The Incredible Display of Rare Reef Fish by De Jong Marinelife

When it comes to sourcing and handling rare marine fish, De Jong Marinelife is definitely one of the world leaders for exotic reef animals from all over the world. This normally wholesale-only operation is not open to the public but every two years they show off what they can do by setting up a truly breathtaking reef tank, full of hot corals and of course, some very rare and unusual fish.

InterZoo is such a concentration of new products for the aquarium hobby, after a whole day of booth hopping throughout the halls it’s easy to reach reef gear overload. Thankfully, in the organized chaos of the nearly 1,800 exhibitors there are a few oases of living coral, plant and fish aquariums.

gramma-dejongi-1 — A striking image of a mature Gramma dejongi caught in the act of displaying a posture of dominance to its tank mates

The De Jong Marinelife reef tank at InterZoo is one such oasis that we find ourselves gravitating towards at least once a day during the massive exhibition in Germany. Last InterZoo De Jong Marinelife graced us with both an incredible reef aquarium, and a special set up for a juvenile tiger angelfish and a baby peppermint angelfish.

This year De Jong didn’t disappoint with a tank full of photogenic small yellow Gramma dejongi and an even bigger reef display. The reef tank was absolutely packed end-to-end, corner to corner with a living field of many different corals, and more rare fish than you could shake a stick at.

Almost everywhere we looked we saw Holy Grails, Book Fish, and exquisite specimens of anthias, angelfish, wrasses, and many different beloved marine species. As you can see by the copious eye candy below, we spent our fair share of time busily snapping picture the bouquet of De Jong’s best reef fish which won’t bloom again for another two years.

pseudanthias-ventralis-anthias-female-1 — A perfect small female ventralis anthias, Pseudanthias ventralis

cirrhilabrus-isoceles-1 — The recently described pintail fairy wrasse, Cirrhilabrus isosceles

groucho-lemonpeel-angelfish-1 — A splendid and perfectly marked groucho lemonpeel angelfish, Centropyge flavissima

gramma-dejongi-facial-attitude-1 — A rare close up look at the brilliant Gramma dejongi

lightning-wrasse-1-2 — This boldly colored juvenile lightning wrasse has nearly the same color as the sunrise dottyback from the Red Sea

gold-nugget-maroon-clownfish-1 — A very high quality gold nugget maroon clownfish

centropyge-interrupta-japanese-angelfish-1 — A cute small specimen of the Japanese pygmy angelfish, Centropyge interrupta

amphiprion-chrysogaster-mauritius-clownfish-1 — The rarely seen Mauritius clownfish, Amphiprion chrysogaster

holacanthus-africanus-angelfish-juvenile-1 — The striking coloration of a juvenile African angelfish, Holacanthus africanus

macropharyngodon-choati-leopard-wrasse-1 — A perfect jumbo specimen of a male choati leopard wrasse, Macropharyngodon choati

genicanthus-watanabei-angelfish-female-1 — Female watanbei angelfish, Genicanthus watanabei

cirrhilabrus-johnsoni-1 — This large mature male Cirrhilabrus johnsoni was displaying and flashing up a storm

dejong-hybrid-acanthurus-tang-1 — Perhaps the rarest and most exotic fish in the whole tank was this one of a kind surgeonfish hybrid, perhaps a cross of a clown tang and a powder brown or goldrim tank.

scribbled-lemonpeel-angelfish-1 — This is one of the more striking morphs of lemonpeel angelfish hybrids, sometimes called a scribble-peel with all the spots and stripes it displays.

Jake Adams

Jake Adams has been an avid marine aquarist since the mid 90s and has worked in the retail side of the marine aquarium trade for more than ten years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and has been the managing editor of ReefBuilders.com since 2008. Jake is interested in every facet of the marine aquarium hobby from the concepts to the technology, rare fish to exotic corals, and his interests are well documented through a very prolific career of speaking to reef clubs and marine aquarium events, and writing articles for aquarium publications across the globe. His primary interest is in corals which Jake pursues in the aquarium hobby as well as diving the coral reefs of the world.