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From Microcosm Aquarium Explorer
- World’s Largest Marine Protected Area Created: A Haven Larger Than California
- Reverse Evolution in Fish : Researchers find rapid changes in the sticklebacks
- Troubles in Paradise: Japanese Whaling Interests Bribe Small Island Nations
- New Ambon Anglerfish Discovered: Divers Find Bizarre New Species
- Buy A (Wild) Fish - Save A Tree: New Respect for the Cardinal Tetra JJPhoto.dk
Buy A Wild Cardinal Tetra - Save the Rainforest
Mild-mannered and merely an inch (2.5 cm) in length, this glittery little tropical fish is being credited with protecting an area of rainforest the size of the state of Pennsylvania, nearly 50,000 square miles (120,000 sq km). If there is one Poster-Child-Species to inspire fishkeepers to help save tropical ecosystems, it is the Cardinal Tetra, Read more...
Lionfishes of the Caribbean
A new study by University of Oregon marine biologists has found that introduced Pterois lionfish have the predatory capability to have a serious impact on native fish populations from South Florida to the Caribbean. Pterois spp. lionfishes, likely escaped from aquariums in Florida and the Bahamas, have been sighted widely in the Bahamas and in the Turks & Caicos, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. Read more...
Face to Face with a New Fish Family?
A recently discovered fish that crawls instead of swimming and forward-looking eyes like humans could be part of an entirely unknown family of fishes, a University of Washington professor reports. Read more...
Reverse Evolution in Fish
Evolution is supposed to inch forward over eons, but sometimes, at least in the case of a little fish called the Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), the process can go in relative warp-speed reverse, according to a study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Read more...
Troubles in Paradise: Japan Bribes Small Island Nations on Whale Hunt Approvals
A hallowed dive destination, Palau is an archipelago of 340 islands surrounded by dramatic reefs in the North Pacific Ocean—and a country that is frequently praised for its efforts to protect local reefs and waters.
Dive enthusiasts, however, may notice a prominent call to boycott Palau on the grounds that it is “colluding with Japan to block establishment of whale sanctuaries and reverse the ban on commercial whaling”... Read more...
Megafish Project Looks for the Planet's Largest Freshwater Fishes
They are the behemoths that ignite the imaginations of fishermen and the growing concerns of conservation biologists. Led by aquatic ecologist Zeb Hogan, Ph.D., the recently launched Project Megafishes is starting to track and document the conservation status of the world's largest freshwater fish species. Read more...
Scientist Finds Hidden Set of Jaws in Moray Eels
How do long, slender snake-like creatures manage to stuff large, struggling prey into their narrow mouths and down their throats without using paws or claws? A new study reveals that the slender, snake-like moray eel--which may reach up to about nine feet in length--captures and consumes its prey (usually large fish, octopuses and squid) with a unique strategy that involves using two sets of jaws. Read more...
The Aquarium Ecologist
Reports of Indo-Pacific lionfish munching on native fish species off the Atlantic Coast come amid renewed calls for restrictions on the importation of nonnative species. A proposed new federal US law, sponsored by Congresswoman Madeline Bordallo, (D) Guam, would adversely affect importation, breeding and possession of the approximately 10,000 species in the pet trade, including hundreds of aquarium fish and invertebrates. Read more...
Other Features
Swimming Anemone Discovered in Alaska
There are unknown creatures—including a "walking", swimming sea anemone—lurking under the windswept islands of the Aleutians... Read more...
Cracking the Zooxanthellae Code
A team of Australian coral researchers has taken a major stride towards revealing the workings of the mysterious ‘engine’ that drives the Great Barrier Reef... Read more...
World's Largest Marine Protected Area Created
The small Pacific Island nation of Kiribati has become a global conservation leader by establishing the world’s largest marine protected area – a California-sized ocean wilderness of pristine coral reefs and rich fish populations threatened by over-fishing and climate change. The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) conserves one of the Earth’s last intact oceanic coral archipelago ecosystems... Read more...