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 #74
Tag Archives: Damselfish
Indo-Pacific Sergeants
Another unused photo from last month’s Becky’s Squares, Indo-Pacific Sergeants are boldly marked and often seen high up in the water.
Blackspot Sergeant
The Blackspot Sergeant is a solitary damselfish which lives near the surface in shallow waters. They’re fairly common around here, but quite shy, so tricky to photograph. Coloration can vary, but the black spot above the base of the tail is ever present, hence the name.
Don’t bump your head
An assortment of sergeantfishes swim beneath floating debris, gathered by a series of big swells. Unlike the fish, I got to swim through the debris, which can sometimes include sizable chunks of wood.
Phoenix Island Damselfish
John P. Hoover, in his book The Ultimate Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes, Sea Turtles, Dolphins, Whales, and Seals, describes this fish as “Extremely rare in the Hawaiian Islands.” He speculates that the ones seen here are waifs that drift in, possibly from Johnston Atoll, some 860 miles southwest of the Big Island, where they are known to occur.
These fish live in the surge zone of rocky shores and the only reason I saw this one was thanks to a tip from a fellow snorkeler.
It’s a home to us
Floating marine debris can be a menace to ocean wildlife, being swallowed by, or wrapping around everything from fish to turtles to whales. But it can also be repurposed by little fish into a relatively safe haven for them as they negotiate those dangerous early days of life.
Here, a variety of small sergeant fishes have found some cover under a clump of line.
Posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.
Banded urchin
This Banded Urchin is one that actually looks like its name. The most common long-spined urchin here, it’s generally a uniform dull black. Long-spined urchins provide a refuge for small fish, such as the Bright-eye Damselfish seen scooting for cover here.
The Numbers Game #6
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar and then post a selection of the photos that turn up.
This week’s number is 127. As with last week’s post, three of these photos haven’t run before.
You can see more responses here.
Graham's Island 