Arny wrote:J-P wrote:no way, no how, should that critter be in your possession.
a) they are very rare. Having one in your possession = 100+ less in the wild, which goes to b)
b) They can not breed in captivity. They only live a few years at the most... short lived and lots of offspring. That will not happen in possession.
The trade is killing the species. More so than any other captive fish (including puffers). Difficult to keep, deadly, and short lived without a chance to breed.
Sorry, as beautiful as they are... they should not be in the trade.
Are you just talking about the Flamboyant Cuttlefish or cuttlefish in general?
People have been breeding cuttlefish at home for ages, check out
http://www.tonmo.com.
There's loads of cuttlefish living around the coasts of england.
If this spieces/type of cuttlefish is rare then I understand your concern. This guy is gona get a good life with me, eating as much as he wants and in good water conditions.
yes, those are rare. even if you read articles on them, many of them say "IF this species weren't so rare and their population were more stable, they WOULD be a great candidate for home aquariums"
and I don't think j-p is saying in any way shape or form that you can't take care of that animal, nor that you won't give it a good life, he's saying that so long as it is in your aquarium its not out repopulating its species, which becomes a big deal when a species is threatened.
Its like if there were one mating pair of dodo birds left on the planet, but you kept one in a cage and justified it by saying you will give it a great life. In the big picture you're still hurting the species as a whole.
Granted you can't do much about it now as those animals are native to southeast asia, and i highly doubt theres any way to return it to its natural habitat and give it a chance to breed.