Neat article about Boxfish in NYT today

[agilis]

I remember Doug well. He was a great help when I first started. He was the "itinerant pet fish shop manager". We had quite a few local tropical fish stores in those days. Shark Aquarium on 22 in Union (ugh), The Pet Shanty next to Bowcraft (now both gone), there was also a good one on Rt 46, and Fin 'n Feather in Springfield. I still own a 20 yr old parrot bought from Andy!). None remain today. When I built my 1200 gal tank in my house, Doug came over frequently to advise. I had one of the first MTC FFs thanks to him! Were you on Fish Forum?

No, I generally stayed away from too many hobbyist entanglements. Way, way, back in the day I did a few slide talks and presentations for Windows to the Sea, and wound up taking a group to a small town in Jamaica where I had once lived, to do some fish collecting. It was not an experience I'd care to repeat. The first shore snorkeling expedition resulted in the snorkelers telling me that there was nothing there. I went back in and brought them four small French Angels in 15 minutes. It turned out they thought just scanning the bottom would reveal these fish. Since I wound up catching most of the fish during the trip, they argued bitterly over who was entitled to what. The high point of the week was when a comely young prostitute saw us having lunch at Chicken Lavish, at a large outdoor table. She walked over and slapped the table, loudly exclaiming "BLOW JOB!! I thought these guys were going to faint. They were not used to life in the raw, outside of superclubs and tourist hotels. They began calling me Indiana Jones. Doug had warned me, and he was right.

 

[agilis]

I remember Doug well. He was a great help when I first started. He was the "itinerant pet fish shop manager". We had quite a few local tropical fish stores in those days. Shark Aquarium on 22 in Union (ugh), The Pet Shanty next to Bowcraft (now both gone), there was also a good one on Rt 46, and Fin 'n Feather in Springfield. I still own a 20 yr old parrot bought from Andy!). None remain today. When I built my 1200 gal tank in my house, Doug came over frequently to advise. I had one of the first MTC FFs thanks to him! Were you on Fish Forum?

I remember all the shops that went belly up. Pet Shanty was the last place Doug worked. I knew Charlie and his wife quite well. In fact, I knew Jessica before Charlie did, when she was an undergraduate.

You still have a parrot? I love those birds, and still miss my little Amazon, a Jamaican Black Billed Amazon that I bought from a Maroon in the isolated Maroon village of 'Quick Step' in the 'Me No Sen' Yu No Come' region of Jamaica many years ago as a small chick that had been looted from a nest. I think I paid $10 US. That village was so difficult to get to that the girl in the passenger seat of my Toyota Starlet began loudly weeping as we traversed a rubble filled very narrow road at the edge of a precipitous cliff. The road was no more than about 8 feet wide and tilted slightly into space. I could look down directly from my driver's side window without seeing the road, into 2000 feet of open air, clouds and flocks of parrots far below us. It was indescribably beautiful. The villagers all spoke only deep patois, had not seen another white in several years. The village school let out so all the kids could run down and see us.

My little Amazon is responsible for my name on this site- 'Amazona agilis' is the correct scientific name for the bird. I had her for almost 30 years. Thus, 'Agilis'.

 

[tridacna]

I remember all the shops that went belly up. Pet Shanty was the last place Doug worked. I knew Charlie and his wife quite well. In fact, I knew Jessica before Charlie did, when she was an undergraduate.

You still have a parrot? I love those birds, and still miss my little Amazon, a Jamaican Black Billed Amazon that I bought from a Maroon in the isolated Maroon village of 'Quick Step' in the 'Me No Sen' Yu No Come' region of Jamaica many years ago as a small chick that had been looted from a nest. I think I paid $10 US. That village was so difficult to get to that the girl in the passenger seat of my Toyota Starlet began loudly weeping as we traversed a rubble filled very narrow road at the edge of a precipitous cliff. The road was no more than about 8 feet wide and tilted slightly into space. I could look down directly from my driver's side window without seeing the road, into 2000 feet of open air, clouds and flocks of parrots far below us. It was indescribably beautiful. The villagers all spoke only deep patois, had not seen another white in several years. The village school let out so all the kids could run down and see us.

My little Amazon is responsible for my name on this site- 'Amazona agilis' is the correct scientific name for the bird. I had her for almost 30 years. Thus, 'Agilis'.

I have two: A 20 yr old male Jardine's Parrot and a 2 yr old female Hahn's Mini Macaw. I used to attend MACNA religiously. I remember the debates with Albert Thiel. Early days of Julian Sprung, Charles Delbeek et al. Was a fun time.