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Aberrant Chaetodon octofasciatus is just like finding a ‘Shiny Pokemon’ in the wild

Posted: February 22nd, 2012, 8:22pm CST by Tea Yi Kai

Very cool aberration of the bars in this individual specimen. Picture by PacificBlue blog.

We’ve all heard of “mis-barred” fishes whereby the stripes are either missing, misaligned or totally warped. Such aberrations are usually mistakes in the expression of these traits, but luckily for these fishes, mis-barring is usually a plus point for fish lovers as it lends a unique and one of a kind touch. Case in point is this interesting specimen of Chaetodon octofasciatus pictured above.

Normally, the eight-banded butterflyfish is seen with straight vertical bars that do not touch each other. The funky specimen of Chaetodon octofasciatus above has apparently had two sets of these bars curved and bent together to form two loops over most of the body. C. octofasciatus is a wide ranging and naturally variable fish anyways, with a few color forms.

Typically seen are those with a creamy-white body coloration, but specimens with a light yellow body also exist in certain areas. Solomon Island forms sport a yellow body with darker orange between alternating bands. Even the vertical stripes are subjected to some form of variations. Individuals from Thailand, Taiwan and possibly other locales have two pairs of bars that are closely spaced together.

Anyhow, aberrant barring, spotting or coloration are prevalent in many species but the chances of finding one is slim. Kinda like encountering a “shiny pokemon” in the wild, if you know what I mean.

Various forms of C. octofasciatus. A: Paired barring seen in Taiwan specimen. C: slight aberration in number of bars. Photo credits: A - Vincent C. Chen. B,C,D - Massimo Moyer.

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Orphek Nilus LED is a 120 watt multicolor SPS coral light

Posted: February 22nd, 2012, 7:00pm CST by Jake Adams

The Orphek Nilus is an interesting LED aquarium fixture which has just popped up for sale at Marine Depot. Loaded up with no fewer than four LED colors, the Orphek Nilus boasts 30 White LEDs, 22 Blue LEDs, 4 Red LEDs and 4 UV/true violet LEDs. The Orphek Nilus is differentiated from its white predecessor with an all black enclosure, black cord and the all black timer box.

Priced at $900 for 120 watts, the Orphek Nilus will have some stiff competition from Ecotech Marine’s feature-rich 130 watt Radion XR30w which is priced at $750. However since the Orphek Nilus has 60 LEDs spread over a wider surface area, the Orphek could provide better spread with more overall lumens, and those UV/True Violet LEDs are an added bonus for eeking out even more colors from the SPS corals for which this light was designed.
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Bleeding Warpaint and other Scolymia take center stage at Germany’s White Corals

Posted: February 22nd, 2012, 6:11pm CST by Jake Adams

Bleeding apples, warpaint reds, spirograph scolies, FrankenScolies, IncrediScolies, Mini Scolies, Orange Scolymia and tye dye super mega ultra Scolymia australis are the creme-de-la-creme of solitary LPS corals which couldn’t be any more ostentatious if they had been painted by an artist’s hand. White Corals of Germany recently obatined the Bleeding Apple Warpaint scolie they call ‘the wicked one’ and that’s because they take their Scolymia seriously that they have a dedicated section on their website for the highly coveted australian button brain coral. In order to get these amazing scolies a supplier must also order dozens or scores of other Scolymia australis which are more muted in appearance but still very attractive.

With Scolymia australis being a slow growing coral species which reproduces almost exclusively through sexual reproduction, we are concerned with the disparity between how many Scolymia are being harvested and how little they are being propagated in captivity, almost not at all. With so many cheap low grade Scolies available it would behoove an intrepid aquarist to use these to tease out the secrets of breeding Scolymia australis for substantial monetary gain, and to alleve the pressure on wild stocks of the slow to reproduce Scolymia australis.
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Pseudanthias sheni is a closely related species to the ubiquitous square-spot anthias

Posted: February 22nd, 2012, 4:54pm CST by Tea Yi Kai

Nuptial coloration of Pseudanthias sheni. Picture by Itaru Takaku, Yakushima Diving.

Pseudanthias sheni is a gorgeous, and almost doppelgänger of Pseudanthias pleurotaenia, or the square-spot anthias. Unlike the latter, the Shen’s anthias is somewhat more subdued in coloration, with more shades of white. The caudal fin of P. sheni is comparatively lighter in color and more white compared to its close cousin. Like many other species of anthias, P. sheni is haremic with males tending to large groups of females.

The males of Pseudanthias sheni are also gaudily colored and very much different compared to the females, which in this species, is an overall yellow-orange with little markings. Females of P. sheni look almost identical to those of P. pleurotaenia. Keep reading for more titillating pictures of P. sheni, including some really awesome spawning ascent shots.

Pseudanthias sheni with a female in the background. This picture was most likely taken during a spawning ascent. Photo by Tsuyoshi kawamoto.

Nuptial phase P. sheni with female. Picture by Tsuyoshi Kawamoto.

While the differences between the two species may be subtle, one look and its quite obvious that P. sheni is indeed a distinct species. The head and ventral fins of P. sheni are also different from the standard square-spot anthias. This large species was originally reported to be endemic to the Rowley Shoals of Australia, but has since been reported from Indonesia where they often mingle with the similar looking P. pleurotaenia.

When in nuptial display, the coloration turns from a light salmon-lavender hue to an intense purple and magenta. There haven’t been much reports on P. sheni entering the trade but that’s most likely due to the confusion between it and the square-spot anthias. Take a good look at every square-spot anthias you see the next time. You might just be looking at P. sheni in disguise.

P. sheni in its relaxed non-nuptial coloration. The color of P. sheni is lighter as compared to P. pleurotaenia, with an overall peachy-lavender hue as compared to the dark magenta purple of the latter. Picture by NabiinSea.

Here’s a brief and rather unclear video of P. sheni in the wild, but it’s pretty obvious even in this video that the coloration of P. sheni differs from that of P. pleurotaenia. Video taken in Ambon, Indonesia.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Red Sea refreshes and updates popular Reef Starter Kit with current products

Posted: February 22nd, 2012, 2:44pm CST by Ryan Gripp

Red Sea, the Israeli based aquarium manufacturer and goods supplier has refreshed their popular Reef Starter Kit. The Reef starter kit has actually been around a while, with the older version hiding in the back of shelves at local fish stores across the world. Red Sea has slowly updated their line of products to include their new salt, testing kits and reef care products line. It was just a matter of time before the all-in-one kit was updated with the latest consumables from Red Sea. These are now available for retailers to stock to their store shelves with shipments happening in February 2012.The Red Sea Starter Kit comes with optimally balanced Coral Pro Salt that contains biologically balanced, elevated levels of the foundation elements (Calcium, Magnesium and Carbonates) necessary for sustainable, accelerated coral growth. The Reef Mature Pro Kit includes a concentrated blend of nitrifying bacteria, a bacteria growth starter, NO3 : PO4-X, biological nitrate and phosphate reducer and KH-Coralline Buffer to maintain the optimum KH while vitalizing Live Rocks. The Marine Care Pro Test includes pH/KH, Nitrate/Nitrite and Ammonia tests.

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‘Fishes: East Pacific’ is a free iPhone app from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Posted: February 21st, 2012, 3:43am CST by Jake Adams

Fishes: East Pacific is a free iPhone app from the Smithsonian which is a guide to the shore fishes of the tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. This fish identification guide was put together by Ross Robertson and Gerald Allen, two of the most knowledgeable fish guys on the planet. We’ve explored Fishes: East Pacific on an iPad, the graphics scale up well to the iPad’s larger screen and the content is so good that the app really supports the notion that the best things in life are free. Android users shouldn’t despair at being left out of the free fish finding fun because there is evidence that an Android version of Fishes: East Pacific is in the works.

If you’re into funky little gobies, blennies, triplefins and barnacle blennies, there’s a wealth of species waiting to be discovered in this guide to the seas that brought you such as hits as Clarion angelfish, Catalina gobies and blue spotted jawfish. Consider the cool fish that are covered in this free guide like the beautiful Panamanian jawfish, Opistognathus panamaensis or the gorgeous little Lythripnus rhizophora - there’s even guidance given on differentiating the northern and southern species of the Scythe butterflyfish, Prognathodes falcifer and P. carlhubbsi. There’s simply an abundance of wonderful tropical and subtropical marine fishes from the Eastern Pacific Ocean that saltwater aquarists know nothing about, but now you have no excuse. [iTunes]

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AZOX Macro Diet coral food by Aqua-Tech launches

Posted: February 21st, 2012, 1:30am CST by Brian Blank

Aqua-Tech is releasing its new AZOX Macro Diet coral food. The maker of Phyto2 is extending its product line with this coral food addressing the dietary needs of both photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic (azoox) corals. We don’t have the full rundown of the ingredient list but from the press release the company issued, the AZOX Macro Diet is made up of gutloaded zooplankton including nine types of copepods, two different rotifer strains, two different strains of brine shrimp nauplii, three different types of phytoplankton and an appetite stimulation ingredient (garlic maybe?). AZOX Macro Diet comes in a pump dispenser that should make feeding a cinch. No word on pricing yet but looks like the company will be on hand at the Marine Aquarium Conference of Illinois (MACI 2012) on March 11 showing it off. Full press release after the jump.

Aqua-Tech Co., manufacturer of Phyto2, has announced the launch of it’s newest product will coincide with the Marine Aquarium Conference of Illinois (MACI 2012). AZOX Macro Diet is a nutritious diet scientifically designed for the nutritional needs of both Photosynthetic and Non-Photosynthetic coral, Gorgonia, larval and planktivorous fish. Aqua-Tech Co. will be awarding free product, making AZOX available for purchase and demonstrating microscopy of it’s components.

AZOX Macro Coral diet is comprised of various size zooplankton gut loaded with phytoplankton and selected for their size, nutrition and attraction by coral. These small meaty particles are neutrally buoyant, packed with energy and ideal in aquariums with Non-Photosynthtic specimens such as gorgonia and tentacled corals. The product includes 9 types of copepod, two strains of rotifer, two strains of brine shrimp nauplii, 3 strains of phytoplankton and appetite stimulators. Packaged in a convenient pump dispenser the product is easily broadcast fed.

Marine Aquarium Conference of Illinois (MACI) will show at the Pheasant’s Run Resort in St. Charles, IL on March 11th, 2012.

Marine Geek and Chicago Marine Aquarium Society proudly present a new exciting conference featuring a full day of speakers, a workshop, kids activities and a huge show floor including a build a Reefball and your favorite vendors, local fish stores and frag shops display and selling their goods and livestock.

The event will include presentations from Kevin Kohen (Director, Live Aquaria), George Parsons (Curator, John G. Shedd Aquarium), Tal Sweet (MBI) and Julian Sprung (Owner, Two Little Fishies). There will be over 40 vendors including: Marineland, Seachem, Drs. Foster and Smith, and Two Little Fishies.

[via TCMAS]
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Quality Marine makes a rare move to auction limited supply of Resplendent Cherubfish

Posted: February 21st, 2012, 12:21am CST by Matt Pedersen

The "Resplendent Cherubfish", a hybrid of Centropyge resplendens X C. argi.

In a move that seems highly atypical for the wholesale aquarium livestock industry (and a bit exciting), Quality Marine today announced that they will releasing their cache of Frank Baensch’s newest hybrid captive-bred Angelfish, the “Resplendent Cherubfish” , a cross between Centropyge resplendens and C. argi. What is unusual about the Resplendent Cherubfish is that these fish will not simply be placed on the Quality Marine availability list with a fixed price for retailers to clamor over.

Instead, these fish will be sold at auction to retailers. This means that the market will truly set the value of these fish, and as Quality Marine’s official post suggests, there’s hope that this will provide the maximum returns to Frank Baensch and Reef Culture Technologies:

This is one of the only Centropyge angelfish in the world that was hybridized in captivity. It is a cross between the Resplendent Pygmy (C. resplendens) Angel from Ascension Island and the Cherubfish (C. argi) from the Caribbean. An extremely limited quantity of this captive bred and raised angel are here at QM. They are now about 200 days old, and 1″-2″ in length. They are eating small spectrum pellets. I got to take pictures. Sweet huh? We are going to auction these off to help support the facility that raised them. Contact your sales rep if you are interested.

If you’re an aquarium retailer, be sure to contact Quality Marine to get your hat in the ring!
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Tuna Blue A350 LED light teased on the Kessil website

Posted: February 21st, 2012, 11:06pm CST by Jake Adams

The Tuna Blue A350 LED light from Kessil is a larger version of the A150w LED aquarium spotlight which probably builds on the foundations of the h350 LED grow light. Following on the wide success of the Kessil A150w LED, we expect that the new A350 LED light will have the same form factor and vapor heatsink as the h350 LED, but with the “Tuna Blue” moniker a likely indicator that this light has a tunable feature of the LED’s coloration, intensity or both. With ReefStock only a few weeks away and Kessil attending as an exhibitor, it’s a safe bet we may see the new Tuna Blue LED light from Kessil very soon.
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Monterey Bay Aquarium’s renovated “Open Sea Gallery” on video

Posted: February 21st, 2012, 10:03pm CST by Brian Blank

The Monterey Bay Aquarium recently opened its transformed “Open Sea Gallery” giving visitors some of the old familiar favorites along with new exhibits and perspectives and this great video showcases the exhibit exquisitely. On Vimeo, producer Yasmin Mawaz-Khan shared a great video The Open Sea Gallery showcasing the amazing renovation. The million gallon aquarium is still the focal point but new additions bring in new animals, habitats and interactive displays to inform and mesmerize visitors.

The updated exhibit lets you get up close and personal with some of the oceans seabirds, jellies, sharks and turtles. New additions include the diving seabird exhibit, an art gallery, interactive multimedia displays and more. Keeping to their mission of conserving the world’s oceans, the Aquarium brings to light many of the challenges that the oceans creatures face by creating this awe inspiring exhibit. Copyright restrictions prevent us from linking the video directly so make sure you click here or on the image above to watch it.

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