TFH OCT 2013 Import Report Blue-tailed Fire-bellied Newt

[trailsofslime]

I was reading the October 2013 issue of TFH Magazine and noticed that the fish frams in Florida are importing Blue-Tailed Fire-Bellied Newts (Cynops cyanurus). Just thought I would let people know, maybe some breeders want to pick up some new bloodlines that would be a pure strain removing taxonomic uncertainty, as they should be able to be traced back to the source/location.

 

[Jennewt]

How could they be traced back to their origin? That's pretty rare for any pet trade animals.

 

[trailsofslime]

So far all I am able to find out is that they are imported from southern China, but I have a friend who works for another Florida importer and he is working on getting more details and looking into if any of their sources are offering these. The fish they get can be tracked back to the lake/river they have been collected from.

When I used to work for a reptile importer we knew where the animals were collected. The animals were collected within so many miles of the village, where we were purchasing them from.

Marine fish can be tracked back to the location of collection, not such a rare thing these days. Collectors use this information to return to the point of collection to try and collect more.

 

[Jennewt]

The problem is... that information is usually lost between the importer and the retailer. Maybe fish aficionados do a better job at keeping track of it at the retail end? Reptile retailers aren't exactly renowned for any sort of accurate information.

 

[trailsofslime]

Very true, good things these are being offered from the fish importer. I think most times when newts are imported by fish importers, they are sold to reptile distributors then maybe even another party before they reach the retailer or hobbyist, so that's probably where the problem is.