![]() To cover up the nature of his shipments and to avoid detection from governmental inspection authorities, Torres would falsely label many of his live shipments as inanimate objects.įrom 2014 till 2016 alone, he shipped over a hundred packages of Ricordea, worth some $400,000 in total. The creatures are very popular because they glow under UV lights that are typically used in high-end saltwater aquariums. “It is illegal to harvest Ricordea, zoanthids, and anemones in Puerto Rico if the specimens are going to be sent off-island or otherwise sold commercially, nor is there a permit available to do so,” it said. These animals are known as “rics,” “polyps,” or “mushrooms” in the aquarium industry,” said the statement. ![]() “One of the most popular items that Torres and his business sent off-island was an organism from the genus Ricordea. Raymond Michael Torres Ramos, 45, ran an Porto-Rico based aquarium business “Carebbean Reefers” that also operated on ebay under the username “Redragon1975.” He sent the illegally collected native Puerto-Rican saltwater creatures to his customers using commercial courier services, a statement from the US Department of Justice said. Ricordea glow under the UV lights that are typically used in high-end saltwater aquariums. Hundreds of thousands of dollars and then selling them to clients in the mainland United States and abroad. A Puerto-Rican man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to harvesting protected invertebrates worth
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