Fla. wildlife officials to discuss reef health
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) _ Scientists and state wildlife officials are worried that the ecology of some southeast Florida reefs could be upset by excursions to supply pet stores and aquariums with various forms of marine life.
Experts say hobbyists are no longer filling their tanks just with fish and dead coral. The growing popularity of living reef aquariums mean divers have started going after crabs, snails and other invertebrates that filter water, as well as eat algae and dead organisms.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will be considering quotas for several of these species when it meets next week in Key West.