Our 10 Favorite Stories from 15 Years of RVS Fishworld

To be honest, the saltwater aquarium hobby would be so much less exciting without RVS Fishworld. Founded by Barnett Shutman and his extended family over fifteen years ago, RVS Fishworld deserves all the air time it receives and then some. …

Biri Initiative Coral Restoration Project 250
Biri Initiative The Biri Initiative is an NGO in the Philippines with a goal of installing 250 coral frames around Biri Island. The initiative started with cement structure called Biri-buds and has grown to include community outreach and their new scuba attraction Project 250. Project 250 is located…
Aberrant Cleaner Wrasse From Philippines is Out of this World!

Wrasses are not a group of reef fish that don’t deviate from their template too much, but when they do it can be quite spectacular. Case in point is this aberrant cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, fished up in the Philippines by…

Parapercis altipinnis, a new Sandperch Species Was Discovered in a Fish Store!

Parapercis altipinnis is a new species of sandperch which has the potential to become a popular aquarium fish. Unlike many sandperch species which are long bodied with capacious mouths, the new sandperch is short with a bright red eye and…

The Black Phantom Is One Of The Rarest Angelfish In The Hobby

The black phantom angelfish is an unusual ‘species’ of angelfish from the northern Philippines which is by far much rarer than may of the holy grails we seek out in the saltwater aquarium hobby. Its body is the deepest shade…

Roa rumsfeldi Is A New Species Of Butterflyfish From The Philippines!

Roa rumsfledi is an exciting new species of butterflyfish from a genus that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. Before today the Roa butterflyfish consisted of just four species which all have a high body profile and a pattern of alternating…

The Case Of The Missing Ctenophores

In 2015 a team from the California Academy of Science set out on a expedition to the Philippines to explore the Coral Triangle’s biological treasures. The trip was aimed at exploring the Verde Island Passage, a stretch of water between the…

The Best Pictures Yet Of The Rare Greytail Angelfish

The greytail angelfish, Chaetodontoplus poliourus, is one of the newest species of marine angelfish. It’s also pretty special to us because it was the first ‘new species of angelfish’ we ever got to write about here in Reef Builders. First described…

Young Purple Chromis albomaculata Are Deepwater Darlings

When fish collectors venture into new regions and show us fish that we’ve never seen before, it’s easy to get excited at the potential of some of these specimens being new species. Alas, ichthyologists have been hard at work for…

RVS Fishworld Continues To Train Whole Communities Of Net-Caught Aquarium Fisherman

Over the years a lot of ink has been spilled about cyanide-caught fish, and a lot of lip service has been paid to catching ornamental fish using nets. Talk is cheap and real action is expensive, and RVS Fishworld has been…