# Anubias Sp, banned from UK import?



## jonnyf84 (12 Feb 2012)

hi,

I was told by our foreign suppliers that all Anubias species are soon to be banned from been imported into the UK, has anyone else heard this? Does anybody know if this will mean cultivation within the UK will also be chopped?

thanks.


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## foxfish (13 Feb 2012)

Have you been told any reasons for this?


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## George Farmer (13 Feb 2012)

I'll email DEFRA today about this. Sounds a bit odd though.


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## GHNelson (13 Feb 2012)

Hi George
This could this be related to the disintegration of the plant some people are experiencing.
hoggie


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## darren636 (14 Feb 2012)

disintergration?


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## ghostsword (15 Feb 2012)

Some fungus, saw it on the ASW forum. 

I'll be keeping mine safe, was going to sell them but after this better to keep them on the spare tanks.


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## George Farmer (15 Feb 2012)

Hi all,

No reply from DEFRA yet but I was contacted and told that Anubias is stopped being supplied to the UK from Oriental (huge Far East plant supplier).  

It's not a ban but a voluntary action by Oriental, due to the amount of complaints Oriental get from UK authorities with regards reported pests on Anubias.

If this is the case then Anubias should still be available from European nurseries i.e. Tropica, Aquafluer etc.

Cheers,
George


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## Ian Holdich (15 Feb 2012)

cheers for that George, there has been some query on tff about this.


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## Antipofish (15 Feb 2012)

Interesting that a supplier should voluntarily withdraw a product.  Thats quite a responsible approach.  I am glad to hear it should still be available from other sources.  The stuff I got today was Tropica and it was AWESOME quality.  I got 5 reasonable sized plants from the one pot.  Someone on another aquatic forum site was selling these for three quid each a couple of months ago.  I am glad I did not go plunging in, because as a Rookie I would not have realised it was not a very good price.  I cannot praise the Tropica stuff enough.


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## darren636 (15 Feb 2012)

voluntary in the face of  (possible) stringent, enforced measures. self preservation.


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## Antipofish (15 Feb 2012)

darren636 said:
			
		

> voluntary in the face of  (possible) stringent, enforced measures. self preservation.



Yeah but the outcome is still the same.  Hopefully this way they can sort out the issue and reintroduce the plant at a later date.


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## darren636 (15 Feb 2012)

maybe we could form some sort of group to sort it out? we could call it the ... errr.... Anubias team. or A team for short.


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## Antipofish (16 Feb 2012)

darren636 said:
			
		

> maybe we could form some sort of group to sort it out? we could call it the ... errr.... Anubias team. or A team for short.



Lol. Well I am sure we will be inundated with wannabe members !  I will just stick with my nice Dutch examples hehe.


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## dw1305 (16 Feb 2012)

Hi all,
I had a look on the FERA/DEFRA web-site and after seeing George's comment, I think this relates to some incidents of the Tobacco White Fly (_Bemisia tabaci_) being found on _Anubias_ plants imported from the Far East. This is a terrestrial pest, so doesn't bother us, but it is pretty serious for glasshouse Tomato, Cucumber, Cut flowers and Pepper producers etc. if it gets loose in the UK.

_Bemisia tabaci_ details
<http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/publications/documents/factsheets/bemisia.pdf>

_B. tabaci_ on _Anubias_ 
<http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants...ases/documents/interceptionCharts/23Mar10.pdf> & <http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants...ses/documents/interceptionCharts/06Sept11.pdf>

I had a bit more of a look and there are a couple of incidents on_ Echinodorus_ and _Hygrophila corymbosa_ as well, so we may not have heard the last of this.

I also think this may tie in with the "Shrimp Deaths" thread, as all Whitefly spp. are notoriously difficult to control with insecticides, possibly leading to producers using the "nuclear" pesticide cocktail option that has led to all the problems catalogued in the "Wipe out" thread <http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=19481&p=202007&hilit=systemic#p202007>. 

cheers Darrel


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## jonnyf84 (18 Feb 2012)

thanks for clearing it up


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## Frosties (19 Feb 2012)

I can confirm now that all supplies from the far east have withdrawn anubias from sale!


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## ghostsword (19 Feb 2012)

Start buying from Tropica and Aquafleur. 

You can buy from ebay, but wouldn't that be breaking the law? 


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## dw1305 (19 Feb 2012)

Hi all,
I've dug a bit deeper, and I think I have the reason for the lack of exports, and it is actually a bigger problem than just the UK. The good news is that it might explain the decay symptoms you often see with _Anubias_, the bad news is that it is even more difficult to treat than the Tobacco Whitefly.

I've found that _Anubias_ has been banned from import by S. Korea, due to the presence of a root nematode - _Radopholus similis_ and that lead me to this.



> Nematropica (2000) 30, 63-75
> P.S. Lehman, N. Vovlas, R.N. Inserra, L.W. Duncan and D.T. Kaplan (2000)
> Colonization of foliar tissues of an aquatic plant, Anubias barteri Schott, by Radopholus similis
> Nematropica 30 (1), 63-75
> _*Abstract:* In this paper evidence is presented for the reproduction of Radopholus similis in foliar tissues of Anubias barteri Schott. Burrowing nematodes colonized petioles and leaves of A. barteri in addition to the rhizomes. The nematode invaded the epidermis and the mesophyll of leaves causing cavities and cell disruption in the epidermis, palisade parenchyma and spongy parenchyma. Cavities extended from the spongy parenchyma into the periphery of the vascular bundles disrupting the regular flow of nutrient solution in the leaf tissues. Nematode feeding and migration also damaged the palisade parenchyma and cell chloroplasts inducing chlorosis and small brown lesions on the blades of the infected leaves. The burrowing nematodes recovered from A. barteri reproduced on sour orange and Duncan grapefruit in the greenhouse and on sour orange in the laboratory. In greenhouse tests, the citrus race of R. similis from citrus and the population from A. barteri reproduced on four Anubias species. Morphological and morphometric characteristics of R. similis from Anubias spp. did not differ from the R. similis citrus race from citrus._


<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radopholus_similis>

cheers Darrel


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## George Farmer (19 Feb 2012)

Thanks, Darrel. Fascinating stuff.


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## darren636 (19 Feb 2012)

ahh,  duncan  grapefruit.  that  explains  it.


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## dw1305 (19 Feb 2012)

Hi all,


> duncan grapefruit. that explains it.


 They should be Belgian rappers, "_Duncan Grapefruit and MC Pamplemousse_", in fact I think I might remember their Euro-disco hit  "_Thai Nematodes rotted my Anubias_". 

But apparently the "Duncan Grapefruit" is not only the original Grapefruit, but also a parent of the "Orlando Tangelo" and "Minneola".

<http://www.ceebeescitrus.com/products/185/duncan-grapefruit.aspx>

and the man himself - Larry Duncan <http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/academics/faculty/duncan/duncan_larry.shtml>

cheers Darrel


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## Ian Holdich (19 Feb 2012)

^^^lololol.

I imagine they would sound like 2 Unlimited.


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## darren636 (19 Feb 2012)

nematodes  rotted  my  anubias!!!!!!   best  thing  i  have  seen  today.    not  including  the  chisora  press  conference  of  course


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## Aquadip-Joey (20 Feb 2012)

Hello all,

The same problem is already for a couple of years in Holland.
The reason of the ban is a parasite on the plants, which is an important pest of bananas and will attack many other products like apple trees, grasses, coconuts and so on.
The parasite damages the roots of the plants which will be unable to take nutrition.

Like I said earlier; The same ban is active in Holland. In those years we have been succesfull in breeding Anubias Sp. ourselves. Like George said, it will be available from other sources, including Aquadip.
Ask your local supplier for our plants or get in contact with us to find your local stockist.

Regards
Joey


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## ghostsword (20 Feb 2012)

Does the nematodes only occur on anubias? I would have thought that other plants from the same nursery would be affected or at least contaminated.


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## dw1305 (20 Feb 2012)

Hi all,


> Start buying from Tropica and Aquafleur.


 & 





> Does the nematodes only occur on anubias? I would have thought that other plants from the same nursery would be affected or at least contaminated.


I think Luis's is probably a good idea, tissue cultured plants would start off virus and nematode free. I'm not at all sure how long the nematode can live in the roots of aquatic plants and whether it could transfer from plant to plant in the aquarium.  

The original paper says:
 "_To our knowledge, the only commercial aquatic plants reported as hosts of burrowing nematode (BN), Radopholus similis (Cobb) Thorne are the Anubias spp. reported in this paper.... Anubias species belong to the family Araceae and many other species in this family are good hosts of BN. ...... Radopholus similis is capable of reproducing on a wide variety of plant species in 88 families, with at least 365 species reported as hosts for the banana race and 139 species as hosts for the citrus race (Holdeman, 1986ab)." 

"Aquadip-Joey" may know more, horticulture is a huge industry in the Netherlands.

cheers Darrel_


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## Aquadip-Joey (20 Feb 2012)

Yes. Horticulture is being used a lot in Holland. Not only for breeding aquatic plants. 

The reason where the radopholus is coming from is still not sure and that is the reason for the very active ban.
It is also found at some Echinodorus sp. 

Hopefully studies will find the reason of the pest and even better, a cure against this!


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