I bet you don't have this one!!!??

[Nathan4Wvu]

There is a tank at the pittsburgh zoo and ppg aquarium right when you come in the door that has about 3-4 of them in it its a very larger cylinder tank.

If they are illegal then how did they aquarium get them???

 

[BeanAnimal]

They are a zoo and have shown the means (in theory) to keep them and display them for public awareness. They are issued permits to keep endangered species in hopes that some people (like the rich moron) will get a clue and do something to help save instead contribute to their demise (like the rich moron).

Many zoos, research facilities and similar porjects are issued permits for things like this all the time.

 

[imbuggin]

bingo

bingo

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7549341#post7549341 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
They are a zoo and have shown the means (in theory) to keep them and display them for public awareness. They are issued permits to keep endangered species in hopes that some people (like the rich moron) will get a clue and do something to help save instead contribute to their demise (like the rich moron).

Many zoos, research facilities and similar porjects are issued permits for things like this all the time.

very well said!

 

[maroun.c]

I don't agree with classifying all rich guys as morrons.
Not to say that I agree with having them in tanks...
It's funny people are blamed just for the thought of having them in tanks, and it suddenly becomes illegal to collect them, however no one ever says anything about destroyin their natural environement which is far more destrcutive.
also I never got the feeling when seeing any animal in a zoo that the zoo was protecting this animal or promoting sense of responsibility in anyway. Most of them think of this animal as the endagered and rare addition that would increase the number of customers per day...
You never know but the way things are going for those poor creatures one day the only ones available would be the ones living in aquariums and hopefully by that time we would have cracked the code to have them reproduce in our tanks.

 

[imbuggin]

hmm

hmm

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7552171#post7552171 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maroun.c
I don't agree with classifying all rich guys as morrons.
Not to say that I agree with having them in tanks...
It's funny people are blamed just for the thought of having them in tanks, and it suddenly becomes illegal to collect them, however no one ever says anything about destroyin their natural environement which is far more destrcutive.
also I never got the feeling when seeing any animal in a zoo that the zoo was protecting this animal or promoting sense of responsibility in anyway. Most of them think of this animal as the endagered and rare addition that would increase the number of customers per day...
You never know but the way things are going for those poor creatures one day the only ones available would be the ones living in aquariums and hopefully by that time we would have cracked the code to have them reproduce in our tanks.

hmm where to start. I did not "see" anyone call you a moron or rich to start with. That being said, by your next statement maybe they could have.(oh yeah it is spelled Moron as well for future use). It didn't suddenly become illegal to collect them due to over collecting. It is because they are endangered. Yes, public professional aquariums can get a license to keep them. Why should someone ignorant enough to make such a foolish statement get to kill one just because they have money? Public aquariums with knowledge are trying to breed them. I like their chances better than yours.

 

[Nathan4Wvu]

Re: hmm

Re: hmm

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7552226#post7552226 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by imbuggin
hmm where to start. I did not "see" anyone call you a moron or rich to start with. That being said, by your next statement maybe they could have.(oh yeah it is spelled Moron as well for future use). It didn't suddenly become illegal to collect them due to over collecting. It is because they are endangered. Yes, public professional aquariums can get a license to keep them. Why should someone ignorant enough to make such a foolish statement get to kill one just because they have money? Public aquariums with knowledge are trying to breed them. I like their chances better than yours.

Dude calm down lol

 

[maroun.c]

If you read my post correctly you'll find out that i said that I'm not with keeping them in tanks, What I said was that it's ugly for things to reflect on our hobby just because of overcollecting or habitat destruction. So may be it's better to really understand what i'm saying before answering the way you did.
As to correcting my spelling. well it's good enough that I speak read and write a language that is not my native one in addition to 2 other languages so I'll accept you correcting in the way yo udid once you speak read and write more languages than I do.
And for the record I'm not that rich and i do not have or plan to have neither do i encourage to anyone (not even zoos or aquariums) to have those species. What ****es me off is that zoos or displays are allowed to have them where many persons on this forum (not me of course) have better chances at breeding them may be.

 

[cb9tunerguy]

kyliegirl is correct about this beautiful creature. they had a show about them on the discovery channel last year. their population is dwindeling due to hurricanes and storms. they get washed up on beaches in kelp beds. their natrual "hang out" is kelp. sometimes you cannot even tell them apart from the kelp when swimming by them. the leafy sea dragon is an incredibly captivating creature though.

 

[kyliegirl]

they werent suddenly illegal, its been illegal for a while to collect them if you havent read anything about them heres a few notes

- The Leafy Sea Dragon is listed as a totally protected species by the Western Australia Department of Fisheries. The South Australian Fisheries Act 1982, Section 42 prohibits taking a protected species such as the Leafy Sea Dragon from Australian waters.-

- The Leafy Sea Dragon is protected by the Australian government, but they do allow for a single brooding male to be taken per year, so that the hatchlings can be sent to research and education programs at aquariums. However, no one has been able to successfully breed the Leafy Sea Dragon in captivity (Dragon Search 2000). There are many conservation groups in Australia that work to educate the public of Australia's endangered marine species. In particular, the Dragon Search program was started in order to involve the public in the monitoring of sea dragons. Since it has been found that individual Leafy Sea Dragons can be identified by the markings on their face, preliminary tracking studies have been started (Melville 2000). Despite these efforts, there is still much to be learned about the Leafy Sea Dragon and how we can save this unique creator from extinction.-


- Both leafy and weedy seadragons are legally protected under the state legislatures of both South and Western Australia. Regardless of protection status, seadragons face pressure from poaching for aquaria enthusiasts, curio seekers and use in the ever-expanding traditional Chinese medicine market (Flaherty 1997). All genera and species of Sygnathid are extremely vulnerable to human-enduced exploitation due to their unique ecology and distribution. -


-Status: Classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List 2006.-

Red listed species

 

[Konadog]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7544643#post7544643 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kyliegirl
As beatiful as they are, sadly, noone has ever been able to breed them in captivity, therefore they dont belong in captivity.

I need to check, but I believe the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific has bread these in captivity. I remember seeing a video playing next to the aquarium showing how the eggs are attached to the tail. I'll see if I can find the info.

 

[Konadog]

Found it!

Taken from this page: http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/CURRENT_EXHIBIT/TROPPAC/index.htm

The Tropical Pacific Gallery also features our seahorses and sea dragons. True to their descriptive names, both the leafy and weedy sea dragons have an almost surreal appearance characterized by unusual appendages that allow them to deftly camouflage themselves in seaweed. The Aquarium made husbandry history by being the first Aquarium in the world to successfully breed weedy sea dragon babies.

Sorry, it's the weedy dragons, not the leafy dragons.



PS, I bet GregR has some great shots of all the seahorses at the LB Aquarium