Category Archives: Fish

You gotta laugh

Breakfast strikes back
A green anole tries to eat a Chinese Rose Beetle, and loses. Original post here.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Comics or Funny Pages (aka silly or funny photos).’ See more responses here.

These are photos that I’ve run before, but quite a while ago. They still make me smile and I hope they do the same for you.

Geckos are endlessly entertaining.

But they’re not the only ones.

A gray chub in the waters off the Big Island
Want to come along? We’re going fishing! Original post here.

Black Triggerfish

A Black Triggerfish in the waters off Hawaii
A Black Triggerfish in the waters off Hawaii
A view from the air of La Pelouse Bay in Maui Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Black or Metallic.’ See more responses here.

I’m going with the Black Triggerfish for this one. This fish is very black except for distinctive light blue lines at the base of the dorsal and anal fins. Even the eyes are black and very difficult to distinguish in the water or in photos.

The exception to this is when the fish is aroused. Then, blue lines radiate from around the eyes. The more agitated the fish is, the more color is displayed until the fish is entirely blue, yellow and green, except for the fins and tail outline.

These fish often gather in large numbers high in the water, feeding on plankton and drifting algae. But they also feed lower in the water, especially when sergeant fish eggs are on the menu.

Black Triggerfish in the waters off Hawaii

Getting the look

A Great Barracuda in the waters off Hawaii

My regular swim these days, passes through the territory of the local Great Barracuda ohana. It’s quite common for them to gather in the wake of swimmers, mostly I think, in case the swimmers are spear fishing and might snag something they can steal.

Last week, this barracuda approached me from the front and gave me quite the look, but since it was no more than a foot long, I wasn’t too concerned.

A couple of days ago, I had a similar encounter with a similar-sized fish. This time the barracuda approached from dead ahead and only turned away at the last minute.

A great barracuda in the waters off Hawaii

Had either of these been one of the giants, which can be three or four feet long and much bigger around, I’d probably have been wetting myself!

The second photo is posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card photo challenge. See more responses here.

Now you see me…

A blenny peeks out fro a hole in a rock

I spotted this little blenny out in the open, but as I raised my camera it shot away into its hole in the rock. I was impressed by its lightning speed, but more so by its ability to back into its hole at that speed.

I think this is probably a Bullethead Blenny, though it’s hard to make that determination from this photo.

Whitetip Reef Shark

A Whitetip Reef Shark in the waters off Hawaii
A Whitetip Reef Shark in the waters off Hawaii

I rarely post for Clare’s Share Your Desktop challenge for the simple reason that I rarely change my desktop. But yesterday, I saw this Whitetip Reef Shark and thought the top image deserved a run on my computer screen.

My first sight of the shark was the second image. I suddenly saw this large shape gliding below me, having snuck up on me from behind! I’d been thinking it had been a long time since I’d seen a shark so I was thrilled to see this one, especially since the water was pretty clear and not too deep. I love the sinuous movement in this second photo! The shark disappeared under a ledge for a short time, but then reemerged and swam up a shallow cliff face and away over the reef, leaving me a very happy swimmer.