Apogon soloriensis, a New Cardinalfish from Japan

Cardinalfish are an important and abundant part of tropical reef fish communities and now we can add one more to the list, Apogon soloriensis. This newly described little red fish was discovered in the Bonin Islands of Japan, better known…

Pseudanthias tequila Just Described From West Pacific Ocean

Pseudanthias tequila is the newest species of anthias to be described and oh what a fairy basslet it is! This gorgeous little fish comes to us from the western Pacific Ocean, more specifically the Ogasawara Islands and the Marianas.  Also…

3.2 Fairy Wrasses: The temminckii group

The temminckii group plays host to some of the genus’ larger and more unappealing species. Burley, pugnacious and often glazed in matte grey, these un-fairy looking fairy wrasses are more often than not associated with the ugly duckling sobriquet. Despite…

The speciation, biogeography and hybridization of Zebrasoma

The family Acanthuridae boasts of charismatic, charming and iconic reef fishes that are immediately recognizable both in the field and in the trade. All eighty or so species spanning the six various genera have a single unifying trait, and that is…

1.2 Fairy Wrasses: The lunatus group

Cirrhilabrus johnsoni was first described in 1988 based on specimens collected in the Marshall and Caroline islands. This small species served as the twentieth member of a rapidly expanding genus, and was decidedly different with a crescent shaped caudal fin adorned…

Diversity and forms of the Pseudanthias ventralis species flock: How many are there?

In light of our recent trend in picking apart cryptic species within a given complex like we did for Pseudanthias pascalus and Nemateleotris helfrichi, we continue yet again with a rather massive undertaking. This time with Pseudanthias ventralis. This beautiful species is…

Liopropoma tonstrinum has a range wider than we previously thought

Liopropoma tonstrinum is a basslet with equal parts beauty and rarity. Looking superficially similar to L. multilineatum, the former is most often found and captured in Palau, where the few specimens that enter the trade are offered from. According to…

Large male spotted angelfish struts it’s stuff on video

The spotted angelfish, Genicanthus takeuchi, is a species of reef fish so obscure that it doesn’t get hardly any airtime outside of Reef Builders where we specialize in the rare and the unusual. This video taken on a cool deeper…

The takeuchii x semifasciatus angelfish hybrid is half grown up, caught on video even

We are stoked to see new pics of Genicanthus takeuchi hybrid at a larger size and as an added bonus we’ve even found a video of a halfgrown male spotted angelfish hybrid that was uploaded not more than a week…

Stunning videos of a juvenile and an adult male spotted angelfish, Genicanthus takeuchii

While most angelfish reserve their reverence for the Hawaiian masked angelfish, Genicanthus personatus, when it comes to swallowtail angelfish we hold the spotted angelfish, Genicanthus takeuchii, closest to our reefing hearts. You can imagine our excitement when we discovered not…