RedStarfish’s new skimmer is an inception of Cones and Bubble Diffusers

Red Satrfish is a nascent Chinese aquairum brand that has been iterating on aquarium designs at a pretty rapid clip. Their newest RSN Plus cone protein skimmers is one of their first which is attempting to improve on the now-standard…

Rare red ‘chocolate chip’ starfish is stunningly vivid

Last week while making a crawl of the Denver area aquarium stores I stumbled across an insanely bright starfish that made my jaw drop. Now I’ve seen a few different types of ‘chocolate chip’ starfish, some of which were mostly…

Predator Starfish Threaten Coral Reefs In The Philippines

The spiny and toxic crown-of-thorns starfish are voracious predators that can wipe out large areas of coral; an individual can consume up to 6 square metres of living reef per year. Outbreaks of the species often occur when ocean temperatures…

The Case for Carnivorous Starfish

For many decades, the quintessential Chocolate Chip Starfish, Protoreaster nodosus, has graced our FOWLR (fish only with live rock) tanks and refugiums with their magnificent spines and bright colors. Short-spine stars, Echinaster spinulosus, while less common, have been around just as…

Scientists Solve the Puzzle of Starfish Body Design

Echinoderms – starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, have been the subject of some recent research to try to ascertain how they developed their pentaradial body shapes. Starfish evolved some 540 million years ago, and from…

The Need for Sustainably Aquacultured Cleanup Crew

Cleanup crew, whether they be gastropods, crustaceans, fish, echinoderms, or polychaete worms, are an integral part of the contemporary reef aquarium. Just like in wild ecosystems, various species of snails or sea urchins provide keystone ecological services by regulating the…

Red Decorator Crab is a Natural Born COTS Killer

Scientists at the University of Queensland have identified the Red Decorator Crab, Schizophrys aspera, as the most consistent predator of Crown of Thorns Starfish, consuming them in 89% of trials. Crown of Thorns Starfish (COTS,) are one of the largest…

Billions of Starfish Melt Into Goo on the Pacific Coast

A disease affecting over a dozen starfish species is decimating coastal populations from Alaska to Mexico. Called Sea Star Wasting Syndrome, the pathogen, possibly Densovirus, is infecting starfish, causing the limbs to detach and their bodies to melt, with some…

Red Sea Marine Life Book Now Available from Andrey Ryanskiy

Andrey Ryanskiy is one of the most prolific new photographic authors documenting rarely seen exotic marine life around the world. Most recently Mr. Ryanskiy has been spending a lot of time underwater in the Red Sea where he’s been our…

Cirrhilabrus blatteus, A Fresh Look at the Elusive Red Sea Fairy Wrasse

For as well studied and heavily traveled as the Red Sea has been throughout most of history, it still surprises us how much of its marine life remains rare, elusive, and poorly documented. If it wasn’t for the recent diligence…