Chaetodon flavocoronatus, the Yellow-crowned Butterflyfish. Photo credit: Lemon TYK. It has been a while since our last installation of epithet etymology, and, to make up for the absence in posts, we'll feature a truly stunning fish from the butterflyfish genus Chaetodon. In keeping with the [...]
Hybrid C. flavocoronatus X C. burgessi from Cagayan, Philippines. Credit: Barnett Shutman / RVS Fishworld In recent years, we’ve been seeing a surprising number of fishes from the Central Pacific washing ashore at Cagayan in the Northern Philippines—Lemonpeel Angelfish, Helfrichi [...]
https://youtu.be/Ic_G6njmYj0?t=4s Interspecies hybridization is an inherently fascinating biological phenomenon that can potentially offer us insight into the process of evolution and speciation on coral reefs. Aquarists have always admired such aberrant fishes for their unique aesthetic [...]
Photo Credit: John Randall There are somewhere around 88 recognized species of Chaetodon butterflyfish swimming around the coral reefs of the world, which makes it quite challenging when it comes to keeping track of all this biodiversity. Systems for classifying this mess have varied [...]
Liopropoma tonstrinum. Photo credit: Lemon TYK. Today's instalment of epithet etymology features two species of reef fish displaying extreme dichotomy in nearly all aspects of their biology - the first, known only as a rare, reclusive denizen of deep reef slopes, while the other, a common [...]
An interspecies pair of C. trifasiatus (left) and C. melapterus (right) seen at Socotra. Credit: Paddy Ryan In analyzing the genetics of Corallochaetodon, Waldrop et al found support for the Indian and Pacific Ocean populations splitting approximately 3 MYA, roughly correlating with a period [...]
This time of year, each dive in New York becomes a little less pleasant. Every time I go out, I tell myself: “This will probably be my last dive of the year.” Each throbbing headache from the cold water is a little more intense, and the period of post-dive shivering lasts a little longer. [...]
How close are we? “This Close”! It occurred to me that sometimes we use the phrase “this close” in idle conversation, often holding up our fingers perhaps a centimeter apart, as if to give an actual indication of dimension when what we’re really trying to convey is is [...]
