This week’s Sunday Stills color challenge, guest hosted by Susanne at Cats and Trails and Garden Tales, is ‘Jade Green.’ See more responses here. Just the two this week, in part because of inclement weather and power outages.
Top is an underwater view at Two Step, a popular snorkeling spot in South Kona. Second is some dappled light in the greenery at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.
I spotted this small Pacific Day Octopus on the move and it quickly headed for a spot to settle down. The place it chose was just below a head of coral, which was occupied by an Arc-Eye Hawkfish. The hawkfish didn’t move, but didn’t look happy with its new neighbor.
A small Spotted Coral Blenny peeks out from a head of coral.
I spotted activity in a head of coral and thought I’d found another batch of Isabelle’s Hermit Crabs (here). But even as I took photos, I thought the color of the legs wasn’t quite right. This proved to be the case. Instead, these are Painted Hermit Crabs, a species endemic to Hawaii. The shells occupied here are probably from one of the marine snails known as drupes, Grape Morulas being a possibility.
Lately, I’ve been taking photos of heads of coral to see what lurks within. In this instance, I thought I saw something down there and snapped a couple of photos. When I looked again, I thought, maybe that’s just dead coral.
It was only when I got home and zoomed in on the photos that I saw red in the bands on the legs of what proved to be Isabelle’s Hermit Crabs. According to my marine invertebrate book, this crab was unknown in Hawaii until 2003, meaning that it is a new arrival or has somehow been overlooked by previous researchers. The species only got a formal name in 1997, from a French zoologist, who named it after his wife.
A cheerful-looking Saddle Wrasse swims over a patch of coral. One side of the coral head has long since died, but the other looks quite healthy and hosts an Arc-eye Hawkfish.
This month’s Sunday Stills color challenge is ‘Auburn or Brown.’ See more responses here. Captions on the photos.
I saw this Spotted Coral Blenny perched on a small coral head, as they typically do. I snapped a quick photo an instant before the fish zipped down behind the rock. I’ve seen the same fish there a few times since, but it disappears before I can try another photo. Given its elusiveness, I was happy this photo turned out pretty well.
Graham's Island 