Dr. Rich Pyle is one of the undisputed pioneers of deep reef fish species habitats, and biology. Over the last thirty years, Pyle has been exploring deep mesophotic reefs and discovering new species of reef fish in these habitats at…
Brian Greene, Richard Pyle and Sonia Rowley teases with a surfeit of undescribed species from Pohnpei
To the uninitiated, the mesophotic coral reefs would seem like an unlikely place to find vibrant fish life. Antonymous to the ebullient habitat of shallow water coral gardens, the mesophotic zone is a gloomy contrast of seemingly endless dread and forlorn landscapes. Except not…
The deep sea is on display in Curacao
To most people the Mesophotic Zone is an entirely unknown part of the ocean that very few study and even fewer have physically visited. Yet these areas are more diverse than anticipated and contain a cornicopia of life from the…
Psammocora eldredgei sets new record for mesophotic photosynthesis
Psammocora eldredgei is a new species of stony coral that is remarkable not for its size or appearance, but for how deep this Scleratinian was collected from. Most new species of stony corals are really rare, very odd, or come…
Coryphopterus curasub newly described from mesophotic curacao
Coryphopterus curasub is the newest species of deepwater reef fish described from the depths of Curacao. The new Coryphopterus goby species is yet another new discovery made by the deep-diving Curasub which now gets its full name included in the binomial designation of…
Leptoseris skeletons specialized to double-dip into into available light
The amazing stony coral genus Leptoseris is far from staying out of the spotlight since researchers have just teased out one of its mesophotic tricks. Fort eh longest time scientists including Rich Pyle have worked on projects to investigate how Leptoseris could grow so…
Ride along a deep diving submersible beyond the reefs of Roatan
[vimeo width=”680″ height=”400″]http://vimeo.com/35805199[/vimeo] We’ve been totally digging all the uber deep water reef fish being collected in Curacao as well as wondering what their habitat looks beyond the mesophotic reef zone. Thankfully, a video camera was rolling when another deep diving sub…
Richard Pyle and researchers dive deep to study coral growth over 250 feet down
It’s not just reefers who are into mesophotic reefs. Researchers in Hawaii are currently underway with an experiment to measure how deepwater corals such as Leptoseris get the bulk of their energy; either from catching food or from photosynthesis. Rich…
