Barry the pet trout fin-ishes up in new home
A PET coral trout that was left behind in an industrial warehouse will now live a life of luxury at Cairns Aquarium.
“Barry” the trout was discovered this week by Go Commercial principal Stuart Carr, who was conducting an open inspection of a live fish export warehouse at Barry St, Bungalow.
Mr Carr (right) had prepared a barbecue outside the premises for prospective buyers, when one man inquired about chucking the coral trout inside the large shed on to the grill.
“So I said ‘you’re kidding’, and I went over and had a look, and we discovered Barry,” he said.
The 80cm trout was understood to be a prized pet of the former business’ owner and had been in a tank for 1.5 weeks after the shed was vacated.
Mr Carr said they fed the malnourished fish cooked sausages and prawns until they were able to arrange for Cairns Aquarium to come and rescue him.
Aquarium senior curator Ramon Barbosa, who collected Barry yesterday morning, said the trout would remain in quarantine for three to four weeks before entering his new home in the oceanarium, alongside other reef predators.
“This is one of the iconic fish to the region, so finding one that needs to be rehomed, and having an opportunity to put it in the aquarium is absolutely great,” he said.