60 day post settlement Baldwini PIpefish – Copyright Jim Welsh, 2013
Proof that hobbyists can really innovate, we’re pleased to share the news from Jim Welsh, a private aquarist, of his successsful breeding and rearing of Dunckerocampus baldwini, the endemic Flame or Redstripe Pipefish from Hawaii. For anyone not familiar with this species name, it was formerly known as Doryrhamphus baldwini; this species has remained a very uncommon fish in the trade.
Similar pipefish species have been successfully reared in the past, although it’s never an easy feat, as Welsh’s success rearing a single juvenile to 60 days post settlement proves the ‘It only takes one…” concept to prove something CAN be done. Will this mean a flood of captive-bred, prepared-food-eating Flame Pipefish this time next year? Probably not. But every success like this proves that ability of hobbyists to innovate and pioneer in new directions, as well as serving as a “proof of concept” that we can indeed continue to grow and refine our capacity to produce captive-bred ornamental marine fish. Congrats to Jim on doing what, to date, no one else in the world has done!
You can follow Jim’s Pipefish Breeding Project from inception to success on the Marine Breeding Initiative (MBI) website.
