| There are several common fresh water Aquarium fish | | | | Endlers livebearer, is found in a wetland area in |
| that are extinct or nearly extinct in the wild. Quite often | | | | Venezuela. This area is seriously threatened by a |
| the collecting of fish for the aquarium trade is blamed. | | | | rubbish dump. The fish might already be extinct in the |
| My own research suggests that this is rarely the main | | | | wild, or if some still exist, their survival is precarious. |
| cause. | | | | There are populations being bred for the aquarium |
| I should clarify this statement. I am specifically talking | | | | trade, but unfortunately, this fish is also threatened in |
| about fresh water fish, not about marine species. The | | | | captivity both by inbreeding and by being hybridized |
| collectors of fish for marine aquariums will sometimes | | | | with the Guppy, Poecilia reticulata. |
| use cyanide to knock out the fish so they can be | | | | The White Cloud Mountain Minnow |
| collected. This is very harmful to both the fish collected | | | | The White Cloud Mountain Minnow was believed to be |
| and others in the immediate area. This environmentally | | | | extinct in the wild, but a tiny surviving population that |
| evil practice is not used, as far as I have been able to | | | | may be native was found a long way from the White |
| determine, for freshwater species. | | | | Cloud Mountain where most of the original population |
| The most common cause of extinction is habitat | | | | originated. The loss of this fish from its main area was |
| destruction by human activities. Here are a few | | | | caused by environmental damage by humans |
| examples. | | | | development rather than by the collection if this fish. |
| The Endlers Guppy | | | | This fish is being bred in the millions for the aquarium |
| The Endlers Guppy Poecilia wingei, also called the | | | | trade. |