Research at the University of Portsmouth in England aims to investigate the currently overlooked field of invertebrate propagation for the marine aquarium trade.
‘Tis the season for research studies! We shared this a few weeks back on the CORAL Magazine Facebook page, but for those that missed it, here’s another opportunity to weigh in and potentially help steer the marine aquarium industry in a beneficial direction.
Post graduate Joanne Younger, investigating marine invertebrate propagation and the marine aquarium trade at the University of Portsmouth.
If you really think about this, we often see news of fishes being bred, and the propagation of corals through fragmentation is ubiquitous. But the other marine aquarium life, the often motile invertebrates that also dwell in our reef aquariums, are largely overlooked in captive propagation efforts at this time. Post-graduate Joanne Younger at the University of Portsmouth in Hampshire, England, intends to research the feasibility of culturing aquarium invertebrate species for the marine aquarium trade.
This research starts with an assessment:
-
What invertebrates are hobbyists keeping in their tanks?
-
How many of each species are being kept by each hobbyist?
-
What kinds of invertebrates are being kept together and which are the most compatible combinations?
To this end, Younger had invited the participation of marine aquarium hobbyists and retailers to weigh in by participating in a survey. It should be noted that the survey is funded by a UK-Bred Ltd., presented by the University of Portsmouth. We couldn’t find much on UK-Bred Ltd., save a mention on a website which notes, “UK Bred Ltd is a small start up researching opportunities in the breeding of fish and invertebrates for the pet trade. Once viable opportunities have been identified the intention is to move to commercial production.”
This is a classic example of a private and academic partnership. Your responses may help a startup like UK-Bred Ltd. focus their efforts on the invertebrate front, and for Younger’s part, the data provided will, “form part of a thesis, and a summary may also be published in scientific and non-scientific literature.”
You can learn more about the project watching this two-minute video below, or by visiting http://www.invertebrate-survey-2015.co.uk/, where you can start the survey.
Editor’s Note – This survey is not being conducted by CORAL Magazine. This survey is being done by Joanne Younger at the University of Portsmouth, and is funded by UK-Bred Ltd. See the survey for further disclosure / disclaimer information.
