NOAA to ban Amphiprion percula

[ThRoewer]

http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/PRD/prd_reef_fish.html

PETITION TO LIST EIGHT SPECIES OF POMACENTRID REEF FISH, INCLUDING THE ORANGE CLOWNFISH AND SEVEN DAMSELFISH, AS THREATENED OR ENDANGERED UNDER THE U.S. ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

Does anybody have any news on how far they are with this nonsense?

And what can be done to stop it?

BTW: IMHO the picture on their page shows not a percula but an ocellaris.
But in case the percula gets banned you may as well say goodbye to the ocellaris too as I seriously doubt the inspectors can tell the difference.

 

[Winwood]

No idea on the case but I'm relatively confident that is A. percula. It appears to be in a magnifica where they don't always exhibit much black coloration

 

[CoralsAddiction]

No idea on the case but I'm relatively confident that is A. percula. It appears to be in a magnifica where they don't always exhibit much black coloration

+1. There are some Great Barrier Reef diving videos on YouTube that show percula clowns in Magnificas. They look very much like Ocelllaris clowns. On the other hand if you search for perculas from Solomon islands you will see a lot of black on them.

 

[ThRoewer]

I think the dorsal fin is a bit too high for a percula.

But that isn't really the issue here as in case this goes forward no inspector will be able or bother to make a distinction.

 

[Winwood]

Not to beat a dead horse here, but the first link is ocellaris, second is percula. I didn't realize they were 2 links and just clicked the second. On a side note, I find it very peculiar that Chromis virdis is on that list. They have got to be one of the most plentiful fish in the sea, considering they're found in large shoals and have a huge distribution.

 

[ThRoewer]

I was talking about the first link - the picture on the NOAA website.

And I think the whole submission is frivolous and has only been done to push an agenda.
Wild percula are not really imported in large numbers. If any than that was true for the ocellaris.
And these days most clownfish you see in store are captive bred right here in the US, Central America or South East Asia