Jimmy Ma is the undisputed connoisseur of unusual and aberrant Centropyge morphs. Over the years he’s shared with us his koi coral beauty, multicolor angel hybrid, a trio of Tigerpyge, and many many more. Among his impressive collection, the ‘Blue Monster’ coral beauty is one of the few fish worthy of joining his illustrious Centropyge.
Unsurprisingly, the Blue Monster coral beauty hails from Vanuatu, home to a disproportionately large number of the aberrant Centropyge specimens collected for the aquarium trade. While orange coral beauties like ‘Golden Boy‘ are periodically found in Vanuatu and Australia, this is probably one of the very first Centropyge bispinosa to eschew all the orange from its garb in favor of a more regal, nearly all-blue appearance.
What makes the Blue Monster coral beauty so striking, is that with its all-blue body and patch of metallic turquoise behind the gills, this bispinosa still managed to retain a bright yellow pectoral fin and even brighter orange pelvic fins. These two features and the near-complete lack of patterning together seem to preclude the possibility of hybrid coral beauty genetics at work in this specimen.
There is a variable morph of ‘deep water’ coral beauty found throughout the Pacific Ocean which is pretty much devoid of patterning but these tend to be more solidly orange in the body, completely the opposite of Jimmy Ma’s Blue Monster. Needless to say, we’ve never seen a specimen of Centropyge bispinosa quite like this one but if Jimmy Ma’s track record is any indication, it will only be a matter of time until he fishes out the next unseen Coral Beauty trophy.
