species in February to allow them to assess the conservation status of Celestichthys margaritatus, and have identified a number of new localities which harbour populations of the species.
The species was previously believed to be endemic to pools in a single wetland area of Myanmar.
Tin Win, Managing Director of Myanmar-based fish exporter Hein Aquarium, told Practical Fishkeeping that a party of 10 officials from the Department of Fisheries and the Myanmar Fishery Federation conducted a survey and found the fish at five locations around Ho Pong.
The report identified populations in streams around Ho Pong; the village of Lwe Paw, 3.5 miles east of Ho Pong; the village of Naung Khone, 3 miles north of Ho Pong; the village of Loi-un, 6 miles from Ho Pong; and Hug-park village, Loi-san sit village, Pong-low village, all about 20 miles south of Ho Pong.
Win said that many of the biotopes are closed to human activities and that the fish also exists at other places in the deep forest, often at apparently high densities: "From one place, about 750 pieces will be collected by a person with 25 twin traps in a day. According to the the report, about 3000-5000 pieces can be trapped per day."
Lucrative trade
The fish, which were previously caught for food and sold as dried fish were a food of local poor people, according to Tin Win.He says that they got a much bigger return on selling the fish for the aquarium trade compared to what they made when they sold the same fish for food:
"Due to this fish, the people in rural areas got some more income, because, previously the fish were dried and sold as dried fish as food for the poor people."
Tin Win told Practical Fishkeeping that locals received 25 Kyats (approximately 25p) for a can of 500 Galaxy rasboras, but received 1p per fish when they sold them to the aquarium trade.
Under threat
Originally known as the Galaxy rasbora, Microrasbora sp. "Galaxy", the species was introduced into the hobby by AquariCorp shortly after its discovery in August 2006. (See The next big thing: Microrasbora sp. Galaxy).It quickly became a must-have fish for many fishkeepers, with many thousands of the tiny fish - which reaches just 14-21mm in length - being exported from Myanmar to aquarium dealers around the world.
In early February 2007, Practical Fishkeeping reported that one distributor of the fish was concerned that over-collecting could see the species being wiped out in the wild. (See Galaxy rasbora under threat).
The species was formally described as Celestichthys margaritatus by Tyson Roberts in late February 2007 and given the new common name of Celestial pearl danio. (See Galaxy rasbora placed in new genus).
In the paper, Roberts explained that the fish lived in small, heavily vegetated ponds apparently maintained by seepage in hilly grassland areas at an elevation of 1040m/3420 ft and raised questions about the future of the species, given the collection pressures it was facing.
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Matt Clarke: 5.6.2007Views: Read 11,732 times
Comments feed
"Yes, it's hopefully good news for the future of this species, after what was possibly one of the most depressing things I have ever had to report.
At least with the Red tail black shark the aquarium trade probably hasn't been responsible for its demise - contrary to some reports on the Internet. The official line from the IUCN (based on Kottelat and Whitten, 1996) is that there is no evidence to prove the aquarium trade was responsible for its extinction through over-collecting.
Kottelat and Whitten claimed that it probably went extinct due to habitat modification, including the construction of dams in the Chao Phraya basin in the 1970s, and the drainage of swamps. I'm not sure when it was first listed as EW by the IUCN, but most, if not all, have been captive-bred on fish farms for a very long time.
I think people have a tendency to immediately think that any aquarium fish that go extinct must have reached that point because of over-collecting, but I think examples of this are probably not as common as some might think.
Hopefully, they'll protect Pterapogon kauderni, the Banggai cardinal, by listing on CITES Appendix I soon. The marine trade has known for a long time that it's been over-fishing this species, but doesn't appear to have shown much concern and continues to import it from the wild, even though it's probably one of the easiest marines to breed in captivity..."
Date: Tuesday June 5th, 2007, 1:45 pm
"Excelent news!!! I'm glad that more populations are in existance, than previously thought.
I understand that these fish have been bread in captivity. Is it possible that somebody who has bread them would be willing to publish the water conditions that they spawned this fish in. I have been trying to spawn my group of 10 fish for the last few months, with no success.
cheers"
Date: Tuesday June 5th, 2007, 3:35 pm
"That's good news, I have been thinking about keeping and breeding some of these, they are for sale at my LFS. Better someone wanting to breed them get them, instead of an idiot keeping them with discus or cichlids.
Any info on breeding these yet?
Cheers
JOHN"
Date: Tuesday June 5th, 2007, 4:48 pm
"#JOHN
Info about breeding is in the forum under breeding.
Best regards
Christian"
Date: Thursday June 7th, 2007, 1:43 am
"Great news that this lovely fish is not as badly off as people thought, but I sometimes dispair of the industry we are a part of - describing fish as "pieces" instead of animals or fish is I believe, standard practice. This seems to imply that these creatures are simply merchandise as opposed to living creatures - surely not a healthy practice for any one to take part in.
It is great to see that the locals are better off from these discoveries but the industry needs much better regulation to prevent this kind of destruction happening again or with other fish in other areas of the world. "
Date: Thursday June 7th, 2007, 4:06 pm
"Yes the "pieces" thing has always struck me as odd. It's a widely used term in Asia. I was in Singapore a week or so ago and everyone there refers to fish as pieces, whether they're dealers or just fishkeepers. "
Posted by: Matt Clarke - 2 years, 5 months agoDate: Thursday June 7th, 2007, 4:31 pm
"To paraphrase Douglas Adams in Last Chance To See, it would be good to think that after the near-extinction-in-the-wild scare that the fish collectors for the aquarium trade would be a little older and a little wiser. Unfortunately they are probably just older and better informed."
Posted by: Alan Lilley - 2 years, 5 months agoDate: Saturday June 9th, 2007, 12:39 am
"Hi 'all,
really good news that this fish has been "rediscovered" but I really wish they did not publish WHERE! No doubt poachers are going to home in on those spots and deplete them too. BAD NEWS! That information should have been kept private. I still fear for the ongoing wild population and as I only have large community take I IMPLORE any of you who have these fish to make all efforts possible to maintain a captive breeding stock that can be re-introduced to the wild should the poachers eliminate the wild stocks.
Kindest Regards
Robert"
Date: Saturday June 9th, 2007, 8:21 pm
"Yes I agree, PFK shouldn't have mentioned their locations.
"
Date: Tuesday June 12th, 2007, 4:04 pm
"The location at which the species was collected have been published several times, both in the original description of the species, and in the Myanmar Department of Fisheries' official report on the fishes, so these data were already in the public domain.
The original collection locality was not disclosed until long after the species appeared on sale yet other collectors soon found it where it was. I am sure that collectors operating in Myanmar would have all been well aware of these collection localities long before this story was published as they will have been closely watching the Department of Fisheries' actions as it directs affects their livelihood. According to our source, exports of the species are now illegal and I am sure that the Myanmar DOF is monitoring the situation very closely to ensure that the species is not illegally traded."
Date: Tuesday June 12th, 2007, 4:14 pm
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 | Editor-in-Chief, Matt Clarke, writes the regular Interesting Imports column on rare and unusual fish in the UK aquarium trade. He's kept fish for 30 years and holds a degree, two higher degrees and two diplomas in fish biology, taxonomy and computational biology. |
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""Banned further exports"
Posted by: Andrew Gordon Rapson - 2 years, 5 months ago"New populations found"
Great news, As much as I like the species and would like to see them available for people to keep, I would hate to think that the species had become extinct in the wild due to fish keeping.
Even if they are relatively easy to breed and captive populations could be maintained, having a wild population is more important.
I wonder if they noticed any Red tailed black sharks swimming around "deep in the forrest" or is that hoping for to much?"
Date: Tuesday June 5th, 2007, 12:18 pm