For the very first time, scientists have been able to view the deepest regions of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The team from the Schmidt Ocean Institute discovered five undescribed species consisting of black corals and sponges, and recorded…
First video of unexplored reef off Tasmania’s east coast
Scuba divers off the East Coast of Tasmania have given us the first close-up look at the marine life on deep reefs in the Freycinet Commonwealth Marine Reserve. Their footage shows an explosion of colourful sponges, gorgonian fans and other…
Newly described black coral is one of the oldest living animals in the world
Leiopathes annosa is a new species of deep sea black coral that was recently discovered living on the seafloor around the waters of Hawaii and the Papahanaumokuakea marine national monument. In addition to being a new and previously unknown species, the…
Cirrhipathes, the wire corals are in a league of their own
Wire corals of the genus Cirrhipathes feature some of the most iconic growth forms of any coral found in the aquarium trade. In the past couple years coral farms have started Mariculturing several variations, and availability of wire corals in the…
Massive coral reef, twice the size of Manila, destroyed in Philippines by poachers
A tragic crime that is being described as “the rape of the ocean” took place in the Philippines where poachers decimated an entire reef area almost twice the size of Manila harvesting over 21,000 pieces of black coral and killing 161 endangered sea turtles and…
Azoox.org, the dark side of the hobby gets their own forum
Azoox.org is a newly created forum that was developed to provide and share information about the care of Azooxanthellate corals in aquariums at all experience levels. The goal of Azoox.org is not just to provide and share information on a hobbyist…
Operation Black Gold seizes huge illegal coral shipments
by Shane Graber Chalk another one up to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service! On March 11th, two Taiwanese nationals, Gloria and Ivan Chu, pleaded guilty in a U.S. Virgin Islands federal court to nine counts for conspiring to illegally…
