Clownfish75 wrote:This is our list of legal imports, you will note that inverts are not on there as they are all illegal.
I should clarify that this is indeed only import related.
I.e. it's not illegal for you guys to keep reef tanks, just not legal to import corals and such.
Things of note we cant have include, jawfish, many gobies and blennies, including all Amblyelestrios, Neons, and stonogobiops.
HMM. But this isn't a "Can't have" list, it's a "Can't Import" list. What about native species? They're not being "imported" if they're collective in Australian waters.
I.e.
Stonogobiops. As a genus, it's not on the 'included' for import list. Which does rule out any species not found in Australian waters (
S. dracula,
S. medon,
S. nematodes, and
S. yasha). However, there is a species that is found on the Great Barrier Reef (which I assume is Australian waters) -
Stonogobiops xanthorhinica. So based on the information provided, you should be able to keep this species...
Again, the Opistignathids (Jawfish). While three of the most popular species are from the Americas (Pearly and Dusky from Florida, Blue Spot from Baja California / Mexico), our #4 species here in the states, the Black Cap Jawfish, Opistognathus randalli is found again on the GBR.
And the shrimpgobies -
Amblyeleotris diagonalis,
A. callopareia,
A. gymnocephala,
A. guttata,
A. fasciata,
A. macronema,
A. ogasawarensis,
A. periophthalma,
A. randalli,
A. rubrimarginata,
A. steinitzi, and
A. wheeleri - all are found in Australian waters. Again, the regulation you cited only regulates imports, so you should have a variety of Shrimp Gobies legally available to you!
I notice it is wierd that the genus Ecsenius (Blennies) is spelled out at the species level, and that a fish like E. graveri, from the Red Sea, is perfectly OK to import.
HRM. Perhaps there's more to this than just the import restrictions?