mpedersen

But wait, there's more! I also wrote about this topic extensively for CORAL Magazine. SOME of that, and some *bonus* material can be found online here: https://www.reef2rainforest.com/clownfish-diversity-a-treasure-a-challenge/ The two print editions are: https://portal.publishersserviceassociates.com/carts/reef2rainforest/index.php?route=product/product&path=35&product_id=120 https://portal.publishersserviceassociates.com/carts/reef2rainforest/index.php?route=product/product&path=35&product_id=124 Joe Rowlett has taken the work of Barros and myself and expanded on it further, and he presents even more interesting ideas in terms of species diversity, some of which I agree with and some I might questions..but that's the very nature of science, right? I strongly recommend browsing his work as well, which, if nothing else, firmly bolsters the notion of keeping geographic forms distinct, and thus, the need for known provenance in where our clownfish originate from. https://amphiprionology.wordpress.com/ Of course, my talks and CORAL articles were originally envisioned as "necessary expansions" on Joyce Wilkerson's timeless (yet now somewhat dated) book, Clownfishes. For a while there it was out of print, and back issues were hundreds of dollars, but thankfully it's come back down in price. https://www.amazon.com/Clownfishes-Captive-Breeding-Natural-History/dp/1890087041

THANK YOU one more time to my WAMAS hosts and all who attended the meeting over the weekend. You guys have an incredible club and it's always an honor to come out; you serve as a model for how other clubs could, hypothetically, succeed. You were all a great audience, and I truly appreciate the compliments I received both personally and online following the presentation, particularly since I did somehow manage to take a 90 minute talk and make it 75 with interspersed questions (I consider that a success!!). That said, I am always open to any suggestions, questions, and critiques. Find me here, find me via CORAL Magazine, or through my personal online retail websites www.MiniWaters.fish As promised for all who attended (and even those that couldn't make it), these are the links to the online versions of the 3-part presentation I gave over the weekend at the WAMAS meeting. These files are updated as time permits to always add the latest information and advancements. They should be considered as "living documents" and taken "as-is"; there's a fair amount of speculation involved, particularly when looking deeper into what species might be lurking out there, and how the genetics may actually work! They are by no means *perfect*. Part 1 - Clownfish Species - https://prezi.com/_mxlh9rermr9/part-1-species-clownfish-wilkersons-lost-chapters/ Part 2 - Clownfish Genetics - https://prezi.com/fhcsu1p_2fzt/part-2-genetics-clownfish-wilkersons-lost-chapters/ Part 3 - Clownfish Hybrids - https://prezi.com/yxcudma7kdzo/part-3-hybrids-clownfish-wilkersons-lost-chapters/ ENJOY! Matt

OK, jokes aside, I'm in DC, the laptop is fired up, the frag tanks are set up, the food spread is out. It's shaping up to be a great meeting...the only thing missing is YOU! Come on down!

darnit, how did I wind up in Washington STATE?!

GREETINGS FROM O'Hare! In Duluth, we don't bother taking any of it down. Warm temps in Duluth? #FAKENEWS! ArkingMark, I could always just go rogue on 'em....(hit me up before or after...I'm around all weekend....plenty of time to chat Files!)

WAMAS Members, it's 4:15 AM as I type this, and I'm less than 2 hours from hopping on a plane in Duluth, MN, to take two flights to get to the Washington DC region so I can, once again, come attend an exciting WAMAS meeting! If I can travel over 1000 miles and spend a day in airports to come see all of you, please do me the honor of driving a half hour (or hour and a half?) to come check out all that's going on at this meeting on Saturday! The club has posted all sorts of details here - http://wamas.org/forums/topic/83123-saturday-october-21-fall-2017-meeting-matt-pedersen-on-clownfish/ Now...I must warn you, Copps asked me to give my 3-part clownfish talk, which is normally a total of 90 minutes. But they're only giving me an hour to make it happen. So...I'm going to blaze through it...you will see more clownfish eye candy than you knew existed. Wild fish, emerging genes you've likely not seen, and hybrids up the yin yang!!!! (if you're into that sort of thing). And, you might even see your club leadership break out the hook and pull me off stage! I'll be blunt, Clownfish ARE the guppy of the marine aquarium hobby now. I mean, I've run out of appendages to count the number of elementary school "clownfish breeding" projects and programs being started around the country. Today's kids....it's clownfish, not guppies! Of course, how many of us were, at one time or another, ENTHRALLED with fancy guppies? Come on, you can admit it, this is a #safespace I'm looking forward to seeing you all this weekend! I may not always remember your name, but I *usually* remember a face. Now...I've lost about 70 lbs. since you all last saw me...I don't feel like I look any different, but a lot of folks do...so you might not recognize me! Low-Carb High-Fat diet for the win...literally fixed all my health issues! Out with the sugar, IN WITH THE BACON!!!! Thanks greatly to WAMAS for inviting me to come out! I'll do my darndest to overload you with clownfish but not bore you all to tears!!! And by the way, it's a delight to be packing shorts. Please refer to the attached photo I took earlier this evening. Matt P.

BEST. LIGHTNING. MAROON. CLOWNFISH. AUCTION. THREAD. EVER! Nothing more awesome than folks willing to just have fun with this. I applaud the pool idea! BRAVO The fish are indeed at Blue Zoo, but my understanding is that they are NOT in the general system, but in a well controlled area that may have restricted access even (or may even be in a separate location entirely). These fish have really not be subjected to much outside influence / pathogens, so certainly I share the concern just in general of captive bred fish being intermingled with the rest of the supply chain. That said, I sent a test fish to them months back...a true CULL...and that fish was reported to be "very robust". Regardless, I've already encouraged any bidder to simply have formalin on hand...brook is so crazy and maroons are so susceptible...I'd hate for someone to get them and then have them collapse from brook or something similar.

The solution is bigger tile Which I have.

Hey, I'm supposed to be the one collecting those bets! I'm 50/50 on whether this will be genetic and dominant, or something else. Actually it's NOT. The Foureye Butterflyfish gets it all...except where the Maroon pair prevents the butteflyfish from going (basically their spawning territory). This is to be expected, since Butterflyfish are natural predators of anemones (and thus a clownfish's home). The Aiptasia came in on a frag, and that was all it took. If I took the clownfish out of the tank, the aiptasia problem would be completely under control.

Hey, thanks for making it known guys! I should point out a couple key clarifying points on commonly misunderstood aspects of the project. First, out of the 4 team members publicly acknowledged so far, only Ret Talbot is going to Banggai, embedded with the scientific team. There are actually a few more contributors to this project, all PhDs, who are going on the expedition. Hitting our funding goal of 25K has really invigorated the team, because we now know we have a green light once the Kickstarter funding period ends on April 8th. I'm not sure where 10K came from, but we did get a 10K pledge that helped push us into "funded' territory a few days ago. Backers are still signing up - we just received another $3500 pledge, which has now pushed us past $30,000. Which leads me to the second aspect - this isn't a "charity", nor are we looking for "donations". I'd like to remind folks of the great rewards you get when you pledge; things like first run signed copies of the book, your name in the book, Karen Talbot art, and tons of other options. Heck, a 5K pledge gets crazy amounts of stuff PLUS pays for Ret (or maybe myself) to come give a talk about the project at any venue of the donor's choosing. 10K gets us both (plus tons of other stuff along the way too). That's the really cool part about Kickstarter...it's basically putting a creative idea out there and seeing if there's enough critical mass to actually make it happen. We have 8 days left to make it happen - I can't say I've seen many (if any) chances for ANYONE in the aquarium hobby to get in on the ground floor on a project like this. We'd love to see your support (and thanks if you've already become a backer on Kickstarter). We're going to keep folks updated on the project website at Banggai-Rescue.com, and if you're a Kickstarter Backer, you'll get updates that route too ( http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/603466482/the-banggai-rescue-project ) Thanks all - I look forward to the breeding aspects of the project - I really hope to provide a refined, modern approach to the captive breeding of the Banggai Cardinalfish! Stay tuned!

Just wanted to hop online real quick this evening to thank everyone who came out for the Winter meeting - you guys were a wonderful audience! I hope you all got a chance to ask any and every question you had, but as I may have mentioned, don't hesitate to shoot me an email or PM and I'll do my very best to help where I can! I truly appreciated the opportunity and invitation to come out to speak, and as some of you know, having my best friend living in the DC area, I welcome any chance I get to come out this way. Truly, thank you to everyone a WAMAS! Matt