40 DECEMBER 2022 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WA S .ORG aquaculture might contribute to the conservation of marine environments. In 2022, Biomarine, along with the Marine Fish Laboratory (Fisheries Institute), demonstrated the captive breeding of Pseudanthias squamipinnis (Sanches et al. 2022). These studies provided evidence that technology can currently assist reproduction of many marine ornamental fish species in captivity. Therefore, technological development has been undertaken to promote scale gains by reducing costs and expanding the supply of these organisms to the aquarium trade. Such studies, however, are usually focused on fish species from coral reefs in the altyphotic zone (between 0 and 40 m deep). There are few studies approaching the mesophotic fishes, comprising species that inhabit the mesophotic zone between 40 and 150 m deep (Pyle 2019). The termmesophotic designates a region of low luminosity. In other words, at these sites, there is a progressive increase in ocean depth and, consequently, a proportional reduction in sunlight. There is a correlation between depth and changes in the profile of species that detect by the visual sense (Rocha 2018). In those areas, mesophotic reefs provide shelter for many species that are not found in the altyphotic reef habitat. Furthermore, scientists believe that mesophotic reefs play an important role in protecting the fauna of altyphotic reefs as the deep waters around these zones may also function as a refuge for species in the case of mass mortality in the altyphotic zone, enabling the regeneration of the fauna associated with coral reefs. Altyphotic reef species are readily available for research because they are relatively easy to capture, considering that they inhabit depths accessible to fishing community members and conventional scuba divers, and are also widely available in saltwater fish markets. In addition, these species have been incessantly targeted for the aquarium fish hobby trade, so there is already knowledge and interest in these species. The biodiversity of altyphotic reefs is subjected to intense When diving at great depths, away from the coastal zone, there is a surprising variety of ecosystems not yet comprehensively explored by the aquarium trade. After 80 submersible diving sessions carried out near the Caribbean island of Curaçao, researchers recorded about 4,500 fishes from 71 species, with one-fifth of those being new species. It shows that marine fish biodiversity is still poorly understood. Considering the need for research and the potential of newly discovered species of marine fish, a Brazilian company decided to focus on this matter, developing technologies for collecting marine fishes frommesophotic depths (40-130 m). Biomarine Aquicultura Ornamental is a marine ornamental fish farming company established in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2018. It works with reproduction of several species, especially clownfish, and has been developing new larviculture techniques focused on the production of new food organisms, promoting the diversification of captive breeding species. Company efforts have already resulted in the isolation and culture of the copepod Bestiolina similis (Sewell 1914) and Pseudodiaptomus richardi (Dahl 1894). These strains have been successfully used for feeding captive-bred ornamental fish species such as the mandarin fish Syncyroupus splendidus, the sharknose goby Elacatinus evelynae, the orchid dottyback Pseudochromis fridimani and more recently, the sea goldie Pseudanthias squaminipinis. All over the world, research centers and ornamental companies are joining efforts to reproduce reef fishes in captivity. In this sense, in 2015, the Oceanic Institute of Hawaii (Pacific University) first demonstrated successful techniques for the captive breeding of the yellow tang Zebrasoma flavescens (Callan 2018). In 2017, researchers from the Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory, University of Florida described captive reproduction of Paracanthurus hepatus (DiMaggio 2017). Likewise, Biomarine is fully interested in investing in new saltwater fish species, as the company believes that reef fish The Potential of Diving Technology on the Collection of Mesophotic Fishes for Ornamental Aquaculture Eduardo Gomes Sanches, Flavio Félix Bobadilha, Adilson Ramos Santos, Bruna Larissa Maganhe and Laura de Oliveira Camilo Hyperbaric chamber used by Biomarine (top). Power handle detail (bottom).
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