Aquaculture of marine ornamental fish: overview of the production trends and the role of academia in research progress

Abstract

The marine ornamental fish trade is expanding and still largely relies on wild fish from tropical coral reef ecosystems. There are unknowns in the wild harvest so that the sustainability of marine ornamental fish trade can therefore be questioned with aquaculture being perceived as a responsible alternative for the procurement of these ornamental marine fish. However, there are still many technical constraints that hinder its development. These blocks require additional coordination with the outcome being an accelerated development of ornamental marine fish production. The main objective of this review was to better identify, understand and discuss the role and the impacts of academic research in the production of marine ornamental fish through qualitative and quantitative approaches. To do so, 222 selected scientific publications (including peer‐reviewed articles, conferences articles, thesis and reports) from the literature available to date were analysed and outcomes were framed in perspective of the total number of captive‐bred species. Results of the meta‐analyses indicate that academic research has led to significant advances in the breeding of some of the more difficult to breed species. While it has a leading role in conservation, its advance of techniques still lags behind private companies and hobbyists. Partnerships promoting synergistic activities between academic research institutes and the private sector (aquaculture farms and public aquariums) are important to optimize future ornamental marine fish production.

Detection of a new strain of lymphocystis disease virus (LCDV) in captive-bred clownfish Amphiprion percula in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

“…As only a few OMS are bred using aquaculture technology (Dawes 1998;Schiemer 2001), studies that focus on species-specific biology can help to improve broodstock, larval production, and nutrition (Tlusty 2002). Discovering breeding technologies for OMS that are less intricate to breed can be collaborated with academic research (Pouil et al 2019). To date, clownfish are deemed the most abundant species traded in the industry (Maison and Graham 2016).…”

A Systematic Review of the Ornamental Fish Trade with Emphasis on Coral Reef Fishes—An Impossible Task

“…While this review focuses on marine ornamental fishes, freshwater species were also included because the two categories are frequently entangled in commerce, and because both are subject to major use involving similar monitoring and control challenges. Although during our search we identified one 17-year-old, non-peer-reviewed, publication by the United Nations Environment Programme/World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP/WCMC) [4] that investigated the whole marine aquarium trade, including different taxa such as corals and other invertebrates, and two reviews that focused on the aquaculture of marine ornamental fishes [26,27], we did not identify any other reviews that focused on the specific issues of this paper.…”

“…Ninety-nine percent of marine ornamental fishes are wild-caught (from coral reefs), and thus only 1% are captive-bred [27,107]. Mortality rates in the supply chain [7,12,37,[97][98][99] can be very high, and the fact that fishes are often still caught illegally with the use of poison such as cyanide [6,97,108], as well as the threatened state of the coral reefs [109,110], makes it seem possible that the marine aquarium industry is putting further pressure on relevant ecosystems [45,97].…”

An update on the ornamental fish industry in Malaysia: Aeromonas hydrophila-associated disease and its treatment control

“…USA, Europe, and Japan are the largest markets for ornamental fish globally, but more than 65% of the exports come from Asia. This will encourage economic development [8].…”