Opulent Osaka Part 4: A BlueHarbor tribute, and the man behind the brand

We’ve come to our last and final installation of our four part Osaka travelogue. If you’ve been following parts 1, 2 and 3, we hope you’ve enjoyed it, and thank you for exploring some of Osaka’s most opulent reef keepers…

The elusive and illusory Synchiropus circularis shows up at Bali Aquarium

Synchiropus is an immaculate genus famed for the unorthodox juxtaposition between cute and freaky. Their martian like faces with huge bulging eyes and pursed lips coupled with their undulating fin movements make for a highly peculiar animal. In the aquarium context,…

Opulent Osaka part 3: Dr. Shimokobe’s deluge of deepwater treasures

We’ve arrived at our third installation of our Osaka recount and if you’re still following, then thank you, and we hope you’ve enjoyed parts 1 and 2. We visited one of our favourite aquarist in Osaka, and we’ve featured his…

Franzia Friday: Pseudanthias rubrolineatus vs P. fasciatus

Pseudanthias is such an exciting genus of fish dripping with so many incredible species and oozing with potential new discoveries that we find ourselves coming back to it repeatedly. With three subgenus currently known but rather poorly defined, it still…

Reef Nuggets 5: Pseudanthias and notes regarding feeding and husbandry

In Reef Nuggets 4 we recounted Macropharyngodon and our personal experience with maintaining a harem using M. vivienae as an example. Today’s installation will aim at covering a topic that’s widely discussed, and on a subject that is ubiquitous and iconic in…

Will the real Terelabrus rubrovittatus please swim up

Terelabrus is at the moment a monotypic genus first erected in 1998 based on an unknown labrid caught at 100m in Bulari Pass, New Caledonia. Since then, the genus has not expanded despite the appearance of two potentially new species, one…

Symphysanodon katayamai is a beautiful slopefish that is almost unknown in the trade

Many deepwater reef fish don’t get enough air time simply because they live so deep and are hard to find. One such fish is Symphysanodon katayamai, or the yellow striped slopefish. Symphysanodon is a genus comprising of about a dozen…

Dr. Chung Wing Hung’s Pomacanthid perfection

Dr. Chung from Hong Kong is a familiar name to any rare fish lover worthy of his salt. A dentist by profession, Dr. Chung has had the privilege of owning some of the most elusive and rare species in the same tank.…

Pearl of The Orient: Mr Wong’s butterflyfish collection

When it comes to the rare fish game, there are only two players that immediately come to mind. Hong Kong and Japan. Together these two are undeniably the largest absorbers of rare fish, and have been consistently spitting out amazing specimens…

Ultra Rare Fish Alert: First live photos of Chromis struhsakeri and Bodianus bathycapros

Robert Whitton is a renowned underwater videographer and naturalist, and is currently working in the ichthyological department of natural sciences as a research assosiate at the Bishop Museum in Hawaii. Robert runs a blog called Explorer’s Log where he documents…