The biodiversity of the Dutch Caribbean has been studied for 250 years, but most records of Zoantharians don’t go much beyond the genus level or are grouped into generic catch-all species despite being common. A group of zoantharian specialists from Japan and the Netherlands has sought to change that by collecting and DNA testing new specimens as well as reexamining huge numbers of historic records and data of species collected and described from the area.
Curacao
Proteus Is An Ambitious Underwater Research Station Planned For Curaçao
Proteus is an ambitious underwater research station that could one-day welcome scientists and researchers 60 feet below the sea in Curaçao. The project is spearheaded by aquanaut Fabien Cousteau and industrial designer Yves Béhar and is conceived as the underwater…
New Fire Goby Was Lionfish Food Before It Was Ever Discovered!
Palatogobius incendius is a new species of deepwater Caribbean goby that was discovered, unsurprisingly, in the mesophotic reefs of Curacao. But what is surprising is the circumstances surrounding how this fish was first collected. The newly described incendiary or Fire goby was…
New species of Lipogramma basslet potentially discovered in Dominica
Lipogramma klayi is a beautiful and delicate looking species of Caribbean basslet which is no stranger to the pages of Reef Builders. We’ve written about this species at length over the years and now it seems like it may one…
Kristen Marhaver’s TED Talk on reef-building with baby corals
We recently came across this great TED talk which presents some pretty interesting research about coral larval behavior, and what it may take for baby corals to survive and thrive in a changing ocean environment. “How we’re growing baby corals…
Plectranthias sp. Curacao is in the good hands of Blue Harbor
The new species of Plectranthias that was recently collected from Curacao is probably the first of its kind to make it into a home aquarium. We first featured this fish with a post from Joe Oliver at the source, and…
Curacao Sea Aquarium Deep Sea Display update
After 4 years in Curacao and some of the most amazing fishes known to man, I thought I had seen it all and was beginning to have doubts about whether we would find a new species that is as unique…
The deep sea is on display in Curacao
To most people the Mesophotic Zone is an entirely unknown part of the ocean that very few study and even fewer have physically visited. Yet these areas are more diverse than anticipated and contain a cornicopia of life from the…
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…
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…