The 19th century was a golden age for ichthyological exploration. It signified an era of what seemed like an endless slew of new discoveries, where even the most iconic and noble of species we know today were without names. Taxonomists…
The Helfrich Firefish Hybrid Literally Survived A Storm!
It was in December of last year that we reported on the first documented sighting of a rare hybrid between the common firefish, Nemateleotris magnifica, and the much less common helfrich’s firefish, N. helfrichi. We’re happy to report that this specimen…
New Pink Spot Firefish is Only The Second of its Kind!
When we first reported on the existence of a common firefish with a large, unusual pink spot on its side, we thought for sure this was a fluke. Like the metallic green-faced goby, we thought that since the pink spot…
Amazing First Pictures of Helfrich Firefish Hybrid (Updated w/ Video)
Dartfish hold a very special place in our reefing hearts, and none more so than the magnificent firefish. We absolutely adore the Nemateleotris firefish species, so we definitely perked up when we came across this incredibly rare firefish hybrid. The regular and…
Rare double fin firefish makes its way to House of Fins
A rare double-finned common firefish has just made its way to the aquarium hobby and it’s quite the attention grabber. If there’s one thing that firefish are well known for, it’s that prominent first dorsal fin. So you can imagine…
Helfrich’s firefish discovered in the Philippines
The Helfrich’s firefish, Nemateleotris helfrichi has been discovered in the Philippines, extending the species range by more than 1000 km, or 600 miles. The recent finding is important not only from a fish ecology perspective but it also puts this fish within…
Nemateleotris helfrichi: A tale of two heads
Immense fish collection in the early 90’s brought new light to a plethora of colourful reef fish, many of which the world had never seen. In 1938, from a smorgasbord of specimens in the Albatross collection, one exquisite little fish…
Monochrome magnifica, the almost magnificent fire fish
Somewhere along the primeval soup of genetic crossing and embryonic development, a magnificent fire fish decided to break free from the metaphorical cloning factory and decided to be different. The concept of massed produced factory clones is not limited only…
Exquisite firefish, Nemateleotris exquisita – a bigger yellow version of the purple firefish
The exquisite firefish, Nemateleotris exquisita, joins the small but illustrious group of reef fish which are endowed with equally flattering latin names. Hailing from the western Indian Ocean, the new exquisite firefish looks very similar to the well known purple firefish,…
Purple face Helfrich’s firefish resurface from the Cook Islands
Helfrich’s firefish, Nemateleotris helfrichi, were once so rare in the aquairum hobby that you basically never saw them at the fish store. How times have changed now that the dainty little Helfrich’s is collected in massive numbers from the Marshall Islands…
