coelacanth

this is what his belly looks like! I'm assuming he's an Amyda cartilaginea because that's the most common species over there, but does anyone know which species (singular or plural!) are available in NZ? The one in the Hothouse Turtles book, for example, looks nothing like this species.

OK, here's the story on Old World knifefish taxonomy Milet. There are three species in Africa, Xenomystus nigri, Papyrocranus afer and P. congoensis. The first two are allowed to be imported into NZ. X. nigri is a small one with no dorsal fin. The Papyrocranus spp used to be in Notopterus with the Asian knifefish; they are black and look similar in body-shape (with a dorsal fin) but have no pelvic fins (Notopterus spp have them but they are very small). There are about six species of Asian knifefish. They were formerly all in the genus Notopterus but Chitala is now seperated by many authors (I personally don't agree with this). The clown knife is N. (or C.) ornata. N.chitala is apparently a synonym of this. However the import list has both Chitala ornata and Chitala chitala (I wouldn't put any faith in this meaning anything though: whoever made up the list wasn't too concientious about correcting spelling mistakes and synonyms anyway, eg there are two listings for the same plec species, as Perygoplichthys etentaculatus and Pterygoplichtys etentaculatus!!). The royal knifefish seen recently in many shops is Notopterus (or Chitala) blanci. It is not on the new importable fish list.

noxious fish are koi and rudd (in the Auckland-Waikato area rudd are legally sportfish; in the rest of NZ they are noxious), as well as piranha, pike, Tilapia and Clarias (walking catfish). Obviously only the first two are already found in NZ waters. Fish classed as unwanted organisms are Gambusia as well as koi and pike (the latter two therefore qualify as unwanted AND noxious). I'm not entirely sure why the fine is greater for unwanted than for noxious species. However "unwanted" is a label, it is not meant to imply that noxious fish are any less 'unwanted' ! The brown bullhead catfish is currently lacking in legal status (it is not noxious or unwanted in a legal sense, so it is allowable to keep them in your aquarium, although I doubt DoC would like it much). I think the matter of the mudfish resulted from the mudfish thread in Oddballs where various people (me included) were arguing that as they are so endangered people should not be catching them for their aquariums.

I think there are softshells in NZ, probably around the $1000 mark

this is a softshell turtle from a market in northern Thailand, from when I was over there last year. They cost 10 Baht (that's about 40 cents!!!).

the Asian knives were all Notopterus but some are now in Chitala ("Chilata" is a misprint). Basically either generic name is usable. There are several species and as is common in taxonomy and nomenclature there is some confusion over what is what. On the import list, they have both Chitala ornata and Chitala chitala

yep, normally Siamese tiger fish or Borneo tiger fish. And usually they are only little

try Redwood, they often have them. Also Critter Kingdom and Ferry Road sometimes (you will probably notice that these three places all have their own quarantine rooms for importing!)

the asian bumblebee cat is in the genus Leiocassis. The South American one (normally sold over here as dwarf marbled cat) is Microglanis. Put these words into Google and you'll get what you need

discus actually get quite sizeable. I'd say a minimum tank length would be about 90cm.

yeah, I contributed quite a bit to that thread actually. Stella's information on there is only relevant to NATIVE freshwater fish. There are different regulations regarding introduced fish. Some species require permits to hold them (eg, Gambusia), others are classified as noxious pests and people keeping them can face extremely stiff fines (eg, koi and rudd). I attached some info on this to the end of that thread. I'm not sure where the brown bullhead fits in, because its legal status has changed recently I believe. It used to be treated as a sports-fish but is now an unwanted organism or something along those lines.

people should take note that Stella is referring only to native freshwater fish. There is a variety of legislation that governs freshwater fish in New Zealand, designed to protect our freshwater environments from alien pests. The approval of Fish and Game New Zealand is required to hold live sportsfish and Gambusia, or introduce fish or fish eggs to sportsfish or game bird habitats. Conservation Act 1987 To introduce any aquatic life (native or introduced fish, plants or invertebrates) into an area where they don’t already occur you need a permit from the Minister of Conservation, otherwise you could be liable for a fine of $5000. The taking and holding of some fish requires a special permit from the Minstry of Fisheries. Unwanted Organisms (Biosecurity Act 1993) It is illegal to release, spread, sell or breed unwanted organisms. There is a $100, 000 fine or five years imprisonment for people caught doing so. Noxious Fish (Freshwater Fish Regulations 1983) People who possess, control, rear, raise, hatch or consign noxious fish without authority are liable for a fine of $5000. Koi carp and rudd are classified as Noxious fish

absolutely yes

sarcasm is wasted on me Hummingbird....

what's that big catfish in there? is it the brown bullhead? (Coz I'm not sure if its actually legal to keep them, DoC etc don't want them spreading to anywhere else in NZ)

the only mudskipper now on the import list is the Atlantic mudskipper Periophthalmus barbarus, which is a 'typical' species in that it is out of water a lot. Don't know if its actually likely to be imported though...

hey, if you get too many axolotls you can feed them to Milet's clown knife!

um sorry, must have had a blank moment ...d'oh!

I wouldn't put an eel in with a clown knife anyway, too risky. Stick with something that can keep up with the clown's growth rate, or something that's uneatable like a plec or chocolate-striped cat

I wouldn't put an eel in with a knife in the first place, too risky. Plecs would be fine, or chocolate-striped cats coz they're so spiny nothing can hurt them. Clowns do grow quick when they're well-fed, so tankmates either need to be able to keep up or be uneatable.

lampreys are AWESOME!!! When they come back into freshwater to spawn they give up eating altogether. They can go up to two years like this, so if you catch an adult in a river you don't even need to feed them. Coz they're parasites makes it a bit hard to keep them otherwise!

I think we should all agree to disagree on this matter. There will always be people who put their own viewpoints ahead of the welfare of the fish, and will keep recommending "coldwater" guppies, plecs, whatever.

no need to worry if he doesn't eat for a few days. If the shop had just got him in they probably hadn't had to feed him yet, so if you want to know what he's been eating you'd have to find out which importer they got him from then ring them up and find out. To find worms either dig a hole, or look under plant-pots, bits of wood, whatever is lying around the garden.

In Thailand, Malaysia etc local lakes are stocked with giant fish like knives, arowana, arapaima, big cats etc for fishing purposes. In a tank the clowns are very unlikely to get as big as the one in the photo.

I just re-read the original question. A red light will enable you to watch the fish at night but during the day the tank would have to be in a darkened room for this to work. I wouldn't bother, he should tame up fine and then you'll see him more (at least at feeding times!)