Adult bluespine unicornfish, such as the one above, are liberally trimmed with blue on their fins, spines, and tail streamers. They also have a horn jutting from their brows. Juveniles are also tinged with blue, but while they have blue spines, they don’t yet have tail streamers and they don’t have a horn. Once they grow a horn, their cuteness will disappear and they will acquire the grumpy look of most unicornfish.
Shoals of yellow tang are the most visible fish on the reefs. Their bright yellow color means that they’re often easily seen from shore. The smaller silvery fish are juveniles, though I don’t know which kind of fish they are. But it’s fun to see them darting around in the shallows and, as seen in nature documentaries on TV, turning en masse from one direction to another when I approach.
Time for an eye test as in spot the flowery flounder. I don’t think this one is too hard. Not like the last flounder I saw which settled on a sandy bottom, churned up a bunch of sand, and disappeared beneath it leaving only a tiny, inconspicuous bit of tail identifying where it was.
Fish swim just below the surface in surging water. The big fish are highfin chubs and the smaller fish are acute halfbeaks.
A female pearl wrasse catching a bit of sun, which really makes her colors shine.
This is a second response to this week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme of ‘Waterworld.’ (See more responses here.) Yesterday, I posted about the movie Waterworld. Today, it’s a probably more expected response.
These are photos I took during my swim yesterday. Visibility in the water was patchy with some good areas and some not so good. I didn’t see anything startling, though the mackerel shads aren’t a common sight. Last time I saw such a shoal there was a great barracuda lurking on the other side. I looked around and, sure enough, there was another one looking interested as it cruised low down, too low for a decent photo.
The other oddity was in the photo at left. I saw what I think is a spotted coral blenny on this patch of cauliflower coral, and snapped a quick photo before it took off. But it was only when I processed the photos that I saw something else, to the left and slightly below the blenny. I think it’s a small trumpetfish, but it could be something else. A lot of small fish and other creatures hide in coral heads so I must pay more attention from here on.
In short, it was a fairly typical swim.
This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Surprise.’ See more responses here.
I see a lot of fishermen when I’m out walking and they undoubtedly catch fish, but I never see them doing so. I’m as good at getting photos of that moment as I am at catching fish myself.
When I first saw this fisherman he was reeling in an empty line, as per usual. I kept walking, but moments later I heard a cry, turned to look, and saw him winding away on his line. I nipped back to take photos, fully expecting it to be a false alarm – his line was snagged in the rocks or he’d hooked some debris. So I was surprised when he hauled this fish from the water. I don’t know what kind it was, but it was a decent size and probably destined to be that evening’s supper.
The Hawaiian hogfish is an endemic species. Mature fish live in deeper water around the Big Island so juveniles and subadults are more often seen. However, this one is a mature female and, while they’re not commonly seen while snorkeling, they do pop up on a regular basis. They feed on molluscs, urchins, crabs, and stars amongst other things.
Graham's Island 