The 19th century was a golden age for ichthyological exploration. It signified an era of what seemed like an endless slew of new discoveries, where even the most iconic and noble of species we know today were without names. Taxonomists…
Fish
Cocos Pygmy Angelfish is a rarely imported treat
List 10 rare Angelfish off the top of your head and this fish will probably feature, the Cocos Pygmy Angelfish, Centropyge joculator. Also known by its specific name, the Joculator Angel occurs only on the Cocos (Keeling,) Islands and Christmas…
Yellow Black Back Wrasse is Anampses twistii/neoguinaicus hybrid
Reef Builders is the home of naturally occurring saltwater fish hybrids and this latest specimen from Elliot Y. Lim of Marine Collectors is an absolute beauty! The fish is a mix of two popular Anampses wrasses – The Yellow Chest…
Sought after Squire’s wrasses now coming out of PNG
RVS has told Reef Builders that it has found a new location for Squire’s wrasses in Papua New Guinea. The find is just one of many fish and invertebrate gems that RVS has discovered in the country since gaining licenses…
Cleaner wrasses recognize themselves in the mirror
A research article published in the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences has found that cleaner wrasses, Labroides dimidiatus, have the capacity for mirror self-recognition (MSR). Researchers tested the theory by using mirrors, as Cleaner wrasses attack unfamiliar conspecifics…
Tangerine Coral Beauty flexes its colorific DNA
RVS Fishworld has shown off a Tangerine “super xanthic” Coral Beauty that it just sold to a well-known fish collector. For many of us, a Coral Beauty was our first introduction to dwarf angels, their purple coloration complimenting the yellows…
Awesome fish spotlight: the Lennardi Wrasse, Anampses lennardi
Ask someone to assemble a list of dream reef fish and this next species will most likely be on it. Anampses lennardi, aka the Blue and Yellow Wrasse, Lennard’s Wrasse, or simply Lennardi Wrasse, would already be wrasse royalty just…
Atblue’s Arrowhead Soapfish is the cousin of Dr. Seuss
The Belonoperca genus of Soapfishes is most famously represented by Belonoperca pylei, the highly sought-after Dr.Seuss, but let us introduce you to its only other congener, the enigmatic Belonoperca chabanaudi, the Arrowhead Soapfish. As its outline suggests, the Arrowhead is…
14 of our favorite featured fish from 2022
Cast your eyes over our pick of the hottest fish to make the Reef Builders news in 2022.
Convict blennies are the closest thing to cichlids in the sea
Think of cichlid-like saltwater fish and you’ll probably think of damselfish or angelfish, bass, or groupers maybe, but few aquarists are aware that the marine fish most closely related to freshwater cichlids is the Convict Blenny, Pholidicthys leucotaenia. Also known…