The bizarre specimen seen here comes to us from Kenya and has been identified as being a hybrid of Vivien’s Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon vivienae) and the Splendid Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon bipartitus). Now, anytime a new hybrid shows up it makes for an...
Nanipora kamurai is one of the most unassuming corals imaginable, which is what enabled it to remain completely overlooked until, in 2015, it was finally noticed and scientifically described. Now, new corals are named all the time, but Nanipora was something...
The Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish (Dendrochirus brachypterus) is a widespread Indo-Pacific fish and one of the most frequently seen species in the aquarium trade, and, yet, there is apparently much that we don’t understand about it. In a recently published taxonomic revision,...
What would you get if you crossed a Blotchy Anthias and a Sandperch? Probably something that looks quite a bit like this magnificent fish—Parapercis aurantica. This breathtaking species is incredibly rare in captivity, with most specimens being collected for human...
In 2012, Gerry Allen and Mark Erdmann brought joy to fish nerds around the world with the publication of their magnum opus Reef Fishes of the East Indies. Included within its many pages were the scientific descriptions for a number of new species from the region, and...
Odds are, if you’re at all familiar with silversides, it’s from having fed their defrosted corpses to a larger carnivore. But while they may be little more than baitfish to aquarists, in the wild, these humble fishes are a particularly abundant and important part of...
Somewhere right now in the Coral Triangle, the Volcano Goby (Amblyeleotris rhyax) is going about its business, clandestinely poking its head out from the burrow of a pistol shrimp. It’s doing this in the Philippines, in Palau, on the Great Barrier Reef and across...
One of the most rarely seen wrasses in the aquarium trade is about to become a little less rare. Up until quite recently, the Half-banded Flasherwrasse (Paracheilinus hemitaeniatus) was a nearly unobtainable “book fish”, known only from a few preserved specimens and a...
A pair of interesting new jawfish species have just hit the scene, and they’re sure to excite all the opistognathid fans out there. Both hail from fairly deep mesophotic reefs in the Caribbean, but, despite occurring beyond the reach of most divers and collectors, one...
A number of dazzling new species have recently been uncovered from the remote reefs of Easter Island. Last month, researchers from the California Academy of Sciences, along with several Chilean collaborators, conducted a series of surveys to document the region’s...