[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
WCW Speaker: Al Castro
CURIOUS ABOUT PUPFISHES, AND OTHER DESERT FISHES, CHECK THIS OUT!
West Coast Weekend is proud to announce that Al Castro will be one of the
keynote speakers. The topic of his presentation is "Killifishes of the Death
Valley System." This will be a look at what was, what is, and what can be
for desert fishes.
Al Castro, sometimes known as "Mr. Pupfish," has a long-standing interest in
desert fishes that began in the late 1960's. In addition to becoming a
member of the Desert Fishes Council in 1969, Al worked as a professional
aquarist at the Steinhart Aquarium of the California Academy of Sciences
during this time and spent many hours studying and attempting to breed rare
desert fishes including the Devil's Hole Pupfish. Al has also trekked to
the desert many times to observe the fishes and their habitats.
Al Castro is a well-established "name" in the killifish hobby. He spawned
his first killifish in the late '50's and has kept and bred the same line of
Rivulus cylindraceus since 1963. Al has been an active member of the Bay
Area Killifish Association since its inception. He has also served as a
past chairman of the American Killifish Association (AKA), worked on several
AKA committees, and has been a speaker at many of the AKA national
conventions.
While killifish people claim Al Castro has one of their own, Al has gained a
reputation as an expert with many kinds of fishes. In the business realm,
besides the 12 years that Al worked at Steinhart Aquarium, he has been
involved in the importation of both freshwater and marine fishes, ran a fish
hatchery, operated an aquarium consulting business, and managed an aquarium
maintenance business. As a hobbyist, Al has been keeping fish from the day
he was born when he was given two goldfish. He joined the San Francisco
Aquarium Society in 1954 and served 20 years on their Board of Directors
(president - 3 times). Al has also been active in the American Cichlid
Association (past chairman), the North American Native Fishes Association
(past board member) and the American Rainbow Association (past board
member). For the past 13 years, Al has acted as the freshwater question and
answer man for Aquarium Fish magazine. Al's current ambition is to spawn
and raise every species of aquarium fish. So far, his total is over 863
species. Al Castro also seeks to help others get as much enjoyment out of
the hobby as he has.
Allan Semeit "azkillie"
Enjoying a sunny day in Phoenix
---------------
See http://www.aka.org/AKA/subkillietalk.html to unsubscribe