"The global trade of aquatic organisms for home and public aquariums, along with associated equipment and accessories, has become a multi‐billion dollar industry. Although marine species made up less than 10% of the total volume of ornamental trade, the percentage in terms of value is much higher and increasing in recent years. The vast majority of marine species are collected from the Southeastern Asian countries (especially the Philippines and Indonesia) and exported to North America, Japan and Europe, and in more recent years China. For both freshwater and marine aquarium species, fish is the dominant group, although in the last 25 years, the marine aquarium trade has seen a shift in consumer preference from fish‐only aquariums to miniature reef ecosystems, resulting in the trading of many invertebrate species associated with the coral reefs (e.g., anemones, jellyfish, shrimp and other decapods, starfish and urchins, and molluscs). An estimated 27 million marine ornamental fish (Townsend, 2011) from over 1800 species (Rhyne et al., 2012) and hundreds of coral and other invertebrate species are traded. Scuba diving opened up habitats that until then were inaccessible. Color photography made it possible to document the beauty of living animals. Interestingly, photography, the number one hobby, certainly facilitates the aquarium keeping, the second most popular hobby.
Much progress has been made in the breeding and aquaculture of marine ornamental species in the last 10 to 20 years. CORAL Magazine lists the number of captive‐bred marine aquarium fish species, with more than 30 new species over the 2013 list, bringing the total to over 250 species (Sweet, 2014). However, for most of these species, it will be quite some time before they can be supplied to the aquarium trade at reasonable prices through commercial production. In contrast to the traded freshwater fish species, about 90% of which are captive bred, (much) less than 10% of the marine ornamental species traded are from aquaculture. Virtually all of the marine fishes and invertebrates marketed in the aquarium trade industry are collected from coral reef ecosystems. Extensive and destructive collection of these animals, such as use of cyanide and coral breaking and smashing, can directly deplete the target species and indirectly damage delicate coral reef ecosystems that are already under serious threats from global climate change, pollution and other anthropogenic impacts. Aquaculture of marine ornamental species, still in its infancy, is recognized as a viable alternative to wild collection as it can supplement or replace the supply of wild caught specimens and potentially help recover natural populations through restocking. However, there are still many challenges that need to be overcome. Life history and other basic scientific knowledge are unknown for most species. Broodstock management, spawning induction, larval rearing, nutrition, live feed, diseases, systems, and cost are some of the obstacles for commercial production.
Information on aquarium animal keeping, spawning and culture, is widely distributed in trade magazines, journals, newsletters and websites (largely contributed by hobbyists and public aquariums), and increasingly, in scientific publications. Although there are a few reviews and books on aquaculture of specific groups, such as fish (e.g., Moorhead & Zeng, 2010) and shrimp (e.g., Calado, 2008), there has not been a comprehensive overview of marine ornamental aquaculture. The current book fills this critical gap and provides a valuable resource for research and development of marine ornamental aquaculture. The editors have assembled a great panel of international experts to cover a broad field of marine ornamental aquaculture and related topics, including major groups of fish and invertebrates traded in the marine aquarium industry, culture systems, nutrition, diseases, marketing, packing and shipping, and conservation. While the book is not designed as a manual for culturing specific species or groups, it does provide up‐to‐date information and guidance for overcoming the major bottlenecks in developing commercial production for more marine ornamental species."
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