Ornate Ghost Pipefish births are like Panda babies of the fish world

[vimeo width=”600″ height=”400″]http://vimeo.com/24687192[/vimeo] Upon returning from an expedition to the Philippines, the team at the California Academy of Sciences has been continuing to wow the aquarium world with new discoveries and achievements.  Last week, a video of the exotic Ornate…

New bill threatens to ban commercial reef fish harvest in Hawaii – updated

On the heels of Ret Talbot’s January 2011 CORAL Magazine article on the Hawaiian Marine Aquarium Fish Trade comes a bill in the Hawaii State Legislature to amend Chapter 188 of the Hawaii State Statute.  Specifically, revisions to marine life…

Rethinking The Local Fish Store

In this postmodern, internet-based hobby world, it seems that the venerable local fish store (“LFS”) is under constant attack. E-tailers, hobbyist’ garage based start-ups, group buys, eBay, Craigslist, and even frag swaps are but a few of the challenges facing…

Sustainable Aquatics releases tank raised Clown Triggerfish

Sustainable Aquatics, the captive-bred marine ornamentals company that supplies fish stores across the country, has now started to offer tank-raised Clown Trigger fish (Balistoides conspicillum) to its customers. The fish are available in either 2-inch or 3-inch sizes with retail…

Genicanthus personatus spawning & rearing video by Karen Britain and Bruce Carlson

Genicanthus personatus, the masked swallowtail angelfish is a holy grail angelfish species that is endemic to the Hawaiian Island chain. Paradoxically, this is one of the few angelfish species which has been raised in captivity and it is the only…

The Big Hobby Developments of 2009- Scott Fellman’s take

As  the holiday season is in full swing and the end of 2009 is in sight, Jake thought that it might be cool for those of us who write for Reef Builders to give you our thoughts on what we…

Steinhart Aquarium the first to successfully breed dwarf cuttlefish

The California Academy of Sciences’ Steinhart Aquarium recently became the first aquarium in the U.S. to successfully breed Sepia bandensis, more commonly known as dwarf cuttlefish. Pioneered by Academy marine biologist and Reef Builders’ own Rich Ross, the breeding program…

The Enigmatic White Bar Maculosus Angelfish

The white bar maculosus is a curious captive strain of the classic yellow blotched Pomacanthus maculosus. The white bar mac is only available to import from a marine fish breeding enterprise in Taiwan called Marine Fish Taiwan. We are uncertain…