“I have to say that your new product has me more excited than any product release in the 12 years I’ve been in the industry.” This was the opening sentence of the first email I sent to the Ocean Swipe team. And it’s true. I was refreshing their homepage all day between aquarium visits. At noon today their Kickstarter campaign launched. For those of you that don’t know, the Ocean Swipe 360 is an automated algae magnet that can go around corners cleaning all four sides of your aquarium. To some this might be the most overkill piece of equipment ever conceived. To others like me this is a godsend. I want to spend my time focusing on the health of the inhabitants, feeding animals, and [unfortunately] cleaning filtration equipment. Not cleaning the glass. Here’s a few key features that caught my eye when first reading about the Ocean Swipe 360: 

• Cleans both acrylic and glass panes.
• Goes around corners cleaning all panes that don’t have plumbing obtrusions.
• Outer magnet hovers over pane without even touching it.
• Inner magnet can be changed out to remove scratches then polish acrylic.
• Customizable programming to keep inner magnet out of the sand.
• Same aforementioned programming can be used to go around pumps.
• Tracks can be installed in mere minutes.
• Unit can be removed from tracks via top and bottom quick release fittings.
• Cleans panes up to 1.25″ thick with heavy duty stepper motor available for thicker panes.
• Safety mechanism built in to prevent injury to unsuspecting fingers.
• Built-in Lithium ion battery runs for 45 minutes. Recharges automatically when robot “parks”.

  Estimated delivery is September, 2016. There are several options for the OS360, starting at $659 USD which includes: the touch screen, software, 24 ft. of track, 8 corner pieces, 2 cleaning pads and will fit an aquarium up to 26 inches high. This robot comes in black only. Be sure to check out all the videos, additional options and even more information on their Kickstarter page.… More:

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The new species Terelabrus dewapyle. Photo credit: A-C – Fukui & Motomura. D-F – K. Nishiyama.

 The genus Terelabrus was first erected in 1998 based on an unknown labrid collected at 100m in Bulari Pass, New Caledonia. The species was described as T. rubrovittatus, and since then, has managed to remain the sole representative for the genus. Through the passing of time, in accordance to the development and growth of the ornamental fish industry, two new phenotypes have since been discovered – one from the Western Pacific and the Western Indian Ocean respectively. Although these potentially distinct phenotypes have been widely known for years, no formal taxonomic treatment has been given, and as such, have greatly exacerbated in fueling the ongoing erroneous labeling of the species. In the latest paper published by Fukui and Motomura, the Western Pacific phenotype has been recognized and elevated to full species level. T. dewapyle now relinquishes T. rubrovittatus from being the sole representative of the previously monotypic genus Terelabrus. 

T. rubrovittatus. Notice the white stripe between the two equatorial red stripes. Photo credit: H. Senou.

 Terelabrus rubrovittatus was first known from a male, measuring 87mm, collected at 100m in New Caledonia, 1979. However, the description paper was held off until a second specimen could be collected and examined. It was only 16 years later in 1995 that a juvenile specimen was collected at 92m in Milne Bay. This was thought* to be the same species, and with the new paratype, the species was described officially in 1998. The distinctively different body profile and meristics compared to other labrids warranted an erection of a new genus and species. The generic epithet Terelabrus is an amalgamation of the latin words teres, meaning terete, and labrus, for wrasse, owing to the narrow cylindrical (terete) shape of the fish. The specific epithet rubrovittatus is a literal translation for “red stripe”. T. rubrovittatus served as the type species for the genus. Because of the species’ proclivity for deep water, T. rubrovittatus is very poorly known in museums and the aquarium trade. A smaller, more diminutive phenotype from the Western Pacific has emerged with some regularity in the last decade. This recalls that of T. rubrovittatus, but is significantly more slender, and colored differently. It also occurs in generally shallower waters, up to 20m, which would explain its greater prominence in literature and the ornamental trade.… More:

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Julian Sprung is one of reef keeping’s great innovators. If you’ve ever met Julian, he’s a soft-spoken guy and I imagine the wheels inside his head are always grinding away. It was Julian Sprung, along with Mike Paletta and a handful of others 20+ years ago that helped pave the way for the captive reef aquarium. They developed coral fragging, and broke barriers in understanding what coral life needed to thrive in captivity. Julian started his own company, Two Little Fishies (TLF) and I imagine most of us have used a Two Little Fishies’ product at some point or another. What makes TLF unique is that they don’t produce and market expensive, or necessarily high tech aquarium equipment. There isn’t a TLF lighting fixture on the market, or even a TLF protein skimmer. In fact, their simple Phosban reactor is probably as close to either of those things as the company has gotten. What they do is consistently create innovative, effective and helpful products, with a strong curve toward common sense and long term aquatic success. TLF’s history:TLF started on the heels of revelations Julian Sprung made as a reef aquarium pioneer. You can trace his work all the way back to the now defunct Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Magazine (whom your’s truly once penned features and columns for). TLF opened its doors back in 1991, long before the explosion of reef keeping that led to today’s industry. The company had humble beginnings, offering a few books on reef keeping (including Sprung’s infamous Reef Aquarium series) and an introductory video on how to set-up and maintain a reef aquarium. From there the company branched out, offering a line of additives, feeding apparatus, coral and fish foods, combined with a host of other helpful products. Consistently TLF’s products offer something unique; some simple touch that can ease the stress of keeping a reef aquarium stable. Phosban (TLF’s take on granular ferric oxide) was the first phosphate absorption media I used (in a time when phosphate absorption media was a fairly new thing), and it’s still highly effective, and highly regarded today. TLF’s easy to use magnetic algae clip made it possible to feed your herbivores seaweed without getting your hands wet, and TLF’s new net magnetic feeder offers the ability to let your fish naturally graze on foods, without reaching into the tank. This year at Reefapooloza (I guess I spelled that right) Sprung introduced a few new products, and a couple of them caught my eye.… More:

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‘Bubble butt’, although a phrase not ordinarily associated with marine life, is a syndrome that affects turtles. ‘Bubble butt’ occurs when turtles get an air pocket under their shell, causing too much buoyancy and an inability of the turtles to dive underwater. This condition can often be caused by turtles swallowing harmful debris and pollutants like plastic or being impacted by boats. The trapped gas from the decomposition of the debris in the turtles stomach leads to the air pocket, which causes them to float at the top of the surface. A sea turtle unable to dive would eventually starve to death and become an easy target for predators. In this case, Seamour a rescued sea turtle from Florida, was hit by a boat, which caused the air pocket to form. Luckily for Seamour he was rescued by the Mall Of America Aquarium. Based on Seamour’s injuries, the air pocket could not be removed without causing damage to internal organs. Therefore, the aquarium attached a weight to Seamour’s shell to help him swim more naturally and counteract the buoyancy effect of the air pocket. Unfortunately, Seamour will not be able to be released back into the wild, as the weight is a just temporary solution, as the turtles shell will shed and the weight will eventually fall off. Therefore, Seamour will remain at the aquarium so his condition can be continually monitored and he will be able to remain swimming naturally. MORE… More:

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I’ve kept multiple copperband butterflyfish (Chelmon rostratus) in my reef over the yearsMost marine aquarium hobbyists learn quickly to identify common warning signs of ill health in fish—white spots, excessive mucus production, bulging eyes, frayed fins, etc. But sometimes ailing fish exhibit much more subtle symptoms that are evident only to someone with powers of observation honed by many decades of experience. In the following excerpt from his book The Avant-Garde Marine Aquarist: A 60-Year History of Fishkeeping, hobby pioneer Paul “Paul B” Baldassano demonstrates how things with fish aren’t always what they seem:A copperband conundrum Recently, I was in a large LFS in New York. My mother-in-law is in a nursing home nearby, so I go there often. This store is very old, and I even helped start their saltwater tanks in the early 70s. They had a tank of about five copperband butterflies, and they were kind of cheap—like $20.00, which is a great price for copperbands.

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The Gowanus Canal is certainly not a canal you would want to step foot in. The 1.8 mile canal is located in Brooklyn, New York. Once a busy transportation gateway, it is now recognized as one of the most polluted bodies of water in the United States and is a run off point for gallons of sewage and wastewater from New York. The Environmental Protection Agency has labeled it one of the ‘most extensively contaminated’ waterways in the country. It gained even more notoriety when environmentalist Christopher Swain swam the cancel, while decked out in protective gear, to bring attention to the dire condition of the canal. The EPA warned him against this swim based on the high levels of bacteria, pollution and other unmentionables. This situation clearly begs the question why someone would think it was a good idea to go fishing in this canal. Alas, a man fishing in the canal on Sunday claims to have caught a three eyed fish residing there, apparently planning to eat it for dinner. He probably changed his mind once he noticed the third eye. Of course the story is stirring up controversy on the internet, on whether or not the video posted to is legitimate. MORE… More:

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…think this one through before you speak! But don’t overthink it, I’m not very rare. And when I’m revealed, you’ll find the hints to be fair… 

… More:

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Researchers at James Cook University in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) have uncovered an interesting feature of the Damsel reef fish family. We watch our fish dart in and out of crevices when they get scared in our aquariums but little did we know they are, at the same time, releasing a chemical signal from their skin and scales to ward of predators, and give themselves a fighting chance for survival. This is a finding not new to the science of fish, but the surprise conclusion was the benefit to the fish releasing the chemical: “When damselfish release their chemical alarm on a coral reef, lots of additional predators are attracted to the cue release area,” says Professor Mark McCormick from the Coral CoE. The added presence of predators would seem counterintuitive to anyone reading this, but what researchers would like us to recognize is the increased presence of predators can cause confusion at the predation site, allowing the fish that released the chemical signal additional distraction for escape. “When caught by a predator, small damselfish have almost no chance of escaping their fate as the predator’s next meal. However, when another fish predator is attracted to the capture site, prey will escape about 40 percent of the time,” added Professor McCormick. “For decades scientists have debated the evolutionary origin of chemical alarm cues in fish,” says study lead author, Dr. Oona Lönnstedt, now a research fellow at the University of Uppsala. The percent increase of escape establishes additional evolutionary benefit to the defense mechanism of Damsel fish, while opening a new avenue for understanding the behaviors of reef fish. Read the entire article here!… More:

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Researchers from Plymouth, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), and the National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway) have recently confirmed 4 new reefs located in the Atlantic Ocean. Developed at Plymouth University researchers used a mathematical process to identify the reefs, and then sent unmanned robotic rovers to explore the areas in waters just West of Ireland.  Plead researcher Dr Kerry Howell, Associate Professor in the School of Marine Science and Engineering at Plymouth University, said: “We’re delighted with these results. It means we can now produce maps of where coral is likely to be for large areas of the deep-sea that we have not yet visited, and use them to identify high value ecological areas that might need protection from damaging activities.” “The models work by looking at where we know deep-water coral reefs are found, identifying what is favourable environment for the corals, for example their favourite depths, and then looking for areas with the same or similar conditions,” added Dr Anthony Grehan, from NUI Galway. “If conditions are very similar then there is a high likelihood we will find corals.” The research team spent a total of two frigid weeks aboard the RV Celtic Explorer using its underwater robot, Holland I, to explore areas predicted to house reef inhabitants. While on the exhibition the team was able to locate four out of four predicted reef sites, which solidified the matrix of their models. The findings and predictive models would not have been possible without the use of high resolution “multibeam” sonar maps coupled with the Irish National Seabed Survey high resolution bathymetric charts. Dr Howell concludes: “Our cold water coral reef models are now good enough to be used to better target areas that have not previously been explored, and this can greatly reduce the cost of future survey work.” Read more here!… More:

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Overfeeding is sometimes necessary to entice a finicky fish to eat, especially if they have little nutritional reserve to begin with, such as butterflyfishYou’ve heard time and again, here at Saltwater Smarts and elsewhere, that overfeeding is one of the surest ways to cause ill health in fish and pollute your aquarium water. The usual recommendation is to offer foods in very small quantities that the fish can consume within just a few minutes. And when it comes to reef systems, we tend to be especially sparing with fish food in order to maintain the lowest possible level of dissolved nutrients. While it’s generally good advice to feed fish sparingly and judiciously, there are certain times when it doesn’t pay to be stingy with the victuals. In fact, sometimes you really have to feed on the heavy side and then step up your water changes and other water-quality-management techniques to compensate for the increased dissolved pollutants. Here are just a few examples off the top of my head:When feeding a finicky fish in quarantine Of course we’re supposed to make sure fish are eating at the LFS before we acquire them, but over the years I’ve had various specimens simply turn off the “feeding switch” upon arriving in quarantine (and in a few cases after being moved from quarantine into my display tank), possibly due to the stress of transfer or because they simply didn’t recognize the stuff I was offering as edible. When this situation arises, it can take a lot of coaxing with different types of food at various times throughout the day to entice the specimen. In other words, you may end up introducing a lot more food to the system than is typically considered acceptable before the fish finally resumes feeding.

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Hawaii Pacific University grad students Aurora Burgess, and our guests this week, Emma Forbes and Erin Pereira-Davison (l-r)

This week we talk about yellow tang breeding with Emma Forbes and Erin Periera-Davison, graduate students with Rising Tide Conservation and the Oceanic Institute at the Hawaii Pacific University. Emma and Erin share how they got involved in the project, some of their experiences while trying to get the larvae to develop and settle, and their individual research work as part of the project. Don’t miss this one. It’s a fantastic look into what it takes to realize such an achievement. Download the podcast here, or subscribe to our podcasts at iTunes. Also, follow us on Twitter at reefthreads.—Gary and Christine

Sponsor: Rod’s Food
Rod’s Food website

Rising Tide
Rising Tide Conservation website

Rising Tide on Facebook
Rising Tide Conservation Facebook page

Oceanic Institute Yellow Tangs
Oceanic Institute Yellow Tang research web page

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Data collected from the Reef Life Survey has allowed researchers from Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton to measure the thermal-range tolerance of 2,695 shallow reef fish and 1225 reef invertebrates. From Greenland to Australia the team focused on the thermal “bias” within which inhabitants can adapt, while noting which groups are more susceptible to extinction and replacement. “They found that locations where the average summer sea surface temperature is presently 24 °C, such as the Gulf of Thailand, southwestern Caribbean and Three Kings-North Cape in New Zealand, are the most vulnerable to changing community biodiversity. This is because most of the species making up these communities are already living near the edge of their temperature distribution.” The effort has created new measurement tools for predicting the sensitivity of reefs to rising ocean temperatures around the world. Study co-author Dr. Amanda Bates adds: “A strong focus in climate change ecology has been on quantifying the exposure of different regions of the globe to warming. Our work offers new tools for measuring the sensitivity of communities to change including accurate indicators that can be used to predict vulnerability.”  Photo Credit: Rick Stuart-Smith With the evolutionary notion that species come and go, this research provides an interesting look into the heat tolerance for thousand of reef inhabitants, while providing a predictive model for those most at risk: “In 100 years from now, 100 percent of species in many communities will be lost and replaced by new species able to tolerate warmer conditions, leading to a redistribution of species across the globe.” Read more here!    … More:

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On November 5, 2015, two dams holding tons of mining waste and toxic mud containing minerals including iron, aluminum, manganese and mercury, collapsed. The mining company Samarco was in responsible for the dams. This catastrophic event has been referred to as one of the worst environmental disaster’s in Brazil’s history. The mud flowed through nearby villages including the mining community of Mariana in the Minas Gerais state, killing over 17 people and injuring hundreds more.The Mud also flowed into nearby waterways, including the Doce River, killing marine and animal life alike. Samarco has stated that it is providing  support to ‘Operation Noah’s Ark’, which is focusing on saving aquatic life from the polluted Doce river. Biologists are on site on the river attempted to transport the marine life. So far, Samarco has stated that they have provided six 1,000-liter tanks to hold the fish taken from the Doce river, as well as two trucks for transport to area lakes. Experts worn that the environmental effects could last a decade. Experts also say that the Abrolhos archipelago, a group of five small islands with coral reefs off the southern coast of the Bahia State, could also be at risk from the mud tide. Currently, there are no reports on the toxicity of the mud on humans.MORE… More:

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A paratype of Lubricigobius nanus, from Alotou, Papua New Guinea. Credit: Gerry Allen

 The shallow marine waters around New Guinea just got a little more diverse with the recent description of a new goby. The piscine in question is a small, yellow-brown (nay, fulvous) fish from the unfamiliar genus Lubricogobius. If that name doesn’t ring any bells, you’re not alone. These are seldom seen in the aquarium industry. 

A mated pair guarding their eggs in a bivalve shell. Both specimens are under 10mm! Credit: Gerry Allen

 The reason for their scarcity relates to the silty environs which they favor. These vast muddy plains are clouded by strong currents, creating conditions anathema to the hermatypic corals popular amongst aquarists. A helpless little goby wouldn’t last long out in this habitat without a good place to hide, and these comical fishes have a peculiar and endearing habit of occupying whatever rubbish they happen upon, most often discarded soda cans and beer bottles. In fact, it’s not far-fetched to believe that this may be a fish which has directly benefited from our tendency to despoil every inch of the ocean with refuse. As the saying goes, one man’s empty beer bottle is another fish’s treasure.  In the latest edition of the Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation, Dr. Gerry Allen—perhaps the most prolific active taxonomist when it comes to tropical marine fishes—has described the ugly duckling in the genus. Lubricogobius nanus is more or less identical to its prettier yellow congeners, differing most noticeably by its tawny coloration and smaller size (“nanus” being of the same Greek etymological origins as “nano”, meaning “dwarf”). The head also bears a rather unique spotted patternation, and there are the usual minutiae of differing fin ray counts and cephalic pore arrangements that only the most pedantic of goby researchers gets excited for. Click to view slideshow. [An etymological interlude: Lubricogobius seems to derive from the same Latin root that gives us “lubricious”, meaning “lewd, wanton, salacious, lecherous”. As much as I would love to believe that there is something ichthyologically illicit about these little fishes, that these are the piscine perverts of the marine world, the name actually alludes to the more prosaic Latin definition of “slippery”, in reference to the scaleless body common to the genus. Still, I want to believe these gobies are up to kinky things inside their soda cans.]
 Click to view slideshow.… More:

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Researchers from Ohio State University have expanded upon earlier research that concluded corals best suited for recovering after a bleaching event harbor large storages of fat in their zooxanthellae cells. “Three global bleaching events have already occurred since the 1980s, and will likely occur annually starting later this century, therefore, it has become more urgent than ever to know how coral can survive annual bleaching—one of the major threats to coral reefs today” says Lead study author Verena Schoepf. “Already, bleaching events have resulted in significant amounts of coral dying and causing impact to ocean ecosystems, but up until now it was largely unknown whether coral could recover between annual bleaching events,” Schoepf adds. The study adds new findings for the long term recovery rates of two corals best suited to withstand heat stress, as annual bleaching events are becoming more and more common along reefs all over the world. Both Porites divaricata, the species which kept the largest fat reserves, and Orbicella faveolata which kept the second to largest reserve out of the three corals studied, fared much better than Porites astreoides, which housed the smallest level of fat reserve. “They all look healthy on the outside, but they’re not all healthy on the inside,” said Andréa Grottoli, lead researcher and professor in the School of Earth Sciences at Ohio State. “We found that some coral are able to acclimatize to annual bleaching, while others actually become more susceptible to it over time. Our research will help with predicting the persistence of coral reefs, because knowledge of their capacity to recover from annual bleaching is critical information for these models,” concluded Grotolli. Read more here!… More:

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The smooth giant clam (Tridacna derasa)Of all the Tridacna spp. clams available to hobbyists, perhaps the hardiest and easiest to maintain of them all is Tridacna derasa, the so-called smooth giant clam. This species is so smooth, in fact, that amorous, gold-chain-wearing male specimens have been overhead in bars making comments like, “Say, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” and “If I could rearrange the alphabet, I’d put ‘U’ and ‘I’ together.” Okay, maybe T. derasa isn’t that kind of smooth, but its shell does lack pronounced ridges or scutes, making it relatively smooth to the touch. So, that’s probably where the name actually came from (though you have to admit my explanation is much more fun). It’s a fast-growing species when given proper conditions and a great choice for first-time clam keepers who have the tank space to spare.Physical traits T. derasa is the second largest of the Tridacna clams, potentially reaching 18 inches to upwards of 2 feet in length.

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As active owners of captive reef environments we naturally appeal to the brightest coral, or most visually stunning morphologies of imported specimens, but for the first time ever scientists from San Diego State University have created a computation that will measure the esthetic “beauty” of wild coral reefs. The system developed was created through a cross-discipline model that involved mathematicians, biologists, and art historians to develop a computer model that assess photographic images of coral reefs. Researchers compiled a list of 109 visual features that the program uses to asses things like size, color intensity, and distribution of corals to determine whether or not a reef ecosystem is healthy. “Our results suggest that our perception of aesthetics is well-aligned with healthy, thriving ecosystems,” said Andreas Haas, an SDSU postdoctoral scholar and primary researcher of the study.  This method of assessment was developed on the basis that our natural ability to observe and perceive a healthy environment is not merely subjective to esthetic “beauty.” The paper, ‘Can we measure beauty? Computational evaluation of coral reef aesthetics,’ was published November 10th, 2015 in the open access scientific journal PeerJ.com. “By quantifying aesthetic features of coral reef systems, this method provides a cost effective tool that also targets one of the most important socioeconomic values of coral reefs — their natural beauty,” Haas said. The model created provides an easier, and possibly less expensive option, for researchers assessing the health of coral reefs, and that will hopefully reduce the amount of time it takes for assessment. Read the entire publication here! 

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Researchers from the University of Western Australia (Coral CoE) and the University of Queensland have found that coral colonies of Parapersis cylindrica found in the Heron Island lagoon on the Great Barrier Reef can self-regulate their own internal fluids PH to combat the increase in thermal stress caused by global warming. “This is most likely only typical to corals from reefs such as Heron Island lagoon where temperature and pH fluctuations vary greatly on daily to seasonal basis. The next step in this research is to explore if P. cylindrica colonies from more stable environments also have the ability to adapt and if they too can ‘hold up’ to increased acidity,” says Georgiou. says lead author, Lucy Georgiou.  These findings create a whole new approach to understanding the relation of calcifying coral to the far reaching effects of ocean acidification. Pictured here you’ll see how researchers implemented an innovative technology dubbed FOCE (Free Ocean Carbon Enrichment) that allowed them to study P. cylindrica colonies in their natural environment, and because the Heron Island lagoon undergoes dramatic daily and seasonal fluctuations in the acidity of its waters, it was  a perfect place to implement their study. “Our research shows that some corals living in dynamic reef systems (P. cylindrica) have the ability to maintain a nearly constant pH within their calcifying fluid, regardless of the pH of the surrounding environment. This enables them to continue to form their calcium carbonate skeleton even under relatively low pH conditions.” The team plans to expand on their findings and “explore what impact rising sea temperature has on the corals ability to maintain its internal pH,” concludes Georgiou. Read the entire paper here!… More:

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Hi friends, I have a rare, very large sea urchin called a Tretocidaris bartletti (A. Agassiz) for you all today that was found this year by the Smithsonian scientists on the little island of Klein Curacao. This urchin was not only crazy colorful it was huge!! This thing was so big it wouldn’t even fit into a big white utility bucket, I ended up carrying it by hand back down to the reef where I took these photos of it walking around in the sand. These urchins range from North Carolina through the Caribbean between 140-625 meters, that’s 459-2050 feet, that’s quite a difference in depth.

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R. cf xenops in Japan. Credit: atopapa

 Some of the most colorful and charismatic fishes encountered in aquariums can be found in the scorpionfish genus Rhinopias. These well-camouflaged ambush predators seem to go through life with a carefree outlook and an awkward, lumbering gait. These are not your typical “reef fish”, as they generally occur in weedy or silty sites far removed from the fields of Acropora.
 Three species are commonly collected for aquarists, though I use the word “common” loosely here. These are often quite expensive and are genuinely rare fish, even in the wild. There is definitely a case to be made that these belong in the ocean and not in an aquarium. Additionally, many specimens seem to perish from undetermined causes within months of collection, even when fed to satiation regularly. As fascinating as these fishes are, I wouldn’t highly recommend them as aquarium inhabitants. Of the three species that do make it into aquariums, R. aphanes is endemic to the Coral Sea and surrounding waters. Rhinopias eschmeyeri and R. frondosa have the largest range in the genus, extending through much of the Indian Ocean, Indonesia, Australia and north to Japan. These two are often found in mixed pairs, and, given the sympatric range, there is a strong reason to suspect this may in fact be a single heteromorphic taxon. There are other species in this genus which are mostly unknown to aquarists, many of which are poorly understood by ichthyologists…Rhinopias argoliba 

Specimens from Japan. Credit: S. Fukuda & Takayuki Sato

 Known mostly from Kashiwajima and the Kii Peninsula of Japan at depths of 17-50m, this species is best recognized by the unmottled red coloration, the white marking beneath the eye resembling an exclamation point, and the relatively short height of the spiny dorsal fin. There are relatively few skin ornamentations in argoliba, making it one of the smoothest species in the genus. The lower jaw is often completely devoid of any skin flaps or has, at most, a single small pair. 

Note the smooth lower jaw and low dorsal fin. Credit: kobapi

 The species description was based on a single specimen collected in January, 1971 and brought to the Enoshima Aquarium. It lived there until it died of unknown causes in May of that year. The scientific name derives from the Greek for “white tear”, in reference to the lachrymose pattern beneath the eye.… More:

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