That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.

Anchor worms are crustaceans (specifically copepods) and as such are more closely related to shrimp than to worms.  They often make their presence known in outdoor ponds as winter turns to spring.  Lernaea elegans, the most commonly encountered species, remains dormant during the winter and becomes active as the water reaches 55 F or so. 

Identification

Anchor worms bury below their host’s scales, but betray their presence by trailing ¼ to ½ inch-long portions of their black, thread-like bodies from infected fishes.  They usually attach about a fish’s gills, eyes or fins, but can occur most anywhere.  Other signs include inflamed or raised scales and efforts by fishes to dislodge the parasites (leaping, rubbing).

Infestations most commonly occur during the spring, when the parasites are searching for new hosts after their winter dormancy.  Conveniently for the anchor worms, the immune systems of pond fishes are at their weakest at this time, having been stressed by cool temperatures and the long winter fast. 

Secondary Bacterial Infections

Anchor worms rarely cause fatalities, but the wounds they inflict frequently become infected by opportunistic Pseudomonas and Aeromonas bacteria.  Ever present in the pond, these pathogens can easily kill fishes, especially those with depressed immune systems.

Avoiding Anchor Worms

Be especially careful to check for anchor worms when purchasing koi or goldfishes in the late winter or spring…those that have been wintered outdoors may be infected.  They also parasitize weather fishes, channel catfishes, hi-fin loaches and other species commonly kept in outdoor ponds.

Anchor worms of various species can also be introduced to your collection via tropical fishes which have been raised outdoors.

Treating Parasitized Fishes

Fortunately, Jungle Lab’s Anchors Away is an effective treatment for infestations of anchor worms and certain other parasites.  Be aware that this medication will kill crayfishes, snails and other invertebrates, and that carbon should be removed from your filter while treatment is ongoing.

It is also useful to add an ultraviolet sterilizer to your pond’s filtration system.  UV sterilizers will kill anchor worms in the free swimming larval stage (they are not effective against adults), thereby preventing re-infestation.

Further Reading

A detailed article (Food and Agriculture Association of the United Nations) on the life cycle of anchor worms and related parasitic copepods is posted at.

Please write in with your questions and comments.  Thanks, until next time, Frank Indiviglio.

Image referenced from Wikipedia and originally posted by Brian Gratwicke

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.

I have always looked to public aquariums and botanical gardens for inspiration in my own work.  I have visited koi ponds in many places, including some of the famed beauties in Kyoto, Japan (I plan an article on these shortly), but my favorite is, oddly enough, located in the heart of Brooklyn, NY. 

Koi and Cherry Blossoms

The 52-acre Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, opened in 1910, houses a huge, spectacular pond, home to some of the largest and oldest koi to be found anywhere.  The surrounding grounds are planted with 42 varieties of cherry trees, all of which bloom in April and May…seeing this spectacle in combination with schools of colorful koi is an experience of a lifetime (the garden hosts the largest cherry blossom festival, or Sakura Matsuri, to be found outside of Japan).

A rainy spring day many years ago granted me my first look at a koi breeding frenzy…I had previously observed hundreds of carp spawning in the Bronx River, and was suitably impressed (some of these lunkers topped 40 pounds in weight!) but the roiling, colorful koi put their drab ancestors to shame.

An Urban Legend Revealed

I was first drawn to BBG in search of the huge soft-shelled turtles which were said to inhabit the koi pond.  Less cynical than most of my fellow New Yorkers, I had since childhood followed up on any and all reports of urban wildlife, however fanciful.  I had some pleasant discoveries – copperhead snakes did indeed live under the George Washington Bridge and sturgeon still swim the East River, and some disappointments – Flushing Meadow’s “lungfishes” turned out to be American eels.

I found 135 red-eared sliders and several snapping turtles in the pond, but the soft shells eluded me for decades.  Then, while having lunch near the pond (I was working at the nearby Prospect Park Zoo at the time) I spied two huge spiny soft-shelled turtles (Apalone spinifera) basking on a small island.  They remain the largest I’ve ever seen (fish a favorite food!), and must have been living there for upwards of 50 years.  Although native to New York State, spiny soft-shells are quite rare here, and never seen anywhere near NYC. 

Piranha, Osprey and Other Visitors

I enjoy visiting areas that serve as retreats for urban wildlife, and have had many wonderful surprises along the way.  BBG is an important resting place for migrating birds, with over 200 species having been recorded.  The koi pond also yields some surprising visitors from time to time – including “transplanted” bass, sunfish, eels and red-bellied piranha!

Ospreys have made a major comeback in the USA, and are now seen quite near New York and other coastal cities.  Last spring a pair under camera surveillance in Norwalk, CT (The Maritime Aquarium) were regularly observed to bring quite large (and expensive!) koi to their chicks…I’m sure it’s just a matter of time until these huge “fish hawks” visit Brooklyn! 

 Further Reading

You can learn more about the Brooklyn Botanical Garden’s koi pond and amazing plant collection (10,000 species at last count) at http://www.bbg.org/.

Please write in with your questions and comments.  Thanks, until next time, Frank Indiviglio.

In 1988 a small crab showed up on the New Jersey shore, apparently discharged there along with bilge water from ships that had visited the Western Pacific.  Deceptively innocuous, by the mid 1990’s the Asian shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) was the dominant inter-tidal crab in an area stretching from Maine to North Carolina. In the space of 3-5 years, it became the most common crab at several estuaries that I visit…at one, hermit crabs and sand shrimp have virtually disappeared.

Asian shore crabs seem to co-exist more peaceably with one another than do native species…those pictured here were found under a single small rock.  I wonder if, in contrast to other crabs, newly-molted individuals are not attacked by neighbors. 

Making the Most of an Invader

There is, however, a silver lining to this environmental cloud…the crabs make a nutritious addition to the diets of many aquarium fishes and invertebrates.  Many fishes consume small crabs whole, and they can be broken up for smaller fishes.  Freshwater fishes ranging in size from guppies to peacock bass will enjoy an occasional crab meal as well.

Shore crabs thrive for weeks in damp seaweed under refrigeration and can be frozen for future use.

Collecting Crabs and other Marine Animals

Asian shore crabs inhabit tide-pools, jetties and salt marshes.  They forage as the tide recedes and are most easily collected at low tide, when they shelter below rocks and other cover.  A wide variety of sizes (please see photo), suitable for nearly any size aquatic pet, can be gathered in no time at all.

While searching for shore crabs, keep your eyes open for shrimps, worms, mussels and other small creatures.  All are useful aquarium foods, and many make very interesting display animals (shore crabs are unprotected, but check local regulations regarding others).

An Unusual Visitor from the South

Seining and setting out minnow traps will improve your catch, and the sea never fails to provide wonderful surprises.  Last summer an inshore lizardfish (Synodus foetens) showed up in my net (please see photo).  I’ve had only limited success with them in captivity and so released this one after taking some photos.

Shore Crabs in the Aquarium

As is my way, I tried my hand at keeping Asian shore crabs in captivity, and was pleasantly surprised.  Although in nature foraging is tied to the tidal cycle, captives abandon this strategy and soon appear at all hours (in contrast, native fiddler crabs that I have kept became active according to an internal clock – feeding and retiring in groups, despite the absence of a tidal influence).  Shore crabs feed ravenously on any and all plant or animal based fish foods.

I set up a group in a large estuary exhibit at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, and they have done quite well there.  The crabs forage underwater and on rocks protruding above the surface, and co-exist with sand shrimp, striped killifish and other natives (in a small aquarium, they should be monitored closely for aggression).

Crab Alternatives

Please check out our extensive selection of frozen and freeze-dried  fish foods.  Many contain whole marine animals, and are an excellent addition to the diets of aquarium fishes and invertebrates.

Further Reading

Information about this and other introduced marine animals and plants is posted at http://www.seagrant.uconn.edu/INVID.HTM.

Please write in with your questions and comments. Thanks, until next time, Frank Indiviglio.

Just wanted to say thanks to all the That Fish Place/That Pet Place fans for making our 2009 Anniversary Sale a success. Thanks for everyone that showed up, and hope you enjoyed the deals, the seminars, and the fun. Check out some pics here, as well as on our Facebook page in the next few days.

What would the world be like without pets? A new bill proposed in House could make this a reality. All pet owners should be aware of a pending federal government resolution. HR669 stands for House Resolution 669 which is designed to change the way the government classifies non-native species. If passed into law it will have a tremendous impact on keeping pets in America. It will make it illegal to sell and breed many animals common in the pet trade including most species of tropical fish, ferrets, most reptile and amphibian species, corals, and many others. Though That Fish Place/That Pet Place is in favor of an effective invasive species law, we are convinced this is absolutely not the legislation to accomplish that. Please read Frank Indiviglio’s blog below to find out more and learn what you can do to help prevent this from even being introduced as a proposed law.

Frank Indiviglio here. By now many readers are no doubt aware of the bill known as House Resolution 669, which is currently before Congress.  If passed, HR 669 will dramatically impact, if not eliminate, pet keeping as we now know it.Check out the proposal as written here to educate yourself and form your own opinion.  For more information and some simple (i.e. “click of your mouse”) steps that you can take to register your opinions, please check out: NoHR669.com

A variety of well-informed arguments against the passage of HR 669 have been raised, many of which are summarized at the aforementioned web site.  I would like to present here a slightly different take on the issue, one drawn from a lifetime of work in the pet trade and as a professional zoologist and conservationist.

Inspiring Conservation

Pet keeping has inspired generations of zoo, aquarium and conservation professionals – the very people upon whom the future of wildlife and wild places depends.  Virtually all zookeepers, zoologists, conservationists, zoo curators, and aquarists – from Raymond Ditmars, first Curator of Reptiles at the Bronx Zoo, to today’s leaders – started out as children with pets, and from this fascination with animals sprouted a career.  This hold true for those with roots in city and countryside, poverty and wealth alike.

The Influence of Nonnative Species

In many cases, the pets that gave rise to and encouraged these people arrived here from afar.  In fact, all of our most commonly kept pet species – guppies, goldfishes, parakeets, canaries, dogs, cats and others, not to mention our domesticated “food animals” save the turkey – are nonnative.  The same holds true for invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians.

The reasons are often not apparent – for example, birds, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and fishes from tropical regions are often far simpler to breed in captivity than are temperate species, which usually require a period of reduced temperature and day length if they are to reproduce.  The ability to breed so many exotic creatures encouraged many people to delve deeper, and to apply what they learned to the breeding of endangered species.  Of course, keeping such animals first hand has also long served to inspire a sense of wonder in us, and to urge many to go out into the world and discover just what animals live there, and what can be done to help them.

It must be remembered also that many native animals are legally protected and cannot be kept as pets, and that the ready availability of captive bred foreign species is an important deterrent to the illegal collecting of native wildlife.

The husbandry expertise and respect for animals garnered in the process of caring for them cannot but help find its way into the zoo and conservation realms.  Here in the USA, well-known conservation success stories, including the rescue of the American alligator and black-footed ferret from sure extinction, relied on captive breeding techniques that had long been utilized by serious pet owners working with similar species.  Similar scenarios, both here and abroad, are legion.

Problems Facing Zoo Breeding Programs

Zoos today are unable to meet the challenges posed by an unprecedented number of critically endangered species…all of the world’s zoos could fit comfortably into less than one half the area occupied by New York City.  It has recently been postulated that, even with international cooperation, the world’s zoos could sustain (as opposed to merely “exhibit”) perhaps 500 animal species…a mere fraction of the number faced with imminent extinction.

Pet Keepers Respond to the Turtle Crisis

It is just such a situation which led to the formation, in 2001, of the Turtle Survival Alliance.  This venture draws together zoo herpetologists and private turtle hobbyists in an effort to take concrete conservation action on behalf of the world’s turtle populations, the majority of which are in severe decline.  In one TSA effort, numerous private turtle keepers helped rehabilitate and house the survivors of a group of 10,000 illegally collected turtles that were seized in China and transported to Florida.  Today these animals, many in private hands, form the breeding nucleus for a number of species which seem destined for extinction in the wild in the very near future.

Pet Keepers Conserving Amphibians

The Disappearing Amphibian Crisis is much in the news today, and with good reason.  The situation for many of the world’s frogs and salamanders is so dire that zoos are collecting all the amphibians that can be located in certain habitats.  The hope is that these animals can be kept and bred for possible reintroduction once the threats posed by a rapidly spreading, deadly fungus can be addressed.

Once again, the expertise developed in part by pet keepers has played a major role in the rescue effort.  As concerns frog breeding, hobbyists have kept pace with zoo efforts.  For example, the blue poison frog, restricted in nature to a single mountainside in Surinam, is now a pet trade staple.  Similar stories abound, and the knowledge brought to the zoo field by pet keepers turned zookeepers is helping to assure that frog songs will continue to enliven spring evenings in the future.

The outlook for amphibians, however, is stark, and zoos do not have the facilities or finances to cope.  As with turtles, pet keepers with space and breeding expertise are being called into service as “foster parents”.  The most recent IUCN Red Data Book provides the grim news that one third of all amphibians are either threatened or already extinct.  Of these, 159 species are or may already be gone – 38 are known to be extinct and 121 species have not been seen in recent years and are likely no longer with us.  Those remaining are faring little better – 42% of the known species are declining in numbers, many dramatically, while less than 1% are increasing.

Pet Care Expertise and other Animals

The situation is likely just as critical for other groups that pet keepers have had great success in breeding, including parrots, tortoises and corals.  Where invertebrates are concerned, we do not as yet even have a handle on the magnitude of the problem.  We have closely studied a mere 0.2% of the estimated 30 million insect species, and a far smaller percentage of arachnids and other groups.

However, over 300 species of insects, spiders, scorpions and other terrestrial invertebrates, and a far greater number of aquatic species, are established in breeding populations by pet keepers worldwide.  The lessons learned in the process have been applied to captive breeding and reintroduction programs for a number of North American species, including Karner blue butterflies, burying beetles and red-kneed tarantulas.

Check out nohr669.com for information on how to get your voice heard on hr699

Anyone wishing to share their thoughts or opinions on this issue, may feel free to comment here, or on our facebook page.