Sugoi Sakana Supottoraito: Chaetodon nippon

No, your screen isn’t displaying random alphabets in a series of unpronounceable words. Our atrocious attempt at translating today’s title post into Japanese was intentional. We’re going international on today’s Awesome Fish Spotlight (literally), and we’re featuring a butterflyfish that could…

Variations and forms of Paracentropyge venusta

Paracentropyge is a small genus with three species. Over the years, the placement of P. venusta as well as P. multifasciata have been in rather constant shuffle, moving back and forth between this as well as Centropyge. Allen and Erdmann’s…

Monotypic no more – Two possible new Navigobius species

Navigobius dewa is a beautiful and sensational species of Ptereleotrine dart fish that was first discovered and described in 2009, with specimens coming from Kagoshima Bay, in the south of Japan. The distinct features of Ptereleotrine fish is seen in its slender body…

Will you stop hiding from me! Lonesome Liopropoma

Today’s post is c0-contributed by Mr. Tay, a friend of ReefBuilders and one of my best fish buddies in Singapore. Mr. Tay is known online by his alias “Digiman”, and has an extensive collection of deepwater and unusual fish, many…

Reef Nuggets 2: Aquatic Lepidopterans for your reef (Revised edition)

In our previous episode of Reef Nuggets, we explored our options for peaceful and lesser known damselfish to add a little spark of colour and life to our aquariums. Having vanquished the hateful stereotype that not all damsels are malevolent and…

Awesome Fish Spotlight: The mysterious Pseudocheilinus ocellatus

It’s been awhile since our last Awesome Fish Spotlight, and today we’re featuring the mystical Mystery Wrasse. To be honest I have no idea why this fish is called the Mystery Wrasse. There’s a certain pensive sinister look to this fish.…

A first look at the REAL Cirrhilabrus claire from its type location of the Cook Islands

As I type this, my breath is rapid, and my fingers are bent from random spasmodic twitching. We’ve seen Cirrhilabrus claire before, and a few times now. We’ve even covered it extensively before, but nothing could have prepared us for this.…

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…

Navigobius dewa is the undisputed queen of dart fishes

The pseudo-legendary Navigobius dewa weaved its way into the hearts of rare fish lovers alike back in 2009 when it was described, with its scintillating, almost alien-techno-raver-laser pink and purple coloration. Since then, very few pieces have entered the trade,…

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…