First Live Photos of Rare Deepwater Grammatonotus xanthostigma

Grammatonotus xanthostigma is a new species of deepwater basslet that was recently described in 2017 after their discovery by technical divers Drs. Brian Greene and Rich Pyle in 2015. Despite its objective beauty both in shape, pattern and color, the…

Liopropoma incandescens is a Brilliant New Species of Basslet

Liopropoma incandescens is a smoking hot new species of basslet from one of our absolute favorited groups of marine fish, the Liopropoma. Like so many of its congeners this new species of Liopropoma wasnot just swimming around on some shallow reefs waiting for…

Biota Palau Acquires Rare Abei Angelfish Broodstock!

The Abei Angelfish is one of the rarest and most elusive species of pygmy angelfish in the world. The very few specimens ever collected, mostly out of Australia, sold for astronomical, five-digit sums but a trio of recently collected specimens…

Grammatonotus xanthostigma & G. pelipel, Two New Splendid Deepwater Basslets

Grammatonotus xanthostigma and G. pelipel were just described from specimens collected in Pohnpei. Grammatonotus is a genus of deepwater basslets containing some fantastic species, and today we’ve got news of two more. It was just a few short years ago…

A Deeper look into Mokupapapa Discovery Center’s Aquarium

We recently visited a very unique aquarium at the Mokupapapa Discovery Center in Hawaii. The mere size of this aquarium is not what makes it impressive but the beautiful and extraordinarily rare fish that it contain. While there are many…

Newly Discovered Tosanoides Anthias to be Named in Honor of President Obama

A deep water anthias, to be honorably named after the president, was recently discovered by Richard Pyle and Brian Greene on June 5, 2016. Richard Pyle recognized an unfamiliar school of fish in the newly expanded Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. Pyle…

New Wrasse and Anthias Collected in Papahanaumokuakea, Hawaii

We already know that there’s loads of new fish in the mesophotic zone of the ocean so it’s always exciting when new fish are discovered down there. It’s especially tantalizing when new fish are discovered in a national marine park,…

Cirrhilabrus isosceles finally gives the pintail fairy wrasse a name

Cirrhilabrus isosceles is the 51st member of the fairy wrasse genus, and one whose time to receive official scientific description has been long overdue. Long referred to as C. cf lanceolatus or the Pintail Fairy Wrasse, this is a fish that packs…

Follow along on this incredible expedition of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Research divers get to see amazing sights below the surface, but there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make it all possible. Thanks to Richard Pyle, we are able to follow along on an exciting expedition…

4.0 Cirrhilabrus laboutei & the Origins of Fairy Wrasse Diversity

At last, we’ve reached the thrilling conclusion to this comprehensive review of Fairy Wrasse evolution, and it’s time to once more dwell upon the topic of the group’s origins. As we’ve previously discussed, this enormously diverse genus can be comfortably categorized…