A video of one of the world’s deepest known species of damselfish has been shared by one of the three people who described it. Chromis abyssus was discovered in 2007 and described in 2008 by ichthyological legends Richard L. Pyle,…
Search Results For: mesophotic
Trimma citrum is a new mesophotic pygmygoby from Vanuatu
A new species of pygmygoby has been described from deep reefs in the Western Pacific. Named Trimma citrum, it’s been described from a single male specimen collected 380 feet (116m) down on the west coast of Tutuba Island, on the…
Sinularia mesophotica, A New Species of Photosyntetic Soft Coral From The Deep
Sinularia mesophotica is a new species of soft coral that has just been described from the deep waters of the Red Sea. This coral is special for a number reasons, not the least of which is how deep it was found…
A new way to photosynthesize discovered in mesophotic coral, Stylophora pistillata
A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science found that photosynthetic algae in corals which inhabit mesophotic reefs have a never-before seen adaptation to life in the twilight zone. Researchers found that the Symbiodinium spp. algae responsible for powering photosynthesis…
Mesophotic reefs in Hawaii are rich in coral cover and unique fish species
Researchers in Hawaii have completed a comprehensive investigation of deep mesophotic coral-reefs throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago. The study, published in the open-access journal PeerJ involved a team of sixteen researchers and spanned more than twenty years. Although the existence of these…
Psammocora eldredgei sets new record for mesophotic photosynthesis
Psammocora eldredgei is a new species of stony coral that is remarkable not for its size or appearance, but for how deep this Scleratinian was collected from. Most new species of stony corals are really rare, very odd, or come…
Coryphopterus curasub newly described from mesophotic curacao
Coryphopterus curasub is the newest species of deepwater reef fish described from the depths of Curacao. The new Coryphopterus goby species is yet another new discovery made by the deep-diving Curasub which now gets its full name included in the binomial designation of…
Mesophotic Reef- low light reefs can teach us new things about contemporary reefing
Tim Wijgerde of Coralscience.org is building a mesophotic reef system, basically a low light reef. Tim dropped in to share with us why he decided to do a low light reef tank and what low light reef animals can teach…
The New Octocorallia: Scleralcyonacea (And A Few Remaining Mysteries)
Having now fully explored the Malacalcyonacea Part 1 and Part 2, it’s time to turn our attention to its sister group, the order Scleralcyonacea. These clades are roughly equivalent in terms of species-level diversity, but whereas the malacalcyonaceans included many…
Grafted Pikachu Acropora anthocercis is a rare sight
It’s the spawning season, and like every year, we spend many nights for months, doing night dives, and observing different spawning species. With coral spawning, there are many missed nights, where nothing is happening. Going from coral to coral, checking…
