We’re not unfamiliar to the sight of “xanthic-koi” type aberrants that plague various fishes. Vitiligo and other forms of patchy off-coloured specimens appear from time to time, and seem to be particularly prevalent in surgeonfish of the genus Ctenochaetus as…
cairns marine
Our Top 5 favorite stories from Cairns Marine
For twenty years Cairns Marine has been a leading collector and supplier of sustainably harvested marine aquarium livestock and for most of Reef Builders’ existence Cairns Marine has been an invaluable partner in helping us get the word out about…
Hero Turbinaria corals are coming back thanks to Cairns Marine
It was approximately three years ago that the first tiniest influx of Hero corals began making their general debut in the marine aquarium hobby. We got our piece of Turbinaria heronensis back then and it was a struggle to keep the…
Cirrhilabrus squirei finally gets an official description
Cirrhilabrus squirei is a new species of fairy wrasse from the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea which was first discovered and collected by Cairns Marine of Australia. The new fairy wrasse species is named after Lyle Squire and…
Awesome Fish Spotlight: Chelmonops truncatus
Today’s Awesome Fish Spotlight features a lesser seen member of the butterflyfish clad that hails only from Australia – the only country that’s also a continent. Australia is so awesome it can call itself whatever it wants, and because of…
Helcogramma is another poorly known nano fish bursting with reef aquarium potential
If you thought the multitude of unknown Trimma species out there were heartbreakers for the nano fish realm, here’s another very unknown and poorly offered genus that is equally suited for the home style reef tanks. Helcogramma is a genus…
Aberrant Koran angelfish from Cairns Marine shows off a wicked cobalt mask
The Koran angelfish (Pomacanthus semicirculatus) may not be the prettiest Pomacanthid in the reefs, but they are by no means any less ubiquitous in the trade. This species forms many hybrids in nature with related members of its genus, but…
Plectranthias face-off: Two incredible species, P. fourmanoiri and P. garrupellus
We LOVE Plectranthias! Now repeat it with conviction, and then again while you read this post. Here at ReefBuilders we’re always on the ball with the genus Plectranthias for new discoveries, new species for the trade, you name it. We’ve covered…
Awesome Fish Spotlight: Cirrhilabrus squirei dressed in full regalia
We’ve been covering head to toe on the newest Cirrhilabrus from down under that there’s hardly anything new to say. That did not stop us from taking some incredible pictures of this extremely beautiful terminal male specimen though. We’ve been…
BlueHarbor acquires a new pair of the super rare Cirrhilabrus squirei
BlueHarbor, whose shop is now flooded with rare fish from the Southern Pacific, is also home to two rare fairy wrasses from the Coral Sea. This is the newest member of the highly perplexing “lunatus” species complex that is also…