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.
I like taking photos of the different kinds of fish that gather, sometimes in the same general area every day. This group caught my eye for the Bluestripe Snappers with their beautiful blue stripes on yellow bodies.
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.
During some recent swims, I’ve been lucky enough to see this small Spotted Eagle Ray. It doesn’t tend to hang about, so the encounters have been fleeting, but the ray looks in great condition, which is always good to see.
The Ember Parrotfish is the largest parrotfish in Hawaii, but it can often be found in surprisingly shallow water. This one was cruising through a small school of Yellow Tangs in just two or three feet of water. The multicolored fish beneath it is a Christmas Wrasse. These fish will often accompany a parrotfish hoping to snack on creatures dislodged by the larger fish.
For whatever reason this make me think of wallpaper.
A week or so ago, I was snorkeling when I happened to glance behind me and saw I was being followed by the local barracuda ohana. Ohana is the name for family in Hawaiian and these were Great Barracudas, which sometimes congregate together in this way. I think they follow people swimming in the hope that they’re spear fishing, and might catch something which they can steal. I offered no such rewards, so they soon moved on.
I see 10 in this photo, but I counted a dozen in the water, and there might have been more. They were all what I call small barracudas, perhaps a foot to 18 inches in length. The biggest around here get to be three- to four-feet long and much bigger around.
Reticulated Butterflyfishes are among the easiest fish to identify with their array of white spots on black, and other notable markings.
The same cannot be said for Brown Surgeonfishes. Mostly brown, with a tinge of lavender and some dull spots on the face, this is a fish that’s often overlooked. But according to my fish book, it boasts a couple of noteworthy accolades.
The first is that, back in 1993, “the biggest species of bacteria known to science had been discovered in the gut of this surgeonfish.” It notes that the bacteria was about the size of a hyphen in a newspaper article, which is a pretty good size actually.
The other distinction is that a study, by Roland and Marie-Louise Bauchot, of the brains of Hawaiian reef fishes, declared that the smartest fish on the reef is none other than the little Brown Surgeonfish.
Graham's Island 