The global trade in marine ornamental species

From ocean to aquarium
Table 4: The ten most traded species of ornamental fish worldwide
Totals for number of fish are derived from exporters’ and importers’ data in GMAD for years 1997 to 2002. Species common to
both datasets are in bold.
Species No. of specimens Species No. of specimens
(exporters’ data)
(importers’ data)
Amphiprion ocellaris 145,015 Chromis viridis 322,587
Chrysiptera cyanea 111,705 Zebrasoma flavescens 198,869
Dascyllus aruanus 103,948 Amphiprion ocellaris 166,119
Amphiprion percula 101,092 Dascyllus aruanus 164,094
Chromis viridis 99,451 Pomacentrus australis 161,796
Abudefduf spp. 78,945 Chrysiptera parasema 156,069
Dascyllus trimaculatus 78,536 Chrysiptera cyanea 121,657
Paracanthurus hepatus 74,557 Dascyllus spp. 116,861
Dascyllus albisella 73,726 Dascyllus trimaculatus 102,650
Chrysiptera hemicyanea 61,914 Labroides dimidiatus 86,885
Total 928,889 Total 1,597,587
Table 5: The top ten species of ornamental fish imported into the EU
Totals for number of fish are calculated from exporters’ and importers’ data in GMAD for years 1997 to 2002. Species
common to both datasets are in bold.
Species No. of specimens Species No. of specimens
(exporters’ data)
(importers’ data)
Amphiprion ocellaris 44,881 Amphiprion ocellaris 123,640
Chromis viridis 29,717 Chromis viridis 103,682
Labroides dimidiatus 21,833 Chrysiptera cyanea 43,767
Chrysiptera hemicyanea 12,111 Chrysiptera parasema 42,576
Salarias fasciatus 12,019 Zebrasoma flavescens 38,411
Chrysiptera cyanea 11,776 Dascyllus trimaculatus 33,078
Paracanthurus hepatus 11,345 Labroides dimidiatus 33,073
Synchiropus splendidus 11,168 Paracanthurus hepatus 28,674
Pseudanthias squamipinnis 10,892 Pseudanthias squamipinnis 23,134
Acanthurus leucosternon 10,290 Nemateleotris magnifica 21,897
Total 176,032 Total 491,932
For the years 1997-2002, Amphiprion ocellaris,
Chromis viridis, the bluestreak cleaner wrasse (Labroides
dimidiatus), Chrysiptera cyanea, the palette surgeonfish
(Paracanthurus hepatus), and the sea goldie
(Pseudanthias squamipinnis) are the most commonly
imported species into the EU. Together the top ten
species make up 37 per cent of all fish imported into the
EU between 1997 and 2002, according to importers’ data.
(See Table 5.)
A similar analysis for the United States showed
that the top ten species (common to both exporters’ and
importers’ datasets), including Dascyllus aruanus,
Chrysiptera cyanea, Dascyllus trimaculatus and
Labroides dimidiatus, accounted for 39 per cent of all fish
species exported to the United States. (See Table 6.)
Seahorses
GMAD importers’ data showed that for all years (1988-
2002) the United States imported a total of 67,998
seahorses. The main exporters were Sri Lanka, Brazil,
Indonesia and the Philippines. Based on exporters’
information (1999-2003), the United States imported 5,638
live specimens, Japan 2,711, Taiwan 3,412 and the rest of
the world 2,688.
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