Species of Concern

Species of Concern
Guides of selecting and avoiding certain fish and Invertebrates

Category 1
These species are protected in its native habitant.
a) Protected species include Sea dragons such as Phycodurus eques and Phyllopteryx taeniolatus.
b) Other species are Garibaldi Damselfish (Hypsypops rubicunda) found in kelps forest off the southern California coast. It is a cool water specie not suitable in a tropical reef tank.
c) The King angelfish (Holacanthus passer) is also protected in a portion of its home range.

IMO, generally, this 1st category needs to be protected from poaching.

Category 2
Removal of this species is detrimental to other reef species.
These species exhibit cleaning behaviour but frequently becomes research subjects. Not only do they fare poorly in captivity, they also deprive other reef creatures from getting their services. Such as Hawaiian cleaner wrasse (Labroides phthirophagus), other fish are dependent on them to remove parasites. The Magnificent Anemones is another example. The removal of magnificent anemone to fit your aquarium but cause clown-fish to lose their home.

Generally, MA have higher chances of survival than cleaner wrasse but their reproduction is known to be slow and have few off-springs. When in doubt, better to leave these species to their natural habitant.

Category 3
The species that grows too large for a typical home aquarium
I bet you got it right. Sharks and Rays, these species often outgrow in the home aquarium. If you can provide a sufficiently large environment, I think you can probably open the aquarium to public and collect fares.

Category 4
Aggression
If the size matters, then the aggression also matters. The King Angelfish and Queen Triggerfish are notorious for their aggression. Smaller fish would be at the mercy of the King and Queen. If you insist of having their royal majesty in your tank, treat them with respect ? keep your hands out of the water. Devote the tank solely to them.