yikai

after hunting for years, i have finally gotten two fairy wrasses that have been on my bucket list since 2010. I had a talk barnett shuttman, owner of RVS fishworld for these wrasses specifically, and was pleased to know that he obliged to my request. the two wrasses are very similar yet totally different. the one with the forked tail is Cirrhilabrus lunatus. It's not the japanese lunatus, but rather, from philippines. the colors are totally different and could represent a new species in future. but as of now, it's C. lunatus. the other smaller one with the slightly pointed tail is an undescribed species, but it has been undescribed for many years now. i am not sure why no one is writing a paper for it. Currently it is known as Cirrhilabrus cf. lanceolatus, because the tail in adult specimens are sword shaped, similar to lanceolatus. however based on coloration, size and hybrids with lunatus in the wild, the species is more closely related to lunatus than lanceolatus. the common name is pintail fairy wrasse.

this week's updates. the DSLR is not with me and is in Taiwan with my brother, so just crappy cellphone pix until i get the camera back. here's a many months old dragonet that was in holding until now. Synchiropus tudorjonesi, a new species. fairly easy and eats mysis. video and pix. this guy lives in refugium, not display.

i would just leave the sg as it is, and let it evaporate until the specific sg you want. then maintain it from there.

after your suggestion, i agree. can see the numerous pearl spots on the fins. good job! king of deepwater fish ID

large white cauliflower like growths? out of water it is harder to see.. if yes, then lymphocystis virus. no cure for this, just keep water parameters up and nutrition up. it will heal on its own eventually.

i was just watching this video 10 mins ago! i have no idea as well. digiman do you know?

Cirrhilabrus parade at LADD. a pair of kwazulu fairy wrasse, a pair of nahackyi's fairy and a luteovittatus fairy, which has been MIA for quite sometime now. marjorie wrasse and of course, earlei fairy and rhomboid.

a trio of Chromis scotti at LADD. rare and beautiful. a mini version of Chromis abyssus.

hand caught tiny nippon in japan by tetsuo otake.

Iwarna Red Sea shipment Red Sea yellow belly regal - small and large. 2 pieces Sohal tang Red Sea sailfin tang Purple tang - many tiny sizes ones!! Slightly bigger than 50 cents Asfur angel Red Sea raccoon butterflyfish Red Sea marisrubri leopard wrasse Eight line flasher wrasse Marginatus damselfish - beautiful pearly white damsels 4 line wrasse - not SPS safe *Red Sea Combrooth blenny - Ecsenius gravieri *Red Sea Mimic fangblenny - Meiacanthus nigrolineatus * these two blennies are virtually identical in appearance. To separate them, the Combtooth ecsenius blenny has 2 antennae on its head while the fang blenny does not. Very very limited pieces of Combtooth blenny.

4 "lunatus" fairy wrasse from RVS fish world. the philippine lunatus wrasse is differentiated from the japanese ones by the lack of yellow coloration on the body. generally, they are orange with black fins. look closely at the picture. the wrasse in the middle of the group shot is not a lunatus, but a pintail fairy wrasse. a young female-male transitioning specimen. unlike the lunatus wrasse, the pintail has a purple line that curves and hooks around the base of the pectoral fin. of course the clear ID key would be the lanceolatus tail which is not seen in this picture. of the 4, 2 lunatus and the pintail arrived in singapore today on a trial shipment. We talked to Barnett and arranged to specifically order them. in future, we should see more and they will be available for sale. the lunatus wrasse is not rare and RVS offers them a few times per month, but in limited quantities. They always go to the states but this time we requested for them to be sent here. likewise in the future.

update* many small semeion butterflies at iwarna too. seldom seen butterflies good for FOWLR tanks. Adult semeions develop dorsal fin streamers and a shiny blue forehead,

Like lotilia, Flabelligobius has dropped in price and novelty. Most gobies are never expensive as they are shallow and fairly easy to collect. If sold exorbidantly, it is usually because of novelty and market value. The actual cost is usually not too high. Flabelligobius has hovered around 100+- in price. Gobies that are in the thousands are usual deep water carribean ones that live in few hundred meters depth and is exp becoz of collection. Philippine and indo gobies are never that expensive.

Philippine shipment at Iwarna - Red margin fairy wrasses male and female (Cirrhilabrus rubrimarginatus) - Yellow masked angelfish (Genicanthus semifasciatus) males and females available. This is a trial shipment for two Philippine fairy wrasses - Cirrhilabrus lunatus as well as the Pintail fairy wrasse (Cirrhilabrus cf. lanceolatus). In future more may come, perhaps with Cirrhilabrus brunneus. Express interest if interested. May have to wait as these are very difficult to come by.

Great beautiful square tank. You are enthusiastic and knowledgable and will do well I'm sure. Looking forward to your adventure! :-) Flabelligobius has not made an appearance for awhile now. Last time I had one with Digiman but not sure who I sold it to. Will let you know if we do order/encounter. It shouldn't be too impossible.

let me check and get back to you. i threw the box away.

xanthic ctenochaetus tang

Thank you happy reef. I'm glad you enjoy the photos and shrimps! Small fish n shrimps are also new to me. I never had chance to keep in my old tank. Yellow arrow shrimp Henry constantly has. Try looking there or ask him put u on the watch list. If I see any I will update. My shrimps are well fed. Anyway since when am I one who cares about things eating coral? Hahaha. Shrimps are nothing if you have butterflies in reefs.

No all the shrimps are coral safe. Sexy shrimps are available everywhere. Yellow arrow so far only Henry or Iwarna. The long claw was from coral farm. I am using a Nikon 105mm

and debelius!

thanks! going to add more shrimps. most of these shrimps do not move much and stay at their preferred coral or rock. so multiple corals can host many commensal shrimps.

Last shot from the refugium. a close up macro on Ricordea yuma.

My favorite shrimp in my sump tank. Urocaridella sp. - Yellow Arrow Cleaner Shrimp. Seldom rests on the substrate and prefer to hover all over the water column in a slow spaceship like fashion. They hold their claws outward and downward when swimming. Look like tiny mosquitos. Love the yellow and red spots. I have 5 of them.

Thor amboinensis - Sexy Shrimp. Have 7 of them. Make very interesting group behaviors as they perch on rocks and corals waving their abdomens.

Nothing much to update. Practising my shots on some of my shrimps in my refugium. Cuapetes tenuipes - Orange long clawed shrimp. This is a really interesting shrimp with long claws that bend at 90 degrees. Very transparent.