Prognathodes basabei, or orange margin butterfly, now officially described

Although known to exist for over 20 years and even referenced quite a few times here at Reef Builders, a new species of deep-water butterflyfish from the mesophotic reefs of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument was finally described today by…

Follow along on this incredible expedition of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Research divers get to see amazing sights below the surface, but there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make it all possible. Thanks to Richard Pyle, we are able to follow along on an exciting expedition…

Newly discovered glowing jellyfish is eerily stunning

NOAA’s Okeanos Explorer is exploring the Mariana Trench and has uncovered some pretty amazing new creatures including this eerily stunning jellyfish that could easily be inspiration for a scifi film. The video was captured on April 24 of the unknown…

Casper the friendly cephalopod?

A curiously cute new octopus was recently discovered whtn NOAA’s exploration ship Okeanos Explorer took a dive off the Hawaiian Archipelago. This charming and ethereal cephalopod was captured on video during first dive of the season. The internet is enthralled…

Clownfish could be declared an endangered Species

That’s according to a new report from National Marine Fisheries Service that Clownfish (Percula) may warrant protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act because of threats from global warming and ocean acidification. The service will now conduct a status review…

New endangered coral ruling threatens your right to grow corals

In 2012, the NOAA made it known that they were considering listing 66 stony coral species as threatened. After receiving extensive public comments to the tune of 42,000 letters and emails along with another 32,000 emails after extending the comments…

Florida reefs get Google Maps love

Google Maps took its Street View below the sea a few years back mapping the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and now the technology is coming to Florida’s reefs as US scientists are learning to use specialized fisheye lenses underwater in…

Friday Smorgasbord: Fish Tank Kings, help save a species and more

Happy Friday to you all and since there are still is a few hours to go before its officially happy hour (although it is 5 o’clock somewhere), we have some interesting short posts to share to start your weekend off…

Breaking: NOAA announces the proposal to list 66 stony coral species as endangered or threatened

Just hours ago NOAA and the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) made public their intention to move forward with the proposal to list 66 species of stony corals under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). You may recall that three years…

NOAA awards $5.5 million for important watershed education projects for students around the country

NOAA has announced $5.5 in educational grants to allow K-12 students from across the country to participate in important watershed education projects. There are 59 projects awarded grants this year that will allow the education programs of the Bay-Watershed and…