Awesome Fish Spotlight: Roa excelsa

Roa excelsa is a unique deepwater butterflyfish that is part of a very interesting genus of reef fish. The Excelsa butterflyfish has three sibling species including Roa modesta, Roa jayakari and the fairly new Roa australis. We’ve featured the modest butterflyfish,…

Video updates on BlueHarbor’s Roa excelsa and Prognathodes basabei

It has been a few weeks since the butterflyfish demigods landed in BlueHarbor, and we’re pleased to report that they are doing amazing. We first caught wind of these fish while they were still with Rufus Kimura, and then again…

Hong Kong scores with two butterflyfish demigods – Prognathodes basabei and Roa excelsa

Apart from FOWLR dominated set ups and the typical over-stocked fish tanks that have fast become a stereotype there, the reefing scene of Hong Kong is well known for another aspect of the hobby – the ability to procure rare…

Roa excelsa video is the first of this kind for this twilight reef fish

[youtube width=”680″ height=”400″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59M-xZ801Jc[/youtube] Blue Harbor Japan just shared this video of a live Roa excelsa as it is being coaxed into feeding, perhaps for the first time. The Roa excelsa video is much more clear than the still preview image…

Roa excelsa status: one is still swimming

As we reported a while back, one of the best shops in Japan, Blue Harbor, obtained two Roa excelsa from Hawaii three weeks ago. Unfortunately, one of the butterflyfish was already dead in a plastic bag when they arrived at…

Rare Butterflyfish Parade: Roa excelsa, Roaps flavocoronatus and a new Roaps tinkeri hybrid

Not sure what is in the air lately but have we got the goods on a nice handful of uber rare butterflyfish fish for you. Hot on the heels of the orange margin butterflyfish, Prognathodes basabei, we have an odd-phase…

Awesome Fish Spotlight: Roa modestus, the poor man’s excelsa

Roa is one of our favourite genus of deepwater butterflyfish and although it contains at least four members, only Roa excelsa is frequently covered. All Roa species are patterned in the same template of brown and white vertical bands, and are deepwater fish…

Roa haraguchiae, an Exciting New Species of Butterflyfish

Roa haraguchiae is the newest species of Chaetodontidae and adds a sixth member to the deepwater Roa genus of butterflyfish. The description of an official new species is usually very exciting but it’s an even more special occasion when it’s a butterflyfish. …

Roa rumsfeldi Is A New Species Of Butterflyfish From The Philippines!

Roa rumsfledi is an exciting new species of butterflyfish from a genus that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. Before today the Roa butterflyfish consisted of just four species which all have a high body profile and a pattern of alternating…

Chaetodon tinkeri shows why the roaps butterflyfishes are fearless and hardy

Hybrids aside, Chaetodon tinkeri is the least common and arguably the coolest obtainable member of the five roaps butterflyfish – with emphasis on the word obtainable. As far as butterflyfishes go, all five species within this subgenus Roaps are hardy…