Dynasty’s deepwater deluge series 3: Plectranthias garrupellus and Gonioplectrus hispanus

The final series to this short Curacaoan sampling deals with two prominent and rather well known Serranids from the region. Plectranthias garrupellus and Gonioplectrus hispanus are more or less icons of the surrounding region and are again, one of the few…

House of Fins 58th anniversary SPLASH sale this weekend in Greenwich CT

The House of Fins anniversary SPLASH sale is our annual excuse to share a gallery of exceptionally rare reef fish. In 2015 the infamous House of Fins or ‘HOF’ will be celebrating its 58th year in business with a huge…

Destination Tokyo, the final frontier

In all the years as a fish writer, nothing has been more rewarding to me than travelling the world and seeing new things. The relationships that i’ve forged with people throughout my time is something that can never be taken away, and…

Steinhart Aquarium’s Caribbean display is a truly realistic representation of a biotope

Few set ups truly elicit fascination and marvel quite like those done in a biotope fashion. A biotope refers to an area of uniform environmental conditions which provides a specific niche for a particular set of organisms. Because aquarists are spoilt for choice…

Opulent Osaka part 3: Dr. Shimokobe’s deluge of deepwater treasures

We’ve arrived at our third installation of our Osaka recount and if you’re still following, then thank you, and we hope you’ve enjoyed parts 1 and 2. We visited one of our favourite aquarist in Osaka, and we’ve featured his…

Decompressing marine fish from the deep reefs of Curacao

The following is a guest contribution from Joe Oliver, a resident Marine Biologist for the Curacao Sea Aquarium and Substation Curacao. As an aquarist (hobbyist or professional) there is a huge array of fishes available as possible options when it comes…

Freshly caught deepwater Atlantic rarities puts the “D” in deep

The awesome Lipogramma evides pictured above is just one of many super rare fishes recently brought up from the deepwaters of Curacao. The seemingly boring looking fish in monochrome may look ordinary, but do not be fooled. L. evides is…

Spanish Flag Grouper lands at Old Town Aquarium

The Spanish Flag grouper is a fish that was once uber rare but now seems to be trickling into the trade with more regular collection, and a price that ensures it is worth the time of the deepwater collectors who…

First video of a live Spanish Flag grouper from Absolutely Fish

The Spanish Flag grouper, Gonioplectrus hispanus, is one of the rarest and most colorful groupers in the sea and second only to the Neptune Grouper, Cephalopholis igarashiensis. Due to their deepwater habitat, it’s very rare that spanish flag groupers are…

Crosshatch bass and juvenile spanish flag make their way to the Blue Harbor

Looks like that planeload of rare Curacao reef fish flew right by Phoenix and straight to Japan’s Blue Harbor. The image above may be blurry but it’s still very exciting for us because it’s one of the only ones displaying…