Ctenophora is a phylum of marine animals most commonly referred to as comb jellies. You may have seen these in various documentaries, manifesting themselves as gelatinous geometric shapes fringed in movable cilia and psychedelic disco lights. This phylum is huge and…
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Awesome Fish Spotlight: Cirrhilabrus rubrimarginatus in nuptial display
Today’s Awesome Fish Spotlight features an opulent member of the wildly popular genus Cirrhilabrus, more affectionally known as the Fairy Wrasses. Cirrhilabrus rubrimarginatus is a common species with a wide distribution across much of the Western Pacific, from Japan through…
Nemateleotris helfrichi: A tale of two heads
Immense fish collection in the early 90’s brought new light to a plethora of colourful reef fish, many of which the world had never seen. In 1938, from a smorgasbord of specimens in the Albatross collection, one exquisite little fish…
Awesome Fish Spotlight: Steinhart’s studly Genicanthus lamarck
Like the insanely beautiful traffic cone coloured male Genicanthus semifasciatus in the Dallas Aquarium, Steinhart in the California Academy of Science has its own studly Genicanthus to boast. G. lamarck is a common species with a rather large distribution in…
Steinhart Aquarium’s Caribbean display is a truly realistic representation of a biotope
Few set ups truly elicit fascination and marvel quite like those done in a biotope fashion. A biotope refers to an area of uniform environmental conditions which provides a specific niche for a particular set of organisms. Because aquarists are spoilt for choice…
Happy Taxonomist Appreciation Day!
Today, March 19th is Taxonomist Appreciation Day. This rather obscure day may not sound familiar to everyone, but it should, and hopefully it will gain a stronger following in the years to come. Today we say thank you in appreciation…
Steinhart’s trick to decompress fish showcased on PBS
You might recall the hyperbaric chamber designed by scientists at the California Academy of Sciences Steinhart Aquarium. A recent story done by KQED-TV, the local PBS station in San Francisco, showcases the engineering needed to bring fish to the surface…
Prognathodes: more than meets the Aya
The following is a guest contribution from Joe Oliver, a resident Marine Biologist for the Curacao Sea Aquarium and Substation Curacao. The Banks Butterflyfish (Prognathodes aya) and its relative the French or Three-Banded Butterflyfish (Prognathodes guyanensis), are both striking deepwater butterflyfish that…
7 Questions with Steinhart Aquarium’s Matt Wandell
We thought it would be fun to do a series of “7 Questions” with people in the industry and hobby. Our first candidate is a Matt Wandell, a marine biologist at the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences…
Mile-High MACNA Rises to the Occasion
Denver, Colorado, situated a mile above sea level, might seem like an unusual host city for a conference focused exclusively on marine aquaria, but this year’s Marine Aquarium Conference of North America (MACNA), held August 29–31 at the Colorado Convention…
