I don't understand the reason to stop breeding of endangered species. Especially if the breeding turns regular (not anecdotical, I don't know if it's actually the case of the Earless Monitor), while these species aren't effectively protected in the wild, and while they are threatened by poaching and trafficking.
You might not be aware how the exotic reptile trade works. If there's money to be made, someone will find a way to obtain, breed & sell the required species, may it be earless lizards, angonoka tortoises or spider-tailed horned vipers. Nobody stops breeding if you can make a profit out of it. There's an old joke among herpetologists: What happens when a new reptile species is discovered? Answer: Two German reptile poachers will book a flight there. My addendum: On the airport, they will be greeted by their Czech counterparts, who have already obtained specimens of the new species.
I had to chuckle becaus of how true it rings. (Maybe half of intersting tortoise/turtle/parrot species kept at Prague zoo originate as confiscated animals or their offspring obtained 1-2 decades ago.) But to be fair, number of seized illegaly imported speciment at local airport went down considerably in last 5-10 years.
Are there reptile species that have been in the hobby first before being scientifically described, like with many plecos, Corydoras, and cichlids in the aquarium trade?
From what I'm aware, Durrell Wildlife Trust bred orange-tailed skinks before they had a scientific name. I'm not sure if they've been described as of today.
It may have been the case of the Fijian Banded Iguana Brachylophus bulabula, described in 2008 only and often confused with the sister species B. fasciatus, already described in 1800. Beauval has some of these animals since 2009 (imports from Zurich Zoo). These lizards have been mislabeled as B. fasciatus for many years.
Yes, especially whenever there's a new taxonomic split-up (like in the case of the Naja melanoleuca-complex). Speaking of Naja: Naja nana was already kept and bred at Serpentarium Calden before it was officially described as a new species.
They're apparently not genetically that distinct from Gonglyomorphus fontenayi from the Mauritian mainland, so are retained within that species. The Irian Jaya blue-tongued skink is yet to be formally described.
Yes, but in reality there are only few such hobbyists. I regularly read horror stories about reptile pet trade threatening this or that. However numbers of specialized hobbyists and animals actually present are minuscule, especially compared to sizes of wild populations. Large trade in reptiles is for chelonians for food, and few common and bred species (corn snakes, bearded dragons etc). Since this thread is about captivity, not just in zoos. Can somebody give an estimate how many e.g. spider-tailed vipers were originally privately imported to Europe? 5? 10? 20? How many private breeders there are? 3? 5? About earless monitors, there were several papers blaming zoos for threatening the earless monitors by wild-caught trade. It turns, all EAZA zoos obtained only 35 animals, including third from customs confiscations, third bred in non-EAZA zoos and the third bred by hobbyists. And already by 2020 bred 29 more.
I think you're downplaying the effect of the trade. Multiple species are confirmed to be endangered due to pet trade, Lygodactylus williamsii comes to mind. The number of threatened species imported is massive and is known to be a major problem, sporadical confiscated shipments of endangered reptiles end up in zoos. Look at the issues with Radiated Tortoises. A lot of species are relatively unaffected, but there is an unfortunate trend of highly desired reptiles being endangered species...
Nobody can, as none of these specimens were officially imported, and most of the breeders are keeping a lot profile. I agree with @Great Argus ; you're downplaying the trade effect, especially in regard to species with limited populations.
