After what has been a lengthy period of preparation, scouting and diving, the California Academy of Sciences’ expedition to the Philippines is beginning to yield a nice catch of truly exotic deep reef fish. The first notable catch of the…
Places
Liopropoma olneyi “discovered” thanks to a lucky larval catch
Liopropoma olneyi is a “new” species of the popular deepwater basslets which has actually been making it into the aquarium trade for some time now. If you recall the exciting deepwater collections being undertaken in the manned submersible in Curacao…
Synchiropus circularis is the first gem of a reef fish pulled up by CAS in the Philippines
Synchiropus circularis is one of those “book fish” that we have admired in pictures and from a distance, never really expecting any fresh specimens to be documented by our colleagues. The circled dragonet is so rare, it doesn’t really have…
Awesome Fish Spotlight: The Mauritian endemic Pseudojuloides xanthomos
Pseudojuloides is a genus of touchy labrids that are aptly named pencil wrasses for their slender figure. The genus boasts a sizeable number of mostly colourful sexually dichromatic species, of which only a small sampling is offered to the aquarium trade.…
Special floating lab studies “Aliens of the Sea” to unlock answers about marine biodiversity
A unique project is taking a closer look at one of the many marvels from the sea — the comb jelly. Led by University of Florida neurobiologist Leonid Moroz, the research team has developed a unique floating lab that includes…
Video of Marshall Islands’ Pacific Elhorn Acropora rotumana
The Pacific Elkhorn Acro that made headlines several years ago has an uncanny resemblance to the Caribbean Elkhorn Coral, Acropora palmata. It was a great surprise to find the highly distinctive Pacific Elkhorn Acro growing aplenty in Kwajalein Atoll and in addition to…
Quarter million crown of thorns starfish eradicated by new injection method
The news about the natural reef environment can be so overly bleak, it’s nice to hear some progress coming out of Australia that bodes well for the future of the Great Barrier Reef. The Crown of Thorns starfish, Acanthaster placi,…
Kwajalein has more than its fair share of Red Acropora
Red Acros are one of the rarest color forms you can find in captively grown Acropora species, which is why species such as the ORA Red Planet, the Red Dragon acro, and the raspberry red Millepora acros are so popular in…
Giant staghorn corals so big they make you feel small
There are staghorn acros and then there are STAGHORN corals! It is astounding to see the massive size that some species can reach in their preferred habitat amnd stumble upon the kinds of gargantuan ship-grounding sizes the colonies and their…
Pseudanthias calloura makes an unexpected resurgence after a long hiatus
Pseudanthias calloura is widely known for its rarity as well as its beauty. It’s scarcity in the trade has promoted this species to the top of many wish lists, only to bring disappointment to said list makers. Commonly known as…