The smallest of the small, newly discovered pigmy seahorses

Thanks to Rich for pointing this one out, National Geographic just posted a gallery of five new Indonesian pigmy seahorses. Three of the species were described by talented fish photographer Rudie Kuiter (original description). The pony above is Satoni’s seahorse…

Debelius Pigmy angelfish being targeted for collection

With so many rare fish floating around in the aquarium industry lately, what new species could garner our attention before it is even caught? Enter the diminutive Centropyge debelius. This beautiful rarity can only be found in the Mauritius, Reunion…

Reefbuilders crowns a new holy grail, the Yellowlined Japanese Anthias

Now that the once highly coveted Odontanthias borbonius is relatively common in the marine aquarium, it’s time for rare fish fanciers to set their sights on more elusive fish. Reefbuilders is the online authority on rare reef fish and as such,…

Australia Day, get to know the Wide Bar Anemonefish

In recognition of Australia Day Reef Builders is featuring a few stunning reef animals which live only in the land down under. The Wide Band Anemonefish, Amphiprion latezonatus, is a rare clownfish which is endemic to Australia. Also known as the Blue…

Eastern Indian Ocean region identified as a hotspot of reef fish hybridization

The isolated islands of Cocos-Keeling and Christmas in the Eastern Indian Ocean are a very special place for reef fish. The islands are home to the endemic joculator angelfish and they have become recognized as containing the highest diversity of…

Rare Fish: Joculator Angelfish, Centropyge joculator

Yey First! The first gratuitous rare fish post of the year is of this darling juvenile joculator angelfish. This species originates from a very small range of islands in the western Indian Ocean called the Cocos-Keeling Islands. This region is…

The Enigmatic White Bar Maculosus Angelfish

The white bar maculosus is a curious captive strain of the classic yellow blotched Pomacanthus maculosus. The white bar mac is only available to import from a marine fish breeding enterprise in Taiwan called Marine Fish Taiwan. We are uncertain…

Gratuitous midweek rare fish pr0n: Plectranthias pelicieri

We spotted this demi-god of a fish at the infamous Greenwich Aquaria. Although this species has been documented from only Mauritius and Southern Japanese waters, this specimen was imported from the Kingdom of Tonga. The video was taken several months…

And you thought Helfrich’s firefish were rare

What we have here is a glowing deepwater morph of the already highly sought after Helfrich’s firefish, Nemateleotris helfrichi. This particular variant comes from Cook Island at about 220 feet which is over 100 feet deeper than the normal Helfrich…

Possible new Liopropoma basslet species

Holy smokes Batman, look at that basslet! This new Liopropoma was discovered by Dennis Reynolds who sent the fish to Scott Michael for some input. The species is very similar to Liopropoma swalesi but there are some clear differences in…