Earlier this month for Spring Break, I made another trip down South and got to hang out at the Monterey Bay Aquarium (got to hangout with Matt Wandell which was super awesome) and the California Academy of Sciences.
If their "Philippine Coral Reef" didn't catch your attention, the "Twighlight Zone" Gallery definitely will.
All of the fish on display are hand collected by Staff such as Bart Shepherd and Luiz Rocha who are some names you're probably familiar with.
A lot of these fish, you'll only find them on display here. The cool thing is that a lot of these species do pop up in the trade (some are pretty common, others are extremely rare) so it's awesome to see them in person here without the huge price tag some of these species go for.
I wasn't able to photograph every species, but I think I got most of the "popular" ones. A lot of the photos have various degrees of "noise" since it's Dimly lit with blue light so there was a lot of Lightroom editing to color correct it. Hopefully the next time I go down, I'll have my camera upgrade by then which should be even better for low light photography.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy these Deepwater Gems!
Camera: Sony A6100
Lens: Sony 90mm Macro & Sigma f2.8 24-70
Starting off with the Holy Grail and working down; Peppermint Angelfish (Paracentropyge boylei) The only specimen on public display in the US, possibly the world. (If you would like to see video of this guy, check out the one I posted on my Instagram)
Haraguchi's Butterfly (Roa haraguchiae nov.) First discovered in 2016, officially described in 2020. The only living specimen on display in the World.
Bandit Angelfish (Apolemichthys arcuatus)
Brown Banded Butterfly (Roa modesta)
Marquees Butterfly (Chaetodon declivis)
Undescribed Chromis species (Chromis sp.)
Katayami Anthias (Odontanthias katayami)
Rose Scale Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa) Officially described in 2022.
If their "Philippine Coral Reef" didn't catch your attention, the "Twighlight Zone" Gallery definitely will.
All of the fish on display are hand collected by Staff such as Bart Shepherd and Luiz Rocha who are some names you're probably familiar with.
A lot of these fish, you'll only find them on display here. The cool thing is that a lot of these species do pop up in the trade (some are pretty common, others are extremely rare) so it's awesome to see them in person here without the huge price tag some of these species go for.
I wasn't able to photograph every species, but I think I got most of the "popular" ones. A lot of the photos have various degrees of "noise" since it's Dimly lit with blue light so there was a lot of Lightroom editing to color correct it. Hopefully the next time I go down, I'll have my camera upgrade by then which should be even better for low light photography.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoy these Deepwater Gems!
Camera: Sony A6100
Lens: Sony 90mm Macro & Sigma f2.8 24-70
Starting off with the Holy Grail and working down; Peppermint Angelfish (Paracentropyge boylei) The only specimen on public display in the US, possibly the world. (If you would like to see video of this guy, check out the one I posted on my Instagram)
Haraguchi's Butterfly (Roa haraguchiae nov.) First discovered in 2016, officially described in 2020. The only living specimen on display in the World.
Bandit Angelfish (Apolemichthys arcuatus)
Brown Banded Butterfly (Roa modesta)
Marquees Butterfly (Chaetodon declivis)
Undescribed Chromis species (Chromis sp.)
Katayami Anthias (Odontanthias katayami)
Rose Scale Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa) Officially described in 2022.