Socotra is a convergence of hybrid reef fish

Socotra is a far flung island of the Western Indian Ocean which is incredibly hard to reach, and even harder to study underwater. A couple years back however, a team of researchers including California Academy of Sciences ichthyology curator and…

California Academy of Sciences dive team is scoring big in the depths of the Philippines

After what has been a lengthy period of preparation, scouting and diving, the California Academy of Sciences’ expedition to the Philippines is beginning to yield a nice catch of truly exotic deep reef fish. The first notable catch of the…

Dr. Luiz Rocha will be the Keynote speaker for MACNA 2014

MACNA 2014 has revealed their choice of Keynote speaker this year and what a doozy it will be. Dr. Luiz Rocha will be giving the Keynote presentation at the MACNA 2014 banquet in which we expect him to reveal lots…

Synchiropus circularis is the first gem of a reef fish pulled up by CAS in the Philippines

Synchiropus circularis is one of those “book fish” that we have admired in pictures and from a distance, never really expecting any fresh specimens to be documented by our colleagues. The circled dragonet is so rare, it doesn’t really have…

Halichoeres socialis: did you know this small wrasse is critically endangered?

There’s a teeny tiny little wrasse living in the Gulf of Mexico called Halichoeres socialis which is all but unknown in the aquarium world, and it may not last long of this world at all. Living over a tiny 10 square…

Watch Luiz Rocha’s presentation on the Diversity and Evolution of Coral Reef Fishes

If you weren’t able to make it to last week’s Diversity and Evolution of Coral Reef Fishes, fret not because this informative talk is already up and live on the interwebz. Dr. Luiz Rocha, the ichthyologist who has described for…

Opportunistic mimicry by a Jawfish – amateur discovery recognized in scientific literature

It’s a rare event when something discovered by a recreational diver winds up validated in the scentific community.  But that’s precisely what’s happened with a story that first caught attention in July, 2011.  Godehard Kopp, a recreational diver, recorded a…

Sparisoma rocha is a new parrotfish species from the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

Sturisoma rocha is a new species of Brazilian parrotfish which was recently described from the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. The six specimens of S. rocha were collected from Trindade Island off of Southeastern coast of Brazil and they differ from other…