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Originally Posted by PhotoJohn Whats wrong with the stars I picked up? I reslize no one really knows what they eat other than they are filter feeders (from the research I have done), but are they endangered or threatened?. |
You partially answered your own question, "I reslize (realize) no one really knows what they eat". Let's, for instance, just make a case here for you to grasp...You are abducted by little green space people, Martians, and taken to their world, kept in a glass box, and fed a foreign diet of Martian do do. The Martians don't know what your diet consists of but they try what they have at hand. You are most likely going to starve to death even though the Martians had "GOOD INTENTIONS". This is silly but, do you get my point???
No, they are not threatened, YET! But, that has little to do with ethics! Some reefers believe that, unless you are a qualified Marine Biologist or a hobbyist with extensive experience in keeping difficult reef inhabitants, that Basket and Feather Stars be left in their natural environment. Even with 35 years experience keeping marine aquariums exclusively, I do not consider myself qualified to attempt to keep Basket or Feather Stars. There simply is not enough information known about their food requirements to give them a chance at survival in captivity.
As I tried to convey in my post above, just because you can find them in the
LFS doesn't make it ethical to purchase them. Here is a direct quote from,
"Reef Invertebrates" by Calfo and Fenner.....
"Crinoid Feather Stars and Sea Lilies are categorically tragic aquarium subjects from any perspective in the industry and throughout the chain of custody upon import. Both are very delicate to handle and ship, on top of which they are also extremely impractical, perhaps impossible, for the average aquarist to keep in an aquarium. The mortality of Crinoids as a rule is high when handled, and we wish to make it clear: the casual harvest and keeping of these animals is to be discouraged outside of species specific displays until the primary obstacles of collection and husbandry are finally surmounted. The Gorgonocephalid Basket Stars mirror the delicate nature and suffrage of Crinoids as aquarium subjects and all such admonitions apply here as well." One trait it would behoove all aquarium hobbyists to become is "professional"! In other words, to raise your level of ethics to the point that you strive for perfection in aquarium keeping endeavorers. Making mistakes is inevitable, it's part of the learning process. What's important is that we learn from our mistakes and not repeat them. That way we move along the learning curve to a higher more "professional" place.
