Lemon's butterflyfish dominated reef

[yikai]

Well done Lemon... hopes it do well!

thanks!

as expected, feeding already on mysis and pellets. very hardy fish.

[vt_snowman87]

i think i saw ur friends at CF today bagging this nice specimen.. really small and cute!

[peacemaker]

Sweet looking fella! Nice catch, bro!

[yikai]

thanks all.

yahhhh ahhhhhhhh you have no idea how long i've waited for this.

watch all the maldive shipments pass me buy as this fish slips out of my hands.

at least it paid off. though it's more expensive that from elsewhere, the size is unbeatable. of all the maldive shipments i've missed, i've not seen one so small.

[yikai]

i like this GSP.

all green everything is green.

[yikai]

little mitratus butterfly is doing very well. it's so tiny. only triple A battery sized.

declivis is ignoring him which is good!

[Digiman]

i like this GSP.

all green everything is green.

Yes mine is spreading v slowly and i'm loving it everyday.

little mitratus butterfly is doing very well. it's so tiny. only triple A battery sized.

declivis is ignoring him which is good!

V nice and cute. Worth all the wait and worth every cent.

[yikai]

video of mitratus butterfly. so active and curious.

i have no idea why the hell the video turned out like this. must be youtube error.

anyway still can view. enjoy!

[cedricang]

Such a little hansome fellow hope this would be a reef safe beauty !

[yikai]

Such a little hansome fellow hope this would be a reef safe beauty !

thanks!

yes very handsome fish. i like butterflies from this genus. very good looking and consider by many to be very reef safe because of their deep-water habitats in the wild, usually devoid of corals and only full of rubble rock.

more reef safe than most dwarf angels.

the 5 brothers. if you're wondering why they all look so similar, there's a very interesting story behind it.

ok i know it's going to sound boring and dry but for those who want to know, here's why they all look the same.

the family of roaps butterflies shown before are a prime example of darwin's evolutionary theory of allopatric speciation. they are all very closely related and probably all originated from only one species. but over time, this one species spread out to other parts of the world and slowly start evolving to suit that particular habitat. so all the new "species" that got separated change a little bit from the original design.

that's why 4 of the 5 below look so similar. the white coloured ones are all found in the pacific ocean, not far from each other. most of them have over lapping range also. because of the lack of extreme differentiation in habitat and evolution, they all look similar but still different at the same time.

the yellow one, mitratus butterfly, is the only member to be found in the indian ocean. it separated the furthest from all the other members, and that probably explains why it's the most different in colouration. over the years it has evolved and adapted to the indian ocean and it looks different from it's pacific brothers. it's range does not overlap with the rest.

that's the hypothesis anyway but if you ask me, it makes perfect sense.

charles darwin was a genius. and is still one!

big clap to one of the fore fathers of biology. if not for darwin and linneaus, the theory of evolution and taxonomy will never exist today!

[cedricang]

Amazing creatures, glories to the creator !

Are you gonna collect all these five to make them "band of brotherflies"

[yikai]

Amazing creatures, glories to the creator !

Are you gonna collect all these five to make them "band of brotherflies"

haha.

cannot collect all 5.

the flavocoronatus is unobtainable. from guam.

the other 4, tinkeri is very expensive.

i only have 2. it's enough for me.

[Digiman]

haha.

cannot collect all 5.

the flavocoronatus is unobtainable. from guam.

the other 4, tinkeri is very expensive.

i only have 2. it's enough for me.

Almost full blood Flavo has been exported out from Marshalls before. In fact there's one piece tat looks identical to pure flavo.

But it'll cost a bomb even if hav and it'll get sent to HK or Japan!

[yikai]

Almost full blood Flavo has been exported out from Marshalls before. In fact there's one piece tat looks identical to pure flavo.

But it'll cost a bomb even if hav and it'll get sent to HK or Japan!

that's why unobtainable.

at least in singapore anyway.

the main population still found in guam. the range extention covers until marshall islands but over there the population of flavocoronatus is lower. and not to mention most of them are probably stained with burgess or tinker's blood.

so pure flavo from marshalls still v v rare and yah, if have also all go japan. singapore will never live to see a flavocoronatus butterfly.

[wilsontantw]

Nice stuff on the roaps. Learning new things daily.

Btw never say never wor... Life is unpredictable. Decades ago, having casino in Singapore is unthinkable.

Now we have 2!

[yikai]

Nice stuff on the roaps. Learning new things daily.

Btw never say never wor... Life is unpredictable.

Glad that you learn something new. I have many interesting fish facts and when people go home with learning something new, my objective is fulfilled!

i've learnt to accept that singapore is not a place for rare and interesting fishes like this lol. hoping it will come will be futile. but there will always be a little bit in me that secretly hopes for these unpredictable things to happen! you never know right? not in the near future maybe but maybe years later, we will see some.

however, there are still many surprises and interesting rarities popping up once in awhile in CF, ah beng and LCK which will knock my socks off.

some things can be found but others just cannot hehe.

[Ketchup]

ya, never say never... if i rich enough to go guam for holidays... maybe i help u bring back la... anyway, i think guam shipment will prob flow to Japan, since it's so near.

[yikai]

ya, never say never... if i rich enough to go guam for holidays... maybe i help u bring back la... anyway, i think guam shipment will prob flow to Japan, since it's so near.

ha!

guam has many rare fishes that you can go dive, catch and bring back for me!

like yellow crown butterfly, shepard's angelfish and katherine's fairy wrasse.

[yikai]

a new video. this time it can be viewed in 1080p HD but it will be very laggy.

i hope you enjoy it.

[yikai]

a video of my hooded fairy wrasse flashing at the female.

the body turns lilac and is very bright. it's not really evident in the video due to the strong lighting but when it swims to the dark area behind the tank, you can see it clearly.

or you can watch in 720 or 1080p HD. the colours are just right in the HD option.

[Ketchup]

I think if got katherine wrasse, i capture and keep 1st.. hehe./

[poomoon]

I think if got katherine wrasse, i capture and keep 1st.. hehe./

that katherine isssss nice ...

[yikai]

I think if got katherine wrasse, i capture and keep 1st.. hehe./

that katherine isssss nice ...

katherine has many close relatives here. temminckii, balteatus etc all related to ktherine. but the real katherine is very rare and very nice.

[yikai]

another video of my hooded wrasse flashing at the female.

here are two pictures from the cool down moment of flashing. it's impossible to take photo of the climax without DSLR.

but these photos still show the pink colouration which indicates nuptial colouration. orange is changed to pink. at climax, the lower part of the body is yellow, the anal fin is yellow and dorsal fin will be opened up and is red.

[vt_snowman87]

wao! thats awesome colours.. thanks for capturing and sharing it!