Tryssogobius Tuesday: A guide to the genus of fairy gobies

Amongst the giddying myriad of nano-sized gobies suited for the home aquarist, few genera exuberates brilliance and mystique quite like Tryssogobius. The genus comprises of delicate dainty gobies, of which seven are scientifically recognized. There are invariably many more waiting…

1.3 Fairy Wrasses: The lanceolatus group

The members of the lanceolatus group are some of the largest and showiest fairy wrasses, collectively celebrated for their grandiose caudal fin and chromatic brilliance. The group spans most of the Indo-Pacific, with its various species occupying a series of…

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…

1.1 Fairy Wrasses: The lubbocki group

The lubbocki group houses six members divided evenly into two separate but closely related clades. They are the lubbocki clade and the marjorie clade. All members of this group are small to medium sized species with a recurring red and white…

Bunbu-Kun, anthropomorphic urchins will make you smile

Lurking out on the reefs of the Philippines is the jolliest creature known to man, the ever-ebullient Bunbu-kun. Its permanent countenance of childlike wonder and joy is enough to warm the heart of even the most curmudgeon-y of aquarists, for,…

Biota Marine adds four species of Eviota to their repertoire of captive bred successes

These particular few weeks have played host to a flurry of aquaculture stories, from Bali Aquarich’s hybrid Pomacanthus and brand new A. trimaculatus, to Biota Marine’s captive bred Clown Triggerfish. Palau based Tom Bowling and Till Deuss from Biota Marine are…

Atelomycterus erdmanni, a new species of catshark from Eastern Indonesia

Atelomycterus erdmanni is a new species of catshark from Indonesia with a very attractive jaguar pattern and a typical slender catshark body shape. The new species is names after Mark Erdmann, a prolific diver, underwater explorer and ichthyologist who has…

Awesome possum: The diminutive and taciturn Wetmorella

Unlike Awesome Possum, Wetmorella does not can haz chezburgers, neither does it enjoy being an internet meme. Wetmorella is a small yet very interesting genus comprising of three Indo-Pacific species that lead very cloistered lives in dark caves and ledges.…

Top 10 new fish species of 2014

The last few years have been really hot ones for the discovery and description of new reef fish species and 2014 was no slouch either. Sometimes it seems like new species descriptions are dominated by dwarf gobies of the Eviota and Trimma genera,…

Awesome Fish Spotlight: The clandestine life of Centropyge colini

Fabled angelfish of the deep, with a mysterious ectoplasmic glow. Centropyge colini is a dwarf angel riddled with mystique and inexplicable beauty. Of the various deepwater dwarf angelfish known to science, only a few species fall readily into the hands…