Good morning all, remember me?? My life has been crazy these past few months with traveling around the world and trying to get settled into new places, I have had very little time to post blogs… I just got back from a tiny island in the Caribbean called St. Eustatius or “Statia as the locals call it” on another assignment for the world famous Smithsonian Institution.

Pictured here is by far the most sought after aquarium fish in the world and will cost you around $500 to $1000 to own one. It’s common name is a Candy Bass or Liopropoma carmabi for you science folks out there. This is considered a Sea Bass in the Serranidae family and only grows to be about two inches in length! As you can see, these mini sea bass are boldly marked with stripes generally in shades of light brown to red-brown or yellow-brown alternating with red to maroon but stripes may be occasionally yellow to lavender or even blue as you see here!! They typically inhabit deep coral reefs and rubble slopes and are very reclusive and will remain hidden inside recesses until danger passes. Passengers in the new Curasub have the best chance of seeing one of these in their natural habitat without the dangers of deep-diving in scuba gear. I am always amazed that there are fish like this that live far below in the darkness and no diver will ever see them but yet they are so colorful!. MORE