by AquaNerd | Apr 14, 2016 | Aquaculture, Fish, Reef, Science
Red Scooter Dragonet Recently, Oceans Reefs and Aquariums (ORA) announced they had, for the first time, successfully breed the Ruby Red Dragonet. As of today, ORA has announced that the popular Red Scooter Dragonet (Synchiropus stellatus) will again be available. Similar to the Scooter Dragonet, the Red Scooter Dragonet distinguishes itself with unique shades of red and burgundy absent from the Scooter Dragonet. Sometimes referred as Stellate or Starry Dragonets, these colorful little fish are not actually blennies, as they are sometimes called. One of the advantages Aqua-cultured Dragonets have over wild caught specimens is they are raised to accept pellet food. They will also continue to eat small worms, copepods and amphipods as well as prepared foods like frozen mysis and frozen artemia (brine by AquaNerd | Dec 19, 2015 | Fish, Invertebrates, Science
In our last article, A Closer Look At Sleeper Gobies, Genus Valenciennea, we covered the diet, care and behavior of the 15 recognized species of Valenciennea gobies. Today we look at another genus of sand sifting gobies known as, Istigobious. Istigobius is a genus of gobies found in fresh, brackish and marine waters along the coasts of the Indian and western Pacific oceans. Istigobius was described originally as a subgenus of the genus Gobius (Whitley, 1932; Murdy and Hoese, 1985) and then in 1979 Hoese and Winterbottom reviewed the family and subsequently elevated Istigobius to generic status. Similar to Acentrogobius, Istigobius’s morphology differs by having its nose extend beyond the top of its mandible (lower jaw). Additionally, Istigobius was found to be most closely related to Exyrias, though Exyrias by AquaNerd | Dec 17, 2015 | Corals, Reef, Science
Combo Joe’s Retina Blaster and Fukushima Acan This weeks Featured Coral of the Week comes to us from one of our sponsors, Joe Knows Reefs. As featured above, Combo Joe’s Retina Blaster and Fukushima Acan give a visually appealing display involving every color of the rainbow. Speaking about this stunning Australian Acanthastrea, Joey Nichols tells us that it has been in his grow out system for about 6-7 months thriving best under conditions of low water flow and low to moderate lighting conditions. In the reef aquarium, Acanthastrea corals are very hardy and fast growing. They are some of the most ideal corals for fragging with a quality frag saw. Like many aquarists, coral farmers and coral importers, Joey uses the Gryphon Aquasaw to cut through the by AquaNerd | Dec 17, 2015 | Fish, Invertebrates, Reef, Science
Valenciennea bella – Photo by Kevin Kohen Valenciennea is a genus of small, bottom-dwelling fish from the family Gobiidae. They can be found sifting sandy bottoms, along the edges of coral reefs and on flats in the Indo-Pacific. Behavior Valenciennea will perch directly on the substrate for extended periods of time while resting from sifting sand though their mouths. Also referred to as “hover gobies”, these fish can also be observed floating motionless directly above the sand bed or other substrate. The resting behavior of Valenciennea gobies has resulted in the common name “sleeper gobies”. Currently there are 15 recognized species of Valenciennea gobies but only a few are found prevalently in the US aquarium trade. Below is a list of observed species in order by AquaNerd | Dec 7, 2015 | Reef, Science
Photo by areefcreation.com Anemones can reproduce either asexually or sexually. Each method of reproduction has distinct advantages and disadvantages. With asexual reproduction, the offspring are genetically identical to the original parent. Asexual reproduction allows for larger numbers of individual offspring to be produced more quickly with less energy expenditure as compared to sexual reproduction. In stable marine environments this is a reliable, efficient and effective means of reproduction. However, this lack of genetic diversity in offspring could collapse an entire population of genetically identical animals if environmental pressures were to swing too far from tolerable conditions. On the other hand, rapid rates of asexual reproduction allows for faster responses to environmental pressures as they are occurring and could raise the rate of survival if
