yikai

here's an even rarer hybrid! an old photo and very blur from RC. a raccoon x lemon butterfly hybrid!

mimic tangs are amazing. there are mimic tangs that mimic the vroliki angel, and those that mimic the lemonpeel angels. but in marshall islands, the mimic tangs even mimic the vroliki x lemonpeel hybrids!

bell's flasher wrasse and ventralis anthias in the wild. photographed in kwajalein atoll, marshall islands.

very rare auriga x raccoon hybrid! i can only dream of having one.

it's super rare la. and the size is even rarer!

new. check out copps hybrid multicolor x rusty thread for more info

that male watanabei is a female that is only halfway in it's transition to a male. genicanthus angels are hermaphrodites and can change from female to male, and back from male to female. but even with females, sometimes males may just revert back without notice. not sure why too and this is not fully understood.

a conspic x meredithi hybrid. and it looks very small!!

neptune grouper is gorgeous!!! but very rare and expensive!

the season is officially in swing as quality marine just sold this freaking gorgeous male! isn't it amazing how something can just be gone from the face of the planet for so long and then suddenly, the whole world is getting them out of the blue? this hobby is amazing. and it won't be long before some of them get imported here again.

can't get enough of semifasciatus angels? yes neither can i. here's an update on tony's trio of females! the big one will morph into a male soon.

and yet another pair! semifasciatus season is now officially commencing. the short window period where the world will be getting their supply in very small numbers and then another long hiatus.

offhand it looks like trimma tevegae. but there's another species that looks v similar.

copperbands are actually not very difficult if you get them feeding ASAP. if you get healthy specimens and put them in stress free environment, they will start feeding soon. most of the time they don't eat because they either starve too long in the shop, or are not given the proper condition. but once they start feeding on frozen food, they are quite easy to maintain. problem is they are extremely difficult to get feeding on pellets and dry food. so frozen food will have to be your main source for them.

unfortunately, there is no obvious difference in appearance between male and female butterflies, including copperbands. you'll just have to try your luck.

ah so beautiful your pair of copperbands!

a new pair of semifasciatus just made way on reefcentral. these angels are slowly resurfacing in the trade again after a long hiatus. but still in numbers way too small!

Pseudanthias fucinus a very deepwater (122-280m) anthias that's found in hawaii and johnston atoll. here's a dead photo but from the photo u can see that it's gorgeous and very colourful when alive!

it is not common, but not rare either. they appear sporadically in small numbers. they are not expensive, ranging from $10-$20+ depending on where you buy them.

that must've been awesome. what happened to that station now? it's a shame you're not doing exports from red sea anymore, because there's alot of demand for certain fishes from that area such as paucifasciatus, mesoleucus, octotaenia flasher wrasses, red sea regals etc. we only get the standard 5 that come in from the area. asfur, maculosus, sohal, semilarvatus and purple tangs. paucifasciatus used to be quite readily available i think about a decad or moree back, but now they are almost non existant world wide. i got my pair from dejong marine but they sadly did not make it after a few months. i've seen videos of them swimming in pairs near the surface before and they are really, one of my favourite butterflies.

and now my personal favourite butterfly fish from the red sea. the paucifasciatus butterfly. the rarest and most beautiful of the "xanthurus complex". i think they used to be quite abundant many years ago but recently, they are not appearing in anything more than a handful worldwide. i had the joy to keep a pair recently but they died months after from a bacterial infection. the first two photos by luiz rocha, and the last picture of mine back when i was still writing for glassbox-design.

asfur angels and mesoleucus butterflies are some of my favourite exports from the red sea. although very common, there's something about the asfur angel that always captivates me! i really like the fish alot, but am still waiting to chance upon one that is slightly more special, in terms of aberrations. mesoleucus butterflies have always been a rare fish here in singapore, but very common elsewhere like hong kong. i've kept them once before. very easy but abit aggressive. adult mesoleucus butterflies develop a gorgeous teal like colouration at the anterior part where it overlaps on the brown. but of course, the amazing colouration is best observed in wild specimens.

i'm a huge fan of luiz rocha and i admire his expertise and knowledge in fish as well as his capabilities to analyse them to the genetic level. and not to mention a big fan of his amazing photography. here's an endemic Larabicus quadrilineatus cleaner from the red sea.

the mega amazing and my personal favourite, smithi butterfly has also been photographed in easter island too! but they are mainly found in pitcairn and rapa. here's one photographed by tanaka in japan. as far as i know, only 8 were caught for studies. 3 were sent to japan, and one to waikiki. the rest, i'm not sure.

i've never seen conspic angels take to captivity in such short time before. almost instantly it's feeding on flakes and now mysis? this is a success story but it's only the beginning! take good care of it and be prepared for any problems it might throw at you. it's too soon to tell but the prospects are fantastic already!