July 5, 2010

Taiwan's Council of Agriculture unveiled last week that it has successfully bred transgenic Convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) and Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare) that fluoresce,in collaboration with the Academia Sinica (Taiwan's national research academy). Practical Fish Keeping Article

July 1, 2010

An Evening with Ian Fuller - FREE PARKING Only $20.00 per Person - Saturday July 10TH, 2010 Toronto Zoo Atrium - 361A Old Finch Ave., Scarborough, ON 5PM Sharp!
2 Great Talks - Keeping & Breeding CORYDORADINAE Catfish & Culturing and using Live Foods
Click here for CAOAC Flyer

May 28, 2010

Please not change of meeting date from June 17 to June 10 - due to the summer holidays the school will be closed at June 17

March 8, 2010

Official letter submitted to the CFIA by CAOAC regarding proposed amendments to the importation of fish into Canada- http://www.caoac.ca/news.html

Ivan Dibble (1937 - 2009) - Ivan Dibble a man well known among the livbearer hobby, died in his UK home on Christmas Day at the age of 73. Ivan has contributed much effort in the conservation of livebearers in Mexico he was a founder of the Hobbysist Aqua Lab Conservation Project (HALCP) also known as the "Fish Ark Mexico". Having had personal communication with Ivan he was a wealth of knowledge and gave advise freely. He always had time to communicate with anyone. His death is a great loss to the hobby.

February 13, 2010

• Our Speaker for February 18 th will be Brian Glazier on Fish Nutrition.

• Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)- Soon to ban Guppys, Goldfish, Danios & Gouramies from entry into Canada.

  Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to amend Health of Animals Regulations.
  These proposed amendments affect us fish hobbyists as outlined below.

  The following fish will be required to have an import permit effective March 1, 2011 to enter Canada.
  the aquatic animal is a member of one of the following species: Barbonymus gonionotus, Carassius auratus, Devario devario, Danio rerio, Eigenmannia virescens, Glossogobius giuris, Osphronemus goramy, Oxyeleotris marmorata, Pangasius hypophthalmus, Poecilia reticulata, Puntius conchonius, Puntius sophore, Symphysodon discus, Toxotes chatareus, or Trichogaster pectoralis;
  There are exemptions available for aquarists but they are limited in scope.

  (b) the aquatic animal has not been taken to a show or display outside Canada;
  (c) the aquatic animal is imported by its owner;
  (d) the aquatic animal is accompanied or picked up by its owner at the point of entry into Canada; and
  (e) the owner presents proof of the owner’s identity and his or her ownership of the animal to the inspector.
  (2) Every person who imports an aquatic animal under subsection (1) shall retain the aquatic animal in the person’s aquarium in his or her household, and shall not, for the year following the importation, expose it to any aquatic animals other than those kept in the household.
  (3) No person shall import any aquatic animal under subsection (1) if the person imported an aquatic animal under that subsection in the previous 90 days.
  (4) Every person who imports an aquatic animal under subsection (1) shall keep the records of the importation, including the documents required under paragraph (1)(e).

  As hobbyists we do take fish to shows and displays outside of Canada, we may want to sell these animals or their offspring to other hobbyists and item 2 above basically makes this impossible for a year. Shows all seem to aggregate within weeks of each other under item 3 above you can only import an animal if it has not been imported within the last 90 days. Item 4 is also difficult if you are given fry etc. Some of these items put a hardship on us aquarists. If any of the above is not provable or documented - an import permit is required.

  The above apply to fish listed on schedule III, fish that are not on schedule III do not require an import permit but,
  Aquatic Animals not Listed in Schedule III
  193. No person shall import an aquatic animal that is not listed in Schedule III unless it is accompanied by a document that is satisfactory to an inspector and that includes the following information:
  (a) the name and address of the exporter;
  (b) the name and address of the importer;
  (c) the taxonomic name of the aquatic animal, the life stage, and the number being imported, if more than one; and
  (d) the country in which the aquatic animal was born or where the germplasm came from and, in the case of an aquatic animal, whether it was born in captivity or in the wild.

   This part of the requirements are vague, what is satisfactory to an inspector -  if you buy fish in a pet shop, you are not provided with the source of the animals or if they are tank raised or wild -  the country in which they are born – how do you know this if you buy them in an auction etc. ? Would lack of this information be unsatisfactory to an inspector?
  Having dealt with bureaucracy at the border before I can see this opening a nightmare of fish confiscations in which the animals will all be destroyed.

  From what I see outlined in this proposed amendment to the legislation it is imperative that we fight to retain the aquarist hobbyist exemption to these rules that we presently enjoy. Changes to this status will create the headaches I have mentioned above, not to mention additional troubles at the border.

  Increased aggravation for Tropical fish Importers which would end up with the consumer being able to get less fish, limits on the fish that are available and yes folks higher prices. All these permits and requirements will most likely have inspections fees etc associated with them- again a tax grab and aggravation.

  To let the powers to be know how you feel about this, please contact and make submissions to the CFIA and copy your member of parliament and the Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz.

SEEKING COMMENTS ON THE HEALTH OF ANIMALS REGULATIONS
OTTAWA, December 18, 2009 - The Government of Canada is committed to protecting the country's aquatic animal resources and is seeking comments on the proposed amendments to the Health of Animals Regulations that will be published in Canada Gazette, Part 1, on December 19, 2009.
These amendments will empower the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to implement the National Aquatic Animal Health Program. This science-based program addresses finfish, mollusc and crustacean diseases that pose serious economic or aquatic conservation risks.
These proposed changes are in line with the existing terrestrial animal health program. They will ensure Canada meets the standards set by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) for preventing disease spread from the trade of live animals or high-risk products.
Extensive consultations with the federal, provincial and territorial governments, industry and stakeholders have occurred through the Aquatic Animal Health Committee. During the past three years, several face-to-face consultations have been held throughout the country on the proposed regulatory changes.
The comment period will run until March 7, 2010. For additional information on the proposed amendments, visit: http://www.canadagazette.gc.ca.

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* A New Species of Corydoradinae Catfish (Ostariophysi: Siluriformes: Callichthyidae) from Rio Solimões Basin, Brazil - Marcelo R. Britto, Wolmar B. Wosiacki, and Luciano F. A. Montag

A new species of Corydoras from the Rio Urucu basin, a right-bank tributary of the Rio Solimões is described. The new species shares a distinctive pigmentation pattern with Corydoras arcuatus, C. gracilis, and C. narcissus, composed of a uniform light ground color on the body, and a dark, arched stripe from tip of snout to caudal-fin base along the upper portion of the dorsolateral body plates. The new species is readily distinguished from these congeners by the absence of a continuation of the arc-like stripe onto the snout. It also differs from Corydoras gracilis and C. narcissus by the posterior part of the arc-stripe reaching the base of the lower caudal-fin rays, and from C. arcuatus and C. narcissus by the distinctly rounded profile of the snout in lateral view, a greater preadipose distance, and the position of the posterior limit of the cleithrum. Despite the general resemblance, investigation about the position of the new species in light of previous phylogenetic hypotheses concerning this subfamily indicates that the arc-striped coloration pattern was independently acquired.

Copeia - Volume 2009, Issue 4 (December 2009) - Article: pp. 684–689

January 18, 2010

• Our Speaker for the January 21 st meeting will be Bob Wilson.

• Please note the change in date of our Spring Auction, it will be on February 28, 2010 at the Legion Hall.

December 10,2009

• The PRAC library will be reactivated, since we now have storage available at our meeting location. Those of you who want to take out books, this service will be started again at our next meeting.

December 10,2009

• Please note that the December 17 th meeting is the deadline for all members to renew their membership and pay their dues. If not renewed by this date, the club will be forced to charge for entry to the Christmas party for those members who have not renewed their membership fees for this year.

December 7,2009

• The PRAC forum is here, you have been asking for it and we now have it. To register, select the forum link on the left hand side of any PRAC web page and just follow the prompts. The more you post the more activity there will be and the more information available to you. Lets get to it.

Nov 20,2009

• The "Guess that fish contest" was such a succes that we will now have it every month. Our members were even stumped and could not guess one pair of fish, which then went into the auction - all proceeds go to help the Peel Regional Aquarium Club.
  Two Lucky winners went home with 1- Pair of Threadfin Rainbows - Iriatherina Werneri
  2 - Pair of Golden Wonder Killies - Aplocheilus Lineatus
  The 3 rd pair that went into the auction was Corydoras Sterbai - no-one was able to guess these ?