The majority of marine ornamental fishes to supply the world aquarium trade are harvested from the wild. In Brazil, due to overexploitation, several species are now considered as vulnerable or threatened with extinction. Farming marine ornamental fishes can be one of the measures to minimize the pressure on natural stocks. Research at the Laboratory of Marine Fish and Ornamentals (LAPOM), Federal University of Santa Catarina, has been conducted to develop technology for the production of native species focusing on the vulnerable ones, such as the barber goby Elacatinus figaro, the Brazilian basslet Gramma brasiliensis, the longsnout seahorse Hippocampus reidi, the pigmy angelfish Centropyge aurantonotus, and the yellowhead jawfish, Opistognathus aurifrons. Success in breeding and larviculture has been totally achieved with the barber goby, and partially attained for H. reidi. Feeding and nutrition of H. reidi still constitute the main issue for its massive production but improvement in survival and growth rates have been obtained with the use of digestive exogenous enzymes in the live food to feed newly born fish. The Brazilian basslet has spawned in captivity but fecundity and frequency of spawnings, and the larviculture protocol must be improved. The pigmy angelfish larviculture is still a challenge but the use of alternative live food such as ciliate protozoan (Euplotes sp.) and copepods might help improving larval survival. Apart from the economic potential that the marine ornamental fish production presents, due to the higher unit price compared to food fish, and the rich diversity of native species of importance in the ornamental trade, at the moment, research has been receiving limited attention, reflecting in the slow development of the activity in Brazil.
Acknowledgments: CNPq and CAPES for supporting the research and for grants.