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I have heard a rumour from a friend in the aquatics trade that a survey has been carried out to ascertain the stock levels of zebs in the rio xingu. The outcome of this survey, according to the rumour, is the levels of zebs is much higher than first feared and that sensible and controlled exporting of the fish may soon be taking place. The questions are: 1, is there any substance to this rumour? and 2, is the rumour just wishfull thinking on the part of a few misguided souls.

Does any one have any comments on this or has any body heard the same rumour previously?

I've heard a couple of other people saying the same thing, not that the ban has been lifted but that they have heard it has been lifted (which is very different if you ask me). I'm not sure that is the case, yet, otherwise it would no doubt be big news in aquatic circles.
If and when the ban is lifted it will still probably be a while before we see any F0's in the shops. No doubt 'controlled' exportation will be implemented, although how controlled this can and will be is up for debate (especially if you read the article provided by Hamish99 in the same forum). Still, once exportation is under way L46's will I imagine only get shipped to those countries willing to pay the highest price...which will probably be those in and around Asia as most of the best fish seem to be sent there.

However, the longer the ban is in place the more chance there is of a succesful breeding programme coming into fruition. Only last weekend did I see the only shop in my area which occassionly stocks L46 have their first lot of F1's for sale. It's just a shame they were asking £150 for 1.5cm fish (that's £10 per 1mm! )..still it's a good sign.

Plastic Mac

whats an F1 and were is this rumor being heard i want to go check it out

F1 is the first tank bred generation after their wild parents. F1 and F2 is the most sought out fish IMO.

what makes them superior to f3s and so on

i dont keep track of fish past f3 personally. F1 and F2 even F3 tend to have the best coloration in other fish, i haven't seen enough pleco breeding to tell yet, i've seen F1 of certain pleco species all look superb, even wilds.

This plastic mac is correct.....I heard the same rumor from my friend about the lift of the ban and when to a few LFS and one of the store even have 20 adult Zebs in stock,I'm talkin about adult ones like 2.5inches!!... other stores have like 4 zebs every other day and sold on the same day.Wondering if the rumor is ture???....

I've seen with own eyes wildcaught zebra's of about 8 cm

How recent did you see the fish

Barbie wrote:According to the gentleman on the IBAMA panel the zebras are now listed as an endangered or threatened species,

When did this happen? I heard not long ago it wasn't on any lists but it was a beurocratic issue..? links?

wouldn't it be much easier if the Brazlian government could just tell people what's going on

Thanks for the thread on planet catfish.

Now if Daniel Machado is to be believed, and the list of endangered species, there on page 10 of the download in the post on 27 May is listed Hypancistrus Zebra.

There are also posts from people who have first hand experiece of the Xingu, and all the reports appear to be negative in respect of numbers of L46, and while only circumstantial, there are no positive reports of numbers.

I guess it's best to be safe than sorry and give the little fish a chance to recover in the wild. Though with destruction of habitat I suppose I'm a little pessimistic, sattelite pics are available of the area. Shows we are all being watched.

I think we all know there are enough fish in the hobby to conserve the species for the hobby, and that supply does not meet demand.

And while fish may be smuggled to Peru for export, and we remain unsure of the numbers in the wild, the question recently posted about what would you do if if you find wild caught zebras in a shop, or if we are aware of people circumventing regulations to import this fish, at this point in time we are morally obliged to provide whatever information we can to the author of the link provided.

Otherwise we are promoting the illegal trade in wild life, which I don't think is the purpose of this site.

Dave

Dave,

I'm a member of the IBAMA staff... Wouldn't post this kind of information if it wasn't the OFFICIAL position. Both "INs" (Instrução Normativa) are valid and in use now. Can't ask ANYONE to believe me, but I'll try to give as much official and first-hand info as I can.

Oh, I'll work on the articles in portuguese that are in this forum... Try to translate them for everyone who's not able to read in portuguese.

Best regards.

Daniel.