ABSTRACT
With brilliant colours, intriguing patterns, and an elegant shape, it is not surprising that butterfi shes (family Chaetodontidae) are highly prized by marine aquarists, and one of the most important families of coral reef fi shes in the marine aquarium industry (e.g., Wood, 2001). Estimates of the number of butterfl yfi shes caught for the aquarium industry vary greatly (Pyle, 1993; Wood, 2001; Green, 2003; Lawton et al., Chapter 11), but the Global Marine Aquarium Database (www.unep-wcmc.org/marine/GMAD/index. html) reports that 347,487 butterfl yfi shes, from 72 different species, were imported (mostly to north America) as part of the global trade in marine aquarium fi shes between 1988 and 2002. These numbers almost certainly under-represent the true extent of harvesting of butterfl yfi shes for the marine aquarium industry, but it is clear that butterfl yfi shes (along with the angelfi shes, damselfi shes, wrasses, and gobies) are the top fi ve most heavily traded families of coral reef fi shes (Lawton et al., Chapter 11).
