LUBBOCK, Texas -
Pet shop owners warn parents and fish enthusiasts to be careful when it comes to demand for Dory-like fish after the Disney/Pixar movie "Finding Dory" hit theaters. When "Finding Nemo" was released 13 years ago, demand for the clownfish skyrocketed and biologists are concerned about people wanting to buy the Pacific blue tang after seeing the sequel.
An online petition has been organized to urge Disney to take official action to protect the tang, and as of Saturday night, it had nearly 114,000 signatures.
One Lubbock aquarium owner said his shop does its best to make sure any blue tang will have a safe home if they're sold.
"We typically ask a lot of questions before we bag up a fish for a customer," Kyle Howard, with Mr. Aquarium, said. "'What size tank do you have? What are your tank mates? How long have you had the aquarium? What kind of filtration do you have? What do you feed? How often do you feed? What's your ammonia? Nitrates? Nitrites? PH?'"
"So these things," he continued, "when you start inquiring about that, I think most people realize that's not the best fish for them, if they're going to have to keep tabs on all of those variables. That, actually, is a good thing."
The blue, black, and yellow fish are considered 'under threat' from illegal collection by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
