Plectranthias ryukyuensis is a new species of our favorite group of basslets which as the name describes, come from the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan. The new Ryukyu basslet is closely related to the similar looking Plectranthias sagamiensis which is…
Top 6 New Species of Reef Corals in 2019
It’s no secret that corals are hard to identify, and that fish are much more appealing when it comes to new species description. New discoveries like the Corazon Damselfish and the Vibranium Fairy Wrasse grab headlines in popular culture in…
Top 10 New Species of Reef Fish of 2019
This past 2019 was a fruitful year of new saltwater and reef fish species, introducing fish lovers to a whole host of new species. More so than other years we were treated to a nice variety of new official descriptions…
Top 5 New Goby Species of 2019
As we begin wrapping up yet another full year of reporting every aspect of saltwater aquarium news, we’re approaching our annual year-end recaps of all the new species that grabbed our attention in 2019. As usual some very abundant groups…
The Classic Octo-Bubble Coral Finally has a Name
An overlooked 2003 publication describing few new species of corals from Sabah, Malaysia, on the northern tip of the Borneo island, shed lights on a commonly available bubble coral species for many years from Indonesia, and finally put a name…
Vanderhorstia dawnarnallae, Wicked New Species of Shrimp Goby Described
Vanderhorstia dawnarnallae is a beautiful and colorful new species of shrimp goby recently described in the Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation. Discovered in the far eastern reaches of Indonesia also known as West Papua, Dawn’s Shrimp Goby is the…
Bunga, Laeta and Phenganax: Lots of Micro Octocorals Finally get Named
Bunga, Laeta & Phenganax are the new taxonomic homes for a wide variety of small, nondescript octocorals that often hitchhike into our aquariums on coral bases and live rocks. Phenganax is an existing genus which just inducted two new species…
Pteropsaron indicum, A Striking New Species of Signalfish
Pteropsaron indicum is a newly minted species of signalfish which has us really wishing this group of fish had any presence in the hobbyist or public aquarium world. The reason that signalfish are pretty much nonexistent on our collective radar…
Tomiyamichthys emilyae, the Official Description of the Magnificent Fan Shrimp Goby
Tomiyamichthys emilyae is a new name for an old friend that we once saw a lot more of in the aquarium trade. It was almost exactly ten years ago that the ‘Magnificant Fan Shrimp’ goby was introduced to our early…
Acanthastrea pachysepta: Your Orange Lobo is most Likely an Acan!
Acanthastrea pachysepta is a reclassification of a coral that has stumped us for well over a decade. Formerly classified as a Lophyllia (which now includes all Symphyllia too), the majority of orange lobos exhibit a different color, pattern, morphology and especially behavior than any…
