by AquaNerd | Jun 15, 2014 | Fish, Opinion, Science
What better way to celebrate Father’s Day than to show off a newly aquacultured fish species from the always busy fish breeders at Oceans Reefs & Aquariums? Like the proud papas they are, ORA is gushing all about their new Girdled Goby (Priolepis cincta) in their latest blog post, sharing all the joys and unfortunate pitfalls that fish parenthood has brought with this new goby. This goby was first raised much earlier in 2014, marking the first time that P. cincta has been bred in the hobby. Unfortunately, long larval stages, challenging feeding requirements, and conspecific aggression have sort of marred the normally joyous process of breeding a new fish. Despite these challenges, ORA breeders pressed on and eventually raised enough fish to make a viable commercial offering. The first batch was shipped to Drs. by AquaNerd | Jun 4, 2014 | Fish, Science
Cardinalfish are no strangers to the marine aquarium scene. The hobby has seen plenty of species from this group make an appearance, though the trade has been primarily focused on two in particular, the Banggai cardinal (Pterapogon kauderni) and the Pajama cardinal (Sphaeramia nematoptera). Despite the overwhelming popularity of these two species, Oceans Reefs & Aquariums is testing the waters with a newly aquacultured species from Japan, the rare Spotnape cardinalfish (Apogon notatus). As noted on the ORA blog, the Florida-based fish breeders acquired a batch of wild spotnape cardinals, but due to a lack of information being available, they didn’t really know what to expect in terms of behavior, feeding strategies, breeding, etc. But that didn’t stop the experts from giving it their best shot, and after some time they were successfully breeding the fish and learning all sorts of information about them. One of the biggest takeaways from rearing this fish is that, despite their muted colors, a small group of these cardinals is quite striking. They sport “silvery, rose gold colors” as ORA puts it, along with a spot just behind its eye and one on the tail. The fish has a maximum size of 4″, and their social nature makes them great for community reef tanks. Though ORA is having loads of success with this species, they are at a bit of a crossroads. They can either continue to raise and breed the fish, assuming there is a commercial demand for them, or they can shift their focus toward other species by AquaNerd | Dec 18, 2013 | Corals, Fish, Science
Believe it or not, but Oceans Reefs & Aquariums (ORA) has released around half a dozen new captive bred fish onto the aquarium keeping world so far this year, not including corals, and they’re gearing up to add at least one more before 2013 draws to a close. Announced late afternoon yesterday on their blog, the ORA Yellowstriped Cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus cyanosoma) is the latest offering from the Florida-based aquaculture specialists and the second one in less than a week. The fish isn’t new to the trade, and some hobbyists have bred them in captivity in the past, but this is the first time that captive bred individuals will be available on any sort of scale. ORA states in their announcement that only a small batch of these cardinalfish will be available, so if you want to get your hands on some, now is the time to act. As for the yellowstripe cardinal’s behavior and breeding characteristics, it operates a lot like most other cardinalfish. It is a peaceful fish that hails from various locales within the Indo-Pacific region and it does well in just about any community environment, though it might go after some small shrimp from time to time. by AquaNerd | Oct 22, 2013 | Aquaculture, Fish, Industry
October has been a big month for Oceans Reefs & Aquariums, as they’ve officially released two long awaited fish for hobbyists to finally enjoy. Besides the Gold Nugget Maroon Clownfish starting to be circulated, which took more than a year to reach the market, ORA is also making their Randall’s Assessors available to fish retailers around the world. Announced in December 2012, the ORA Randall’s Assessor was first acquired from Blue Harbor in Japan. Given their rarity in the states, ORA immediately placed these fish into their breeding program, experiencing a great deal of success along the way. With the conquest of breeding the Randall’s Assessor, ORA has officially bred all known species of the Assessor genus. That’s quite a success, especially given the Randall Assessor’s limited availability for such a long time. We can’t wait to see how well they fill out the tanks of US hobbyists, and we’re definitely excited by this news. Just don’t expect the price to be as low as other assessors. Chances are this fish will tip the scales well over $100, though we don’t have a firm price as of yet by AquaNerd | Sep 30, 2013 | Aquaculture, Fish, Industry
It was love at first sight, according to a new article from Oceans Reefs & Aquariums that announced their first ever intentional hybrid, the ORA Blood Orange Clownfish. The story about how this clownfish hybrid came to be is a bit unusual, but it makes for a great read. In short, ORA acquired a breeding clownfish pair from Larry Lau of Eco Reef Aquariums back in 2012, but it wasn’t a typical pair of clowns. Instead, it was a mixed species couple that consisited of a female Goldstripe Maroon clownfish (Premnas biaculeatus) and an Ocellarish clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris). According to Larry, he sold the female GSM clownfish to a customer 10 years ago. When the customer had to relocate, the clownfish was given back to Larry, who placed her in a large display reef with a large carpet anemone. A year later, Larry was given an adult Ocellaris clownfish and thought the 200-gallon display would be more than enough space for the two fish to cohabitate. To his surprise, the Ocellaris clown swam right up to the GSM, who more surprisingly accepted it into her anemone. The GSM not only accepted the Ocellaris as a living partner, but even danced for him. Within 3 months from introduction, the two fish were regularly spawning, with egg clusters being clearly viable
