Hermit crabs are rarely thought of as little more than the janitors for our reef and marine aquariums and blue leg and scarlet hermit crabs are purchased for cheap by the dozen to do our bidding. These species are colorful…
This video is mandatory watching for anyone who deals with LFS
Let’s face it, there’s been a huge shift in the dynamics of the marine aquarium hobby and industry over the last ten years. For the most part the aquarist as a consumer has gotten increasingly closer to the source of…
Blue Squamosa Clams down to $99 at Old Town Aquarium, Chicago
The Blue Squamosa clam was once the holy grail of Tridacna giant clams, virtually never seen in the aquarium world until a trickle of specimens began to be imported earlier last year. The first few handfuls of the blue squammies…
Spanish Flag Grouper lands at Old Town Aquarium
The Spanish Flag grouper is a fish that was once uber rare but now seems to be trickling into the trade with more regular collection, and a price that ensures it is worth the time of the deepwater collectors who…
The Wrasse Blenny is exactly the kind of oddball fish you’d expect to find at Old Town Aquarium
it is invariable that any time we visit Old Town Aquarium in Chicago, we are bound to not only come across some cool fish, but some rare oddballs which we’ve never seen, and rarely even thought about. On this visit…
Serranus phoebe is the latest feather in the cap of Old Town Aquarium basslet collections
Tattler’s basslet, Serranus phoebe, won’t be the most sensational rare fish collected this year, but that bold pattern of stripes on a light body with subtle blue markings sure are distinctive. The blue snout and angular head makes this serranid…
Serranus chionaraia, the snow basslet, is the Plectranthias pelicieri of the Atlantic
The snow basslet, Serranus chionaraia, is a beautiful and interesting deepwater basslet from the Carribean Sea. As with many of these curiosities of the rare fish world, the snow basslet above was recently collected by Dynasty Marine and sent to…
Paracheilinus attenuatus, the diamond tail flasher wrasse shows up at Old Town Aquarium
The diamond tail flasher wrasse, Paracheilinus attenuatus, is one of the rarest and most highly sought after flasher wrasses. The species was long synonymized with P. mccoskeri but John Randall described and split off the species from specimens collected in…
