Piranha bust in California

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How are cichlids illegal but yet lfs sell them?

You're reading the list incorrectly. Under sub-heading (o) there are 4 item listings displaying the 4 cichlid species that are illegal in CA.

(O) Family Cichlidae - Cichlids

1. Tilapia sparrmani (Banded Tilapia) (D).

2. Tilapia zilli (Redbelly tilapia) (D), except permits may be issued to a person or agency for importation, transportation, or possession in the counties of San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and Imperial.

3. Tilapia aurea (Blue tilapia) (D).

4. Tilapia nilotica (Nile tilapia) (D).
 
Oddball, may I ask what species you got busted with? And how did you get caught?

S. rhombeus
Schleropages leichardti
silver aro pair
H. malabaricus
motoro ray pairs
af tiger fish
nile perches

Caught most likely by posting pics here.
 
You're reading the list incorrectly. Under sub-heading (o) there are 4 item listings displaying the 4 cichlid species that are illegal in CA.

(O) Family Cichlidae - Cichlids

1. Tilapia sparrmani (Banded Tilapia) (D).

2. Tilapia zilli (Redbelly tilapia) (D), except permits may be issued to a person or agency for importation, transportation, or possession in the counties of San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and Imperial.

3. Tilapia aurea (Blue tilapia) (D).

4. Tilapia nilotica (Nile tilapia) (D).

Oh, i see now. Thanks
 
Yeah on the same show they raided a pet shop and took a black tip shark they had in a display tank for like 15 years. But I think it's major overkill to put that much effort into catching people with a few illegal fish.
 
Im watching this show about park rangers in California and they do a raid on a piranha dealers house. They have like 15 officers all armed and makin it just like a huge drug bust. The guy was selling like 5 red bellie baby's for 310 dollars. The guy was only like 15 And he admitted to selling more earlier in the week. I think that's way over kill for a "piranha feeler bust" and way to expensive for rbp. What do you guys think
It's a show... What do you expect? $310 for 5 baby rbps :screwy:
 
It's a show... What do you expect? $310 for 5 baby rbps :screwy:

Lol yeah the officer was holding the little plastic fish bag like it was a bag of weed. But still they could of made it almost realistic
 
Yeah on the same show they raided a pet shop and took a black tip shark they had in a display tank for like 15 years. But I think it's major overkill to put that much effort into catching people with a few illegal fish.
wait is that Blacktip Reef Shark? are they Illegal to own now.. I owned one before sucker cost me $500.00.
 
CALIFORNIA:

Prohibited fish species -- illegal to import, transport, or possess live specimens w/o a permit

(6) Class Elasmobranchiomorphi - Cartilaginous Fishes

(A) Family Carcharhinidae - Requiem Sharks All species of genus Carcharhinus (Freshwater sharks) (D).

Source: California Code of Regulations, title 14, section 671. These regulations are promulgated by the California Fish and Game Commission pursuant to statutory authority set forth in the California Fish and Game Code. (There's a statutory list too, but the one from the regulations is more complete. The statutes only contain the original list, whereas the regulations also include all species added by the Commission.)
 
I used to ID consult for several importers. There have been numerous occassions of having to separate out 6 or more bags of 'dragon fish' into their actual genus and species. And, these 'dragon fish' comprised species from different countries/continents. The scientific nomenclature makes cataloging much more concise.

BTW, while fishing in the everglades, I met a family with a bucket full of fish. There were at least a dozen different species. When I asked them what they had, they said 'mud fish'. I pointed to different fish and they called them all 'mud fish'. Think I'll stick with taxonomic terms.
 
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