Tag Archives: Wrasse

The Numbers Game #65

Kilauea Volcano in late April 2018. 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 186. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Christmas at Hapuna Resort.
Trees from the air. They look like broccoli to me!
A Great Frigatebird on the wing.
A female Pearl Wrasse catches the light.
An Ember Parrotfish. The eyes remind me of a teddy bear I had!
Rainbow over the water.

Great Barracuda

A Great Barracuda in the waters off Hawaii

Great Barracudas were a fish that really gave me the willies, more-so than sharks. But I’ve got used to them over the years and, while they still look mean and grouchy, I’ve found their actions are less threatening, not that I’m taking any liberties!

Yesterday, I saw the fish in the top photo heading straight towards me, before veering away at the last moment. Just checking me out I think. That one was in the two- to three-foot range. The one below was bigger, three- to four-foot, and it was getting cleaned. I always find this sight amusing as this giant fish hangs still in the water while little Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasses nibble away at parasites and mucus on the body and even inside the mouth!

A Great Barracuda in the waters off Hawaii

The Numbers Game #59

The golden pools at Keawaiki, Hawaii
One of the golden pools at Keawaiki.

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 180. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A Katydid on a Castor Bean plant.
A Lesser Blue Butterfly.
Rooster and hen.
Hibiscus tiliaceus.
A Hawaiian Hogfish.
Small fish in the golden pools at Keawaiki.

The Numbers Game #54

A view of the 10th hole at Hapuna golf course in Hawaii
A view of the 10th hole at Hapuna Golf Course.

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 175. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Vegetation has reclaimed a section of the original 1969 fissure of the Mauna Ulu eruption of 1969.
Tenacious plants grow in a lava flow.
A cigarfish and pinktail triggerfish add color to a shoal of surgeonfish.
A Cigar Wrasse in a school of Whitebar Surgeonfishes.
A view of Kohala Mountain from the trail up Pu’u WaaWaa.
Wiliwili tree flowers in Hawaii
A bee on a Wiliwili flower.
A four-humped stink bug (Brochymena quadripustulata) in Hawaii
A Four-humped Stink Bug.
A sign for the Banana Leaf Coffee & Tea shop in Hawi, Hawaii
The sign for the Banana Leaf Cafe in Hawi. It never opened!

Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse at work

A Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse and Whitebar Surgeonfish in the waters off Hawaii
A Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse and Whitebar Surgeonfish in the waters off Hawaii

Cleaner wrasses establish territories where they remove mucus, parasites, and dead tissue from other fish. These cleaning stations can exist in the same place for years and can have several wrasses performing those services. Their clients can be anything from other small reef fish to eels and sharks.

In these photos, a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse services a Whitebar Surgeonfish.

Ember Parrotfish

An Ember Parrotfish swims with Yellow Tangs and a Christmas Wrasse in the waters off Hawaii

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.