Australian freshwater and barrier reef fish in captivity

epickoala123

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
could anybody tell me some of the australian freshwater and great barrier reef fish currently In captivity?
 
In the UK there are several species of freshwater rainbowfishes available in the aquarium trade. Many of these are from New Guinea, but I think one or two Australian species may be around too. Study the photos on this site Home of the Rainbowfish and enjoy!
I have also seen the little desert goby (Chlamydogobius eremius) in specialist dealers occasionally.
The situation with marine species is quite different because most marine tropicals have planktonic eggs and larvae, so they are widely distributed (often from the east coast of Africa to the west coast of Central America in suitable habitats). Relatively few species are endemic to the Great Barrier Reef.

Alan
 
The Barrier Reef Clownfish (Amphiprion akindynos) is sometimes seen in public aquaria - the London Zoo aquarium held them recently [maybe still do?].
Of the Australian freshwater fish, the Australian Lungfish is probably the most obvious species held outside its native country. I've also seen Mogurnda [commonly called 'spotted gudgeon' or 'trout-gudgeon'] in European aquaria.
 
Some archer fish also hail from the northern areas of Australia in the mangroves of tropical north Queensland, but wether they are seen in captive situations I don't know.
 
There are MANY species of fish from the Great Barrier Reef in captivity and I won't even attempt to make a list because it would be very, very long. Some of these are widespread species that originate elsewhere (e.g. the Solomons); some originate from Australia itself. There are companies that catch and export marine fish with some regularity there and rarely even Australian cold-water marine species are exported. The Australian laws and restrictions on this animal group are less tough than the similar laws/restrictions for Australian birds, reptiles and mammals.

Relatively few freshwater fish from Australia are kept elsewhere; the majority are rainbowfish. There are dedicated aquarium groups for this Australian-New Guinea fish family and many are now captive bred. Most other Australian freshwater fish fauna is rather dull looking and there isn't much interest in them. The Australian lungfish is strongly protected. It's very long-lived and most in aquaria outside Australia arrived decades ago, but exports of captive bred is still possible with the proper permits. Other freshwater fish of Australian origin that I know are in captivity elsewhere today are Mogurnda gudgeons, galaxias, Chlamydogobius gobies, spotted bonytongue (bred in aquaculture), and Murray cod (bred in aquaculture). Several other fish found in the northern half of Australia are kept in captivity (e.g. archerfish, Hypseleotris gudgeons), but they're generally species also found in other countries.

Several of the Australian mudskippers are among the most widespread species and also found in large parts of south-east Asia; sometimes even throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Some of these are in captivity. However, I guess neither of the Australian endemic mudskippers (Boleophthalmus birdsongi and Periophthalmus takita) are in captivity outside the country and I'm not even sure if they're in captivity within the country.
 
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