Precious video of Ball’s Pyramid shows rare footage of Chaetodontoplus ballinae in the wild

Chaetodontoplus ballinae is a dichromatic beauty of legendary proportions, documented based on two trawler specimens off the deepwater Australian coast in the late 50s and 80s. One of the rarest and least known of the Chaetodontoplus genus, this angelfish is…

Gorgeous New Closeup Photo of the Mythical Ballina Angelfish

The Ballina Angelfish is a swimming oxymoron – it is one of the best-known yet rarely-seen rare species of angelfish yet sightings of this species are very rare. The reason for this rarity is that it is only known to occur…

What’s in a name?

Scientists are often pretty whimsical in their own way when it comes to describing a new species for science. To the undiscerning amateur like us, we may find scientific names cumbersome, made up of an unpronounceable mass of consonants with an unearthly…

Exquisite new video of the Ballina Angelfish at Ball’s Pyramid

Back in April this year, we posted about a video of Chaetodontoplus ballinae swimming in the wild of Ball’s Pyramid. That video has been removed since but fear not, a brand new video with better footage of this illustrious dichromatic…

Shallow water diving in Lord Howe puts you within reach of amazing neotropical reef fish

If you ever find yourself diving in Lord Howe for whatever reason, chances are you’ll encounter a wild McCulloch’s clownfish and there’s nothing that will allow you to take it home. Not even a Master Ball. The video right at…

Super rare Chaetodontoplus niger photographed in Oak Island, Japan

Chaetodontoplus niger is a fish so seldom seen and so little is known about, that the word rare is quite simply, an extreme understatement. It is possibly the rarest member of the Chaetodontoplus genus, along with C. ballinae. There have…

Classic: Blue Reef Photography is a rare fish lover’s wet dream

The following post is a classic which we originally posted way back in April 2009. It features fish which are still so rare that this post is definitely worth another turn. Ballina, semicinctus and conspicillatus angelfish, Amphichaetodon butterfly, latezonatus clownfish…

Genicanthus takeuchii featured in this first ever video of the swallowtail angelfish gem from Ogasawara

Genicanthus takeuchii or Takeuchii’s swallowtail angelfish is one of the most highly sought after angelfish in the world. Hailing only from Japan’s Ogasawara Islands, Genicanthus takeuchii has an even more limited track record than the peppermint angelfish, Paracentropyge boylei, second…

Blue Reef Photography is a rare fish lover’s wet dream

Ballina, semicinctus and conspicillatus angelfish, Amphichaetodon butterfly, latezonatus clownfish and more are all centerfolded in Frank Baensch’s Blue Reef Photography website. If you have even a little bit of appreciation for rare fish, diving or underwater photography then you will…