by Vincent Chalias | Jul 28, 2023 | CORAL - Vincent Chalias, Marine
A Leptoseris sp hard (stony) coral colony living under an overhang, and harboring green Ostreobium, a symbiotic endolithic algae Reef aquarists are quite familiar with the endolithic life (“living within or penetrating deeply into stony substances”),...
by Vincent Chalias | Jul 19, 2023 | CORAL - Vincent Chalias, Marine
Coral-killing sponges just overgrow corals and take over their skeletons as prime real estate, killing them in the process. That’s what a coral-killing sponge does. As if the list of threats to corals wasn’t long enough: climate change, pollution,...
by Vincent Chalias | Jul 5, 2023 | CORAL - Vincent Chalias, Marine
Unique aberrant tangs like this unique Scopas Tang (Zebrazoma scopas) are highly sought-after fish, and often enter the trade with a wide range of fanciful names including “Koi”, “Xanthic”, “Two-Tone” and pretty much anything else...
by Vincent Chalias | Jun 29, 2023 | CORAL - Vincent Chalias, Marine
A ‘Starry Night’ Powder Blue Tang, the hybrid of Acanthurus leucosternon with Acanthurus nigricans. South East Bali, 5 m deep. The Powder Blue Tang (Acanthurus leucosternon) is a very common and charismatic fish in the aquarium trade, but also in all the...
by Vincent Chalias | Jun 15, 2023 | CORAL - Vincent Chalias, Marine
The sturdy, horizontal, bright green branches of this Acropora are gorgeous, but this coral is probably not the real Acropora florida! A Classic: Acropora florida is a classic species within the aquarium industry. There are so many shapes and color variants within the...
by Vincent Chalias | May 26, 2023 | CORAL - Vincent Chalias, Marine
Great gold and bright red pattern on this Micromussa amakusensis. During a recent visit to the biggest Indonesian ex-situ coral farm, Bali Aquarium, I couldn’t help but notice the very nice collection of Micromussa amakusensis (formally Acanthastrea amakusensis,...
