Development of Captive Breeding Techniques for Marine Ornamental Fish: A Review

The increasingly popular aquarium hobby is fueling the rapid growth of the aquatic ornamental industry, particularly the trade of marine ornamental species. However, currently there is a heavy reliance on wild caught marine ornamentals to satisfy consumer demand. As public awareness of the plight of marine ecosystems grows, the often destructive and unmanaged exploitation of coral reefs for the marine ornamental trade has raised concerns. Therefore, there is consensus that urgent actions need to be taken to limit destructive exploitation of coral reefs, and to ensure the sustainability of the marine ornamental industry. An obvious and vital action of such efforts would be the development of captive breeding techniques for marine ornamental species, in particular, coral reef fish. Research efforts towards captive breeding of marine ornamental species, also known as marine ornamental aquaculture, stand to supplement or replace the supply of wild caught specimens for the marine ornamental trade, and potentially help boost reef recovery efforts through restocking. However, unfortunately, the marine ornamental aquaculture sector is still in its infancy, receiving limited research attention, and, in turn, has experienced very slow development compared to the technical and industrial advances made in foodfish aquaculture. While it is true that at present, multiple bottlenecks have severely limited the progress of marine ornamental aquaculture, through careful appraisal and adaptation of culture techniques developed for foodfish, and by addressing the specific needs of marine ornamental aquaculture, significant progress could be made for the marine ornamental aquaculture industry. With this objective in mind, this review attempts to summarize the major bottlenecks facing the marine ornamental aquaculture industry, and to highlight weaknesses in the current state of research. Major areas in need of increased research efforts include broodstock management, such as the development of specific broodstock diets and broodstock husbandry, spawning induction via hormone technologies that are tailored to the size and sensitivity of small broodstock ornamentals, and comprehensive, species-specific larval rearing techniques, including system design and larval culture conditions as well as larval feeds and nutrition.