Valdez, J.W.; Mandrekar, K. Assessing the Species in the CARES Preservation Program and the Role of Aquarium Hobbyists in Freshwater Fish Conservation. Fishes2019, 4, 49.
Valdez, J.W.; Mandrekar, K. Assessing the Species in the CARES Preservation Program and the Role of Aquarium Hobbyists in Freshwater Fish Conservation. Fishes 2019, 4, 49.
Valdez, J.W.; Mandrekar, K. Assessing the Species in the CARES Preservation Program and the Role of Aquarium Hobbyists in Freshwater Fish Conservation. Fishes2019, 4, 49.
Valdez, J.W.; Mandrekar, K. Assessing the Species in the CARES Preservation Program and the Role of Aquarium Hobbyists in Freshwater Fish Conservation. Fishes 2019, 4, 49.
Abstract
Freshwater fish represent half of all fish species and are the most threatened vertebrate group. Given their considerable passion and knowledge, aquarium hobbyists can play a vital role in their conservation. CARES is made up of many hobbyist organizations, whose purpose is to encourage aquarium hobbyists to the most endangered or extinct-in-the-wild freshwater fish to help ensure their survival. We found the CARES priority list contains nearly six hundred species from twenty families and two dozen species extinct-in-the-wild. The major families were typically the ones with largest hobbyist affiliations such as killifish, livebearers, and cichlids; which alone were half of CARES species. CARES contained every IUCN threatened species of Pseudomugilidae and Valenciidae, but only one percent of threatened Characidae, Cobitidae, and Gobiidae species. No Loricariidae in CARES were in the IUCN red list as they were not scientifically described. Tanzania and Mexico contained the largest amount of species, with the latter containing the most endemics. A large percent of species were classified differently than the IUCN, including a third of extinct-in-the-wild species classified as least concern by the IUCN. The vast disconnect exemplifies the importance of collaboration and information exchange required between hobbyists, the scientific community, and conservation organizations.
Keywords
aquarists; aquarium trade; captive-breeding; IUCN red list; ornamental fish; threatened fish; undescribed species
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
