Underwater time lapse video shows the growth of a reef over 18 months
The Australian Institute of Marine Science has released a time lapse video of Davies Reef in Australia which shows this little patch of the GBR over a period of 18 months. The image quality used to compose the time lapse is not going to make the cover of NatGeo magazine but it is still very impressive to Read More
Google Hangout underwater at the Great Barrier Reef to celebrate Earth Day
We love the Google Earth mapping of the Great Barrier Reef and were pleased to discover the special event planned to celebrate Earth Day. National Geographic is putting together a special “Hangout” on Google+ that includes one participant that will be joining the Hangout underwater live from the GBR. NatGeo has assembled a great cast Read More
Friday Smorgasbord: Saving reefs with antacids, fish molars and more
Ocean acidification and rising temperatures are taking its toll on our oceans’ reefs, but one team from Australia is testing a way to solve the issue by treating the water with an antacid. The team from the Carnegie Institution for Science is testing the theory out on a small patch of reef in the Great Barrier Read More
Australian Leopard-wrasse Quarantine Technique
Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Family: Labridae Genus: Macropharyngodon Species: choati, Randall, John E. 1978 Common Names: Choati Leopard-wrasse, Australian Leopard-wrasse Of all the Leopard Wrasses one can acquire for their reef aquarium Macropharyngodon choati is by far the most captivating of them all, yet one of the most difficult to Read More
Photosynthetic Leptoseris coral found living deeper than 400 feet!!!
Leptoseris is a unique genus of stony corals that is just beginning to enjoy a following by reef aquarists. A team of researchers recently discovered some colonies of Leptoseris on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia growing at depths of more than 400 feet. At that bone-crushing depth there is so little light that our Read More
Friday Smorgasbord: Fish Antifreeze, Aquaman, Zombie Fish and more
Welcome to the first Friday Smorgasbord of 2013! We hope to deliver you our fresh weekly buffet of tasty tidbits of news. We lead off this year’s first “Smorgi” with a tale about fish and other organisms with that actually create proteins with antifreeze properties that help them not turn into ice cubes themselves. Scientists are using this Read More
Friday Smorgasbord: Megapiranha, frost flowers and more
With the end of the Mayan Calendar upon us (and if you’re reading this tomorrow, we have to assume they were wrong), what better way to start off this edition of the Friday Smorgasbord with monster fish. Sharktopus and megapiranha may have been the antagonist in really bad horror flicks, but for the megapiranha actually may have Read More
Neozoanthus uchina and N. caleyi are the newest species of Zoanthid
Neozoanthus is a very little known group of zoanthids in the aquarium hobby but today we learned a little more about two new species: Neozoanthus uchina and N. caleyi. This funky genus of zoanthids was thought to be rare, it’s even been assigned to its own family Neozoanthidae, and up until recently Neozoanthus was known only Read More
Friday Smorgasbord: Coral orgy, rare whales, world travelling corals, taunting bears, reef destruction and crying uncle
Swimmers in Australia were victims of a cruel prank made by area coral. As beachgoers were enjoying the water and beach, things turned to a panic as reports of a chemical spill came in due to a strange, unknown substance in the water. After the swimmers were rescued, it was discovered that the substance in Read More
Friday Smorgasbord: Flying sharks, deep water discovery, sexy fish and killer whales attack
Holy flying sharks Batman! In a story that not even the best golfer could make up (you know the guy that made that 50-foot putt to save par in a hurricane) a 2-foot leopard shark dropped from the sky onto the 12th tee at a golf course in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Apparently the shark Read More