The final series to this short Curacaoan sampling deals with two prominent and rather well known Serranids from the region. Plectranthias garrupellus and Gonioplectrus hispanus are more or less icons of the surrounding region and are again, one of the few…
Steinhart Aquarium’s Caribbean display is a truly realistic representation of a biotope
Few set ups truly elicit fascination and marvel quite like those done in a biotope fashion. A biotope refers to an area of uniform environmental conditions which provides a specific niche for a particular set of organisms. Because aquarists are spoilt for choice…
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…
Decompressing marine fish from the deep reefs of Curacao
The following is a guest contribution from Joe Oliver, a resident Marine Biologist for the Curacao Sea Aquarium and Substation Curacao. As an aquarist (hobbyist or professional) there is a huge array of fishes available as possible options when it comes…
Spanish Flag Grouper lands at Old Town Aquarium
The Spanish Flag grouper is a fish that was once uber rare but now seems to be trickling into the trade with more regular collection, and a price that ensures it is worth the time of the deepwater collectors who…
First video of a live Spanish Flag grouper from Absolutely Fish
The Spanish Flag grouper, Gonioplectrus hispanus, is one of the rarest and most colorful groupers in the sea and second only to the Neptune Grouper, Cephalopholis igarashiensis. Due to their deepwater habitat, it’s very rare that spanish flag groupers are…
Crosshatch bass and juvenile spanish flag make their way to the Blue Harbor
Looks like that planeload of rare Curacao reef fish flew right by Phoenix and straight to Japan’s Blue Harbor. The image above may be blurry but it’s still very exciting for us because it’s one of the only ones displaying…
Spanish Flag and a whole biotope of Curacao deepwater reef fish making a pit stop at AquaTouch
The Spanish Flag, Gonioplectrus hispanus is one of those rare deepwater reef fish that is so uncommonly seen or collected that very few pictures of it even exist. It was very exciting to hear that AquaTouch in Phoenix AZ will…
Neptune Grouper, Cephalopholis igarashiensis, House of Fins, $6K
If you didn’t know any better, a full grown Neptune Grouper could come across as more of an Anthias than a grouper. The juvenile adult may be muted in coloration but mature adults sport a hot pink body which is…
