Category Archives: Fish

The Numbers Game #80

A Coconut Orchid at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 201. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Simply Red. See more responses here.

Encountered in the water

A Cushion Star in the waters off Hawaii.
Cushion stars look like their namesake and are often just as colorful.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘In the Swim.’ See more responses here. These photos are from my swim two days ago.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Simply Red. See more responses here.

Top left: This Ember Parrotfish was passing over a school of Convict Tangs.

Top right: A Palenose Parrotfish caught the light, which really brought out its colors.

Bottom: I often see Finescale Triggerfishes, but rarely get decent photos as they seem to shimmer away like ghosts. These three were juveniles, in shallow water, and curious, as younger fish often are.

Top left: Last year, I posted (here) about a Peppered Moray Eel swimming towards me and then rearing up when it saw me. This one, probably the same eel, repeated the performance.

Top right: I hadn’t seen a lobster in a long time and then saw two on this day. This one is a Tufted Spiny Lobster.

Bottom: I spotted this Snowflake Eel just a few feet before reaching the spot where I get out of the water. It was poking around looking for food and, fortunately, did not disappear under a rock as eels often do.

The Numbers Game #79

An alien cloud over the saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 200. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Acute Halfbeaks

Acute Halfbeaks in the waters off Hawaii

Acute Halfbeaks swim just below the surface of the water, often in schools. It’s not unusual to encounter them flashing by, which can be a little disconcerting, especially when the group circles back around. They’re not something to worry about during the day, but at night needlefishes in general can be excited by lights in and on the water, and there have been many instances of people being speared by those long, sharp beaks, some fatally.

The Numbers Game #74

A monument commemorating Ikua Purdy, a Hawaiian paniolo
This statue in Waimea celebrates the role of paniolos in the region. (Original post here.)

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 195. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

The Numbers Game #73

This Gold Dust Day Gecko snagged a moth for lunch.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 194. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

You can hide, but you can’t run

A Blue Goatfish and a Pacific Day Octopus in the waters off Hawaii
A pair of Blue Goatfishes and a Pacific Day Octopus in the waters off Hawaii

I spotted this Pacific Day Octopus hunting with a pair of Blue Goatfishes. It’s quite common to see an arrangement like this in the water; there are benefits for both. But when a clumsy swimmer splashes into the picture, the situation changes. Goatfishes will swim away only if they feel threatened, but the octopus will settle somewhere and blend into the background.

However, it’s hard to disappear into the background when the fish keep nudging them to continue with the hunt. This octopus looked quite miffed about the situation until it finally gave up and shot off to hide elsewhere. The goatfishes followed, but the octopus found a crack to settle into, and the clumsy swimmer bid it a fond farewell!