Gold Crown Butterflyfish variant shows up in Japan

Following up on the story we posted several days ago regarding the gold crown butterflyfish, Chaetodon (Roaps) flavocoronatus,  as we expected at least one of these specimens has shown up for sale in Japan. However, in contrast to the nearly…

The Golden Hamlet is one of the crown jewels of Caribbean reef fish

As close as we Americans live to the Caribbean Sea, we are woefully under-informed as to the wealth of beautiful corals and reef fish that live there. Case in point is the jaw-dropping gorgeous golden hamlet, Hypoplectrus gumigutta which Japanese and…

Golden Nebula Angelfish is a Griffis x GoldFlake Backcross Hybrid

Singapore fish store Iwarna Aquafarm is showing off a stunning hybrid angelfish that we believe to be a cross between the Griffis Angelfish, Apolemichthys griffisi, and a Goldflake/Griffis hybrid (A.xanthopunctatus x A.griffisi). The Apolemichthys genus includes many beautiful and highly…

Rare Golden Hamlet makes its Way to the Reef Builders Studio

The Golden Hamlet, Hypoplectrus gummigutta, is one of the most striking small fish of the Caribbean, and it also happens to be one of the most elusive. We have revered this fish for over twenty years and during that time…

Adding a New Fish to A Boisterous Saltwater Aquarium Display

We never thought we’d see that day that our YouTube channel would feature a how-to about adding a gold crown butterflyfish to a display tank that is already home to a large mature adult Tinker’s butterflyfish but here we are.…

The ‘Cleanest’ Flavocoronatus Butterflyfish Appears at SDC-ERI

The gold crown butterflyfish, Chaetodon flavocoronatus, is one of the rarest species of butterflyfish that we’ve been writing about since 2009, but had never seen for ourselves until last week. Closely related to the tinker’s butterflyfish from Hawaii, the declivis butterflyfish…

Rare Butterflyfish Parade: Roa excelsa, Roaps flavocoronatus and a new Roaps tinkeri hybrid

Not sure what is in the air lately but have we got the goods on a nice handful of uber rare butterflyfish fish for you. Hot on the heels of the orange margin butterflyfish, Prognathodes basabei, we have an odd-phase…

Galaxea Can Grow as big as Houses!

Large hard coral colonies are not only a very good sign of proper reef health, they are also a mesmerizing sight when they allowed to grow to full size. These majestic coral colonies are getting hard to find so we’re…

Purple X Yellow tang hybrids land at Abyss Aquatic Warehouse

Two of only 12 captive-bred Purple X Yellow tang hybrids have arrived at a retail store in the UK. Bred by Bali Aquarich in Indonesia, we have closely followed the evolution of this exclusive breeding project from the first purple…

Chromis sahulensis & C. norfolkensis, Two More New Damselfish Species

Chromis norfolkensis and C. sahulensis are two new species of one of our favorite group of reef animals, the damselfishes. Like several of the most recently described species of Chromis especially, the new species have been teased apart from other common and well…