# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Cyprinids >  Wild Harlequin Rasbora

## CT

Where can I find wild Harlequin Rasbora?

Thks!

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## mrs budak

Erm, in the wild???

BAHAHAHA!!! Sorry.

Don't think they're for sale; most of the harlequins in the LFS appear to be farm-bred. And if you're asking where you can fish for some wild ones, don't think anybody's going to tell you! It's ecologically unfriendly!

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## Magnum-

Whats funny?

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## kadios

Once, in a local documentary that I've seen, they were featuring wild harlequin rasboras in some part of Pulau Ubin or local isles. However, I dun think you will wanna catch them bcoz they are large and they may not survive under captivity if we dunno how to quarantine and &amp;quot;condition&amp;quot; them properly.

Try Biotope, they got some a couple of months back. I got mine by scouring thru many lfs for them. Juz made sure they exude an orange glow under no or normal lighting. This way, you will definitely get beautiful harlequin rasboras!

Cheers!

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## sherchoo

> ----------------
> On 11/18/2003 9:15:14 PM 
> 
> 
> Once, in a local documentary that I've seen, they were featuring wild harlequin rasboras in some part of Pulau Ubin or local isles. However, I dun think you will wanna catch them bcoz they are large and they may not survive under captivity if we dunno how to quarantine and &amp;amp;amp;quot;condition&amp;amp;amp;quot; them properly.
> 
> Cheers!
> ----------------


The reason why you don't want to catch them cos it is illegal.

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## ckll

> ----------------
> On 11/18/2003 9:15:14 PM 
> 
> .... Juz made sure they exude an orange glow under no or normal lighting. This way, you will definitely get beautiful harlequin rasboras!
> 
> Cheers!
> ----------------


Saw some harlequin at a fs in yishun st 22 (called xing xing aquarium). Not sure if they are wild, but they do exude an orange tint.

Alternatively, saw some Rasbora Espei at Lake Aquarium that have pretty good coloration.

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## hwchoy

all Trigonostigma espei are wild caught apparently, from the south-eastern provinces of Thailand like Trat and Chantaburi. any T. heteromorpha (harlequin) found in LFS should be assumed to be bred. Do note they are no longer classified under the Rasbora genus, but Trigonostigma.

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## MrTree

catching wild harlequin at ubin if outside the restricted area, should not be illegal. Don't think there is any found outside the restricted area in main island.

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## juggler

Those Halequin Rasbora traded could be wild caught ones as well from Malaysia. See this article http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/biodiversitii...rium_more.html.

Anyway, what's the difference between keeping farm bred and wild caught ones? If you feed any fish well, they will be just as healthy and beautiful, right? Even a wild caught fish has a life span. You can only enjoy them for a while. I bought 50 Harlequins from fish farm a few months back and now their colours have improved a lot too.

Let's not disturb our already dwindling local freshwater habitats.

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## lorba

> ----------------
> On 11/19/2003 10:36:52 AM 
> 
> 
> Let's not disturb our already dwindling local freshwater habitats.
> ----------------


Indeed.

_&amp;quot;Another 2,000 species have been added to the annual Red List of the world's most endangered animals and plants...&amp;quot;_ quoting Alex kirby

Read the article here. We certainly hope that harlequins (and of course many others which is currently struggling to survive) will not be listed as endangered species in our living days on Earth.

What we can do to help and yet enjoy our hobby is probably supporting the farm breeding industry. There may be restrictions in many countries for such collection, but we must also be aware that the most damaging and biggest cut comes from illegal collectors.

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## Fei Miao

> ----------------
> On 11/18/2003 6:30:31 PM 
> 
> Where can I find wild Harlequin Rasbora?
> 
> Thks!
> ----------------


If you are referring to espei; I've seen them at plantas &amp;amp; Choong Sua :Smile:

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## CT

hello juggler

what condition must we provide to enable those Halequin Rasbora to regain its colouration?

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## hwchoy

farm bred ones have a shallower body shape, this could be due to variations in the source specimens (i.e. they were originally collected from localities whose specimens exhibit a shallower body) or it could be due to inbreeding. the ones native to Singapore has much deeper bodies. however I do agree we should try to leave the local population unmolested.

MORE IMPORTANT however, is to get rid of those introduced species especially LH and tiger barbs. The guppies have been around for so long I'm not sure whether we should even try to get rid of them. HAVING said all this, the chance of it happening is ZILCH [ :Knockout: ]

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## ckll

Harlequin and Espei spotted at Biotope today. More Espei than Harlequin.

Both have good coloration and deep bodies.

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## MrTree

haha, yeah, great, cannot catch in singapore but can pay money for these wild caught fish from other places.

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## avant

espei still available at biotope? is it open on sundays?

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## victri

I've been trying to figure out why I seem to have 2 different types of Harlequins. I have 3 given to me by a member of this forum. They are small (and have remained small for the past month) and have a sleeker/narrower side profile with a pale orange tint. I have some others bought from a LFS labelled as &amp;quot;Harlequin Rasbora L&amp;quot;, these are relatively larger and have wider side profile with deeper orange-red colour.

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## hwchoy

well, are you sure they are all harlequins? or perhaps some espei or hengli? They're easy to tell if you know what to look for.

On the other hand harlequins are quite variable, especially with all the farm breeding going on. but you can still easily tell by the shape of the black wedge.

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