Balanopsammia wirtzi, a new azoox coral species and genus from the Cape Verde Islands

Newly described stony corals are few and far between but West Africa has been hiding more than that in accessible, relatively shallow water. The new coral Balanopsammia wirtzi is an azooxanthellate stony coral from West Africa which was recently discovered to…

Pomacentrus micronesicus – a new damselfish species from the Marshall Islands

As it there weren’t enough blue damselfish to confuse us on identification, along comes Pomacentrus micronesicus to add one more species to the mix. Identified from ten specimens collected around Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, the new Micronesian damselfish is…

Four new species of Eviota gobies from French Polynesia

Four new species of Eviota dwarf gobies have just been described from French Polynesia. Although the new tiny reef fish are probably very beautiful in real life, Alive, all we have to go on is a handful of images of these fish…

Xanthichthys greenei is the official name of the Christmas Island Kiri triggerfish

Xanthichthys greenei is now the official name given to the popular ‘Kiri’ triggerfish that has been an infrequent collection for aquariums. Over the past four years or so the Christmas Island triggerfish has gone by the provisional Xanthichthys ‘dorsopunctatus’ and X. kiritimati but…

Four new Gobiodon species from the Red Sea

A handful of new species of Gobiodon coral gobies have just been described from the Red Sea. The new Gobiodon species were teased out of coral gobies from the marisrubri although several of the species are also known to occur in the Indian…

Hemiscyllium halmahera, a new species of epaulette shark described from Indonesia

As far as sharks go, the ground-crawling epaulette sharks are some of the prettiest, most aquarium suitable, and now we have one more species to add to the mix. Discovered in Halmahera in north eastern Indonesia, Hemiscyllium halmahera is the newest…

Two new coral species found off West Coast of North America

Two new species of octocoral have been discovered off the Pacific Coast of the United States and Canada. The new corals were discovered in a tide pool in San Diego and the other off the coast of British Columbia. Octocorals are…

Pseudanthias oumati, another new Anthias from the Marquesas Islands

Pseudanthias oumati is a new species of Anthias which like yesterday’s Plectranthias flammeus was described in the same paper. The single female specimen of Pseudanthias oumati doesn’t divulge much about what makes it a distinct new species as we can…

Plectranthias flammeus is a new species from the South Pacific, French Polynesia

The South Pacific Ocean is a hotbed of new species right now with Plectranthias flammeus just the latest visually striking reef fish to be thoroughly described. Discovered living in the waters of the Marquesas Islands around French Polynesia, unlike many other…

Coralline Clam: New cryptic giant clam species is a perfect coralline algae mimic

The Coralline Clam is a new species of Tridacna giant clam has been found living in plain sight on the shallow reefs of the Solomon Islands. The very unusual clam species was discovered by Julian Sprung on some recent shallow…