Coral Reef Photos » Fish

Bicolor Variation Coney, Cephalopholis fulva, Sea Bass

barry — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:19:35 +0000

Good evening friends, it’s FRIDAY!! I hope that means many of you get to have a long and fun weekend but I am sure that some will end up having to work. Aimee woke up sick and didn’t go into work and I wasn’t feeling much better. It’s yet another case of everyone around us is sick again and there’s just no way to avoid it! Being that I was feeling down as well I decided to immediately head for the ocean for a big dose of salt-water which the locals claim will cure almost anything! I quickly assembled my camera into it’s underwater housing, loaded the 105 macro lens, put the special port on, charged the batteries and did a quick test, it was good to go. Then I found my long wet-suit and warm booties as the water now is the coldest it’s been all year, good for the corals and sea-life, bad for divers! Honestly this was one of the first dives where I was actually cold and wasn’t having a great time, I couldn’t feel my hands! Minutes into the dive I spotted this big adult “bicolor variation” Coney, Cephalopholis fulva hiding or hanging out under a beautiful gorgonian with his smaller girlfriend. This is a Sea Bass and like all bass they have heavy bodies and large lips not to mention big mouths!! At first when I arrived he was somewhat nervous but then I quietly laid down in the sand in front of him and just waited for the next 15 minutes while he became more and more brave. These fish like so many others are very territorial, he chased off two parrotfish and a squirrelfish that got to close and I am sure he opened his mouth for me saying; ”get out of here” in fish language!! Normally these fish are seen in shades of reddish brown to brown, kind of all one color, these bicolor one’s are harder to find and much more beautiful! There is also a bright yellow variation with electric blue spots, that one is down right spectacular and can be found all over the reefs in Bonaire. This guy here was around 12-13 inches in length and can get to be 16 inches in length. I normally never see these fish deeper than 60 feet either, they seem to love the 40 foot zone but occasionally I will see one hanging out right near the surface in 10 feet of water.

Dinner is calling and I need to get to bed early as Stijn and I are doing trail work early in the morning. Have a wonderful weekend, talk to you Sunday night or Monday morning.

Barry

Joboehlkia gladifer, NEW VERY RARE, Deep Water Fish

barry — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:37:01 +0000

Good morning friends, finally we are back! Our website host had a big problem on their end leaving us down and out for a few days but all is good again! So let’s see, I have around three days to get you caught up on but should be easy as it’s been fairly quiet around here. Scott, Tammi and Hannah left here at four in the afternoon on Wednesday. I got an e-mail yesterday saying they arrived back home yesterday safe and sound, we sure enjoyed having them and will miss our South Dakota family a lot!

I have been riding with Stijn quite a bit this week but am still not fully recovered from my last two severe colds that I picked up but I am feeling much better. Stijn will be traveling with me this year to South Dakota where I will enter him in some mountain bike races and take him fossil collecting. I also am going to do a photo shoot with some Lakota Indians so that should make for some real nice blog photos.

Here is the newest find by Substation Curacao, this is the MEGA RARE, Joboehlkia gladifer or as we are calling it here, “the Jonnyfish”. This is again another new species and will be named after Dutch’s son Jonny, you know him, Jonny the Lionfish Hunter!! This little inch and a half fish was found at around 600 feet in front of the Curacao Sea Aquarium. At 9:00 this morning I will be trying to photograph him again but this time with a little different background. It’s really amazing that there are so many new and colorful fish right out our front door just waiting to be discovered and you lucky folks are again the first to see them. We have plans to make a book at the end of 2012 of all the new and wonderful creatures that have been found to date and that will be found this year. We have many top scientists arriving again this year which I am sure will mean many more new finds.

Inca got bit again by a dog and has a bad wound on her side and is in a lot of pain! It happened on a walk Wednesday morning and oddly no one saw or heard a thing? Very strange!

That’s about it, have a wonderful day!!!!!! Barry

Juvenile Golden Basslet, Liopropoma abberans

barry — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:16:37 +0000

Good evening from Curacao!! First off I have not one, not two but three super-fun links to share with you all tonight. The first comes from my Uncle Tom in Florida and it’s the hands down craziest snowmobile video I have ever seen! Here is the link;

Snowmobile; http://www.zapiks.fr/share/player.swf?file=50284

The next one was a gift from Stijn and it’s one of the scariest singletrack trails I have ever seen, I wouldn’t walk this trail let along ride it but these three brave guys do, check it out!!

Crazy Singletrack!!!

http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/1895321/209ce21d/zelfmoord_mountainbike_trail.html

And the third one this evening is from our house guest Scott. After the first clip there will be a Butterfinger commercial followed by an even better clip with a dog barking at a cat, that could be one of the funniest ones I have ever seen! Thank’s Scott!!

Cat Fight;

http://comedy.video.yahoo.com/?lid=24038736&vid=27449967

So once again you folks out there who are tuning in on a daily basis get to be the FIRST humans on Earth to see yet another mega-rare and very valuable deep-water fish. This is a juvenile Golden Basslet, Liopropoma abberans and he’s about an inch and a half in length and was found at around 400 feet!! As this fish gets older it will change drastically! It will first lose the red and white spot on it’s tail and be replaced by pure yellow. Then the spots on his body will start to disappear and the pinkish-red color will also be replaced by yellow. In the end all that will remain of his colors now are the yellow stripe through his eye and a small amount of pink or red on his fore-head, pretty cool huh?? I won’t even tell you how much this fish is worth because you would think I was lying! These beautiful little bass are ferocious hunters and can and will attack without any warning at all! They eat just about anything including small mice shrimps, crabs and fish and spend their days hiding in the rocks.

We sure had a crazy morning at Saint Joris!!! We got there at 8:00 and of course it was already muddy and wet but we were going hiking any ways!! Off in the distance we all saw storm clouds building and knew it was just a matter of time before it got to us. I kept saying; “guys, I think we better start looking for shelter” but we were so far away from the car that there was really no where to run! So, next best thing, start looking for junk on the beach to use as an umbrella because it’s coming! I found a pink plastic toilet seat cover and gave it Hannah and then found more plastic sheeting and started handing it out and told everyone to run and find some place to hide because in about 2 minutes we are going to be soaked! You could see a wall of water coming towards us and everything behind it slowly disappeared under a curtain of rain! I quickly removed my back-pack and dumped out all the driftwood and crawled under a big driftwood tree with Inca. I then made us a roof that Inca could stand under and seconds later down it came!! At that time I didn’t even know where the rest of the group was but was hoping they found shelter. The rain came down so hard and once it stopped I found out that everyone else was just huddled together out in the open soaked to the bone! They said that being under the tree got them even more wet! So, Inca was dry and I was half dry everyone else looked like they just went swimming! After our shower we continued the hike walking thru more mud, thorns, broken glass, mosquito infested bogs and crawling under downed trees and bushes, didn’t want anyone saying the hike was boring!! We all returned home wet and muddy with our collection of driftwood and beach treasures, heck Stijn found a surf-board!!

After that ordeal I went into work to photograph the fish above, the boys went diving and the girls took a nap. Later in the afternoon everyone left for a tour of downtown Punda on the water-front and I stayed home to get this out to you. That’s our day, what did you do??

Be back tomorrow, Barry

Lionfish or Scorpion Volitans, Invasive Species

barry — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:37:54 +0000

Good evening friends, here’s Mr. Lionfish or Scorpion Volitans if you will, even its name reveals the fiery character of the Indo-Pacific red lionfish, scientifically know as Pterois volitans/miles. With bold maroon and white zebra stripes, and a plume of feathery spines, the lionfish is a stunning, elegant and graceful specimen and so deadly to its prey. The lionfish, also known as the turkeyfish, tigerfish, dragonfish, and butterfly cod is a poisonous spiky fish found in the warmer waters of the Western and central Pacific Ocean. The lionfish is a predatory fish hunting small fish but it’s venom is capable of being fatal to larger creatures. Indo-Pacific lionfish are rapidly invading the waters of the Caribbean and tropical Atlantic. Due to their population explosion and aggressive behavior, lionfish have the potential to become the most disastrous marine invasion in history by drastically reducing the abundance of coral reef fishes and leaving behind a devastated ecosystem. The lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific region, have infiltrated their way into the Caribbean. Their introduction is believed to be a result of hurricanes and tank releases during the early 1990’s. They have been spotted along the eastern seaboard spanning as far north as Rhode Island to as far south as Columbia. Protected by venomous spines, lionfish are voracious and effective predators. When hunting, they herd and corner their prey using their pectoral fins, then quickly strike and swallow their prey whole. With few known natural predators, the lionfish poses a major threat to coral reef ecosystems in the Caribbean region by decreasing survival of a wide range of native reef animals via both predation and competition. While native grouper may prey on lionfish, they have been over-fished and therefore unlikely to significantly reduce the effects of invasive lionfish on coral reef communities.

Stijn and I had a great dive on the reef today and an even better mountain bike ride after! On the dive this afternoon we saw 13 Lionfish and some of them were very big!! I swam around looking for photos but really didn’t see too much of photo interest and in the end found myself photographing Lionfish. They are hands down the most beautiful fish I have ever seen but they are wiping out natural underwater ecosystem left and right, especially in the Bahamas! I really believe that if we all keep the numbers down on our own reefs it will help!! Plus, many restaurants are now paying $$$ for them so that should be an added bonus to any of you wanting to make some extra cash.

Our house guests have been cooking for us and we are loving it!! Last night she made this “Top Secret” fried rice recipe, it was insane!!

Lots to do tonight, hope all is well, Barry

Saber Goby, Coryphopterous nikkiensis, New Fish

barry — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 23:17:20 +0000

Good evening friends, how was your Christmas??? Mine was and is still fantastic! It’s 6:30pm Christmas Eve and the girls are busy upstairs cooking a beautiful Caribbean Christmas Feast! Our guests, Tammi, Scott, and Hannah arrived Saturday afternoon right on time with smiles glued to their faces and ready for adventure! Once we got them home they immediately unpacked Christmas presents that were sent from friends and family and stuff I had ordered for Aimee, so the night was spent with everyone in their own rooms wrapping away!! The whole neighborhood woke last night at midnight to the sound of fireworks going off next to our house in celebration of Christmas day, sure would have been nice to have a little warning as it scared us all to death waking us all out of deep sleep! We then all got up at 6:00 this morning and shredded gifts, handed out stockings, drank some good o’l Highlander Groog coffee and in general had a wonderful Christmas morning! One of the gifts Aimee and I gave to our guests was a swim with the dolphins at 9:00 this morning and from what I heard later they had a fantastic time! My mom sent home-made fudge and cookies and lots of new movies to watch, our guests gave us both a pair of new fins from their scuba store in the States, we got delicious peanut brittle, coffee and Buffalo jerkey from Joe and Nancy and Aimee got me two new biking jerseys, gloves, socks and so much more, what a great morning, why can’t every day be Christmas?? Stijn even managed to sneak a gift under the tree sometime last night, I think that surprised me the most, he got me some fun biking stuff. We got a whole suitcase of our favorite coffee from Dark Canyon Coffee Company in Rapid City, SD, thanks a million Lori!! Both Inca and Indi got their own stockings filled with toys and all kinds of chewies and they got to go for a two and half hour walk to Saint Joris this morning! Since we haven’t been their for so long the driftwood was off the hook, I found so much I could only carry the best back to the car which was almost two miles away!! Once home the dogs went straight to bed, they were toast! I unloaded the car and washed wood and at 11:00 our “Happy Campers” returned from Dolphin Heaven! We then all caught our breath and re-grouped and at 12:00 after Stijn showed up we all took off to go snorkeling at the Sea Aquarium. The snorkeling was perfect, we started by all jumping off a bridge into the sea and swimming out into the open-wild ocean, it was such a great time! After an hour of swimming with the fish we all went to the sea-glass beach and collected treasures for an hour. Stijn was the winner of the day, he found a red piece of glass that would make most adult beach-combers cry!! I believe Tammi got second place with her piece of red and Scott came in third with his!! In fact everyone found red except for me, hmmmm, oh well I found all the other colors!!

Here is yet another new deep water fish that was found at around 325 feet!!! This fish is extra cool because not only is it a new find and a new species, it’s being named after one of Dutch’s kids! Since Dutch discovered this fish he named it after his daughter Nicki so the new name will be; Coryphopterous nikkiensis, how cool is that??? This is a Saber Goby and it’s only one inch in length. It also has that cool spine on top of his head that can be lowered up or down while swimming or perched as you see here. We also have another possible new fish on the way up the reef right now and may end up being named after Dutch’s son Jonny so stay tuned this week for that cool photo.

We just had a Christmas dinner that was cooked by Tammi and Scott and it was delicious! I tell ya, having house guests that cook and do dishes??? Well, they can come back anytime!! It’s off to bed, long, fun day!! I really must say, this was one of the best Christmas days ever!! Thanks again to all for everything you sent, we loved it all!

Merry Christmas, Barry and Aimee

Juvenile Pygmy Angelfish or Cherubfish, Centropyge argi

barry — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:34:25 +0000

Good morning friends, today at 1:00 we are having a party at Substation celebrating our 500th dive with the sub! In honor of this occasion we will be doing a really fun photo underwater with the sub and Aimee will be taking the photo. Our plan is to pack everyone inside like sardines, we want all five of our pilots all looking out the big front window and I will be on the outside sitting in the basket. I believe we even had a fun cake made with a submarine on it, stay tuned and hopefully we can send you a photo tomorrow.

Here is another fish we found on a deep-run although these can be found in the shallows as well. This is a juvenile Pygmy Angelfish or Cherubfish, Centropyge argi and is what I call “one of the cuties” Unbelievable like I mentioned, this fish can be found at depths of 350 feet or in 1 foot of water, that’s quite a range! They usually inhabit deep reefs and occasionally walls, deeper than 80 feet, except southern Caribbean (Curacao), where they are often found on shallow reef tops. These fish are also one of the most difficult fish I have ever tried to photograph! The moment they spot you they dart into their holes and won’t come back out until your almost out of air! They also can be found swimming in pairs or small groups. I remember I used to find these all the time at the piers at Caracas Bay but again I wasted a whole lot of time trying to get a photo, really a fish that is scared of their own shadow, but oh so cute!!

Well, that’s about it for today, we still have lots to do in preparation for our guests but we are close to being done! Thanks for all the cards and letters, keep them coming!

Happy Holidays, Barry

Rare/Deep Water Pearlfish, Carapidae, Sea Cucumber

barry — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:06:00 +0000

Good evening readers, here is a creepy looking, rare new fish that we found at 850 feet living in complete darkness!! This crazy looking eight inch long fish is possibly a new species of Pearlfish in the family Carapidae. The adult Pearlfish (like the one below) has a most unusual home, it lives inside the body cavity of sea cucumbers. To allow it to slip in and out of its host easily, it has an eel-like body, no pelvic fins, and no scales. It is a silvery-white color with reddish markings. At night, the Pearlfish may swim out of the sea cucumber’s anus to go hunting for invertebrates to eat, returning to the body cavity tail first. However, the Pearlfish may also eat the gonads and other organs of its host. If your interest is peaked and you want to lean more about this fascinating creature then check out this fun link I found, it will answer any and all questions you may have concerning this very cool but scary looking fish! http://echinoblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/when-fish-live-in-your-cloaca-how-anal.html

For those asking about my health, I am doing much better this evening! Really that was one of the worst colds I have ever had, it’s amazing that they can knock you out for so long!

That’s about it for today, trying hard to get ready for Christmas but we are running out of time!

More tomorrow, Barry

Deep French Butterflyfish, Prognathodes guyanensis

barry — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:01:14 +0000

Good morning friends, I have been sick in bed all weekend and unable to do anything! This started Thursday and was worse on Friday so bad in fact that for the first time ever I was unable to take photos of the sub underwater. Thank goodness for my colleagues Bruce and Barbara who came to my rescue, I set up the camera for them and they went out and took the photos of the sub for me. Saturday was a non-stop nose blowing event and yesterday the coughing began, oh what fun it is to be sick in paradise! I feel sorry for the dogs who didn’t get to do very much this whole weekend except lay with me in bed, both of them knew something was up.

Here is a beautiful Deep Water French Butterflyfish, Prognathodes guyanensis that was recently discovered at around 400 foot! There are more than 100 different species of butterflyfish found distributed throughout the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, meaning that the butterflyfish is a salt-water species of (marine) fish. The average butterflyfish is fairly small and generally grows to around 4 or 5 inches in length. Some species of the butterflyfish however, are known to grow to 8 inches (20 cm) long and some butterflyfish individuals have been known to grow to 30 cm in length. This fish is most closely related to the marine angelfish which is similar in color but the marine angelfish is often much larger in size than the butterflyfish. They can also be distinguished from angelfish by the dark spots on their bodies, dark bands around their eyes and the fact that the mouth of the butterflyfish is more pointed than the mouth of the angelfish. Butterflyfish are diurnal animals which means that they are feeding during the day and resting in the coral during the night. Most species of butterflyfish feed on the plankton in the water, coral and sea anemones and occasionally snack on small crustaceans . Those butterflyfish that primarily feed on the plankton in the water are generally the smaller species of butterflyfish and can be seen in large groups. The larger species are fairly solitary or stay with their mating partner.

Here is something crazy you all have to see, some person is trying to sell a piece of paper on E-Bay for one million dollars, check it out! http://www.ebay.com/itm/One-million-Dollar-Thank-You-Piece-Paper-/180580553654?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item2a0b7093b6

Better get moving, send me your Christmas photos, we already have some good ones! Bye, Barry

Sergeant Majors Eegs, Abudefduf saxatilis, Fish Eggs

barry — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:48:07 +0000

Good morning from the Caribbean, here’s something cool I found for you all today, these are baby Sergeant Majors still in their individual little egg sacks, neat huh? Look close and can see the eyes and developing body parts, they are just hours away from being on their own. Sergeant Major Damsel Fish get their names from the five black stripes over there bodies that resemble those of a Sergeant Major’s insignia. These fish spawn and then glue their eggs on rocks, shipwrecks, pilings, and reef outcroppings where the male sergeant major prepares the nest. Courtship rituals include males actively chasing the female during the morning hours. During this time, the males build nests. During spawning, approximately 200,000 eggs are released. These eggs are salmon or red colored, oval-shaped, and 0.5-0.9 mm in diameter. Upon fertilization, the eggs turn greenish at 96 hours and contain a deep red yolk. An adhesive filament attaches the egg to the bottom substrate. The male Sergeant Major takes on a bluish color while guarding the fertilized eggs. He guards them until they hatch which occurs within 155-160 hours following fertilization. This guarding of the eggs, characteristic of the family Pomacentridae, is unusual since most reef fishes have a planktonic stage. The larvae reach 2.4 mm in length approximately 36 hours after hatching. They are deep-bodied, with the caudal and pectoral fins visible, prominent lips, and well-developed jaw bones. As I came in close for a shot today the male guarding these eggs did everything he could think of to get me away from his babies, they are very aggressive! After I backed off he then went back to work guarding the eggs and chasing off fish after fish that swam in to try and eat his children. Most of the time these eggs will not survive as schools of fish will charge the Sergeant Major all at once and there is nothing he can do but watch, it’s a fish eat fish World out there!

Christmas is coming up fast! I honestly can’t believe it’s less than two weeks away and we still have so much to do in preparation for the arrival of our guests.

Yesterday I did one dive with the sub and then spent the rest of the day inside the deep-water fish lab photographing specimens and learning about their diet. The man currently taking care of our fish is leaving this morning for a week to the States so I will be helping take care and feed all the fish each and every day while he is gone, I think it’s going to be really fun.

After work Stijn and I met two riders that are here from Holland doing an article for a magazine called “Bike Freaks” They have been here for a week riding and racing and photographing all the different areas and last night was our turn to show them what we have to offer on the World Cup course. We ended up only doing one lap because they wanted to photograph Stijn and I going thru or down some of the more technical challenging spots on the course and we did this over and over until they got the photo they wanted. So other than getting stung by a bee on the ear, and cutting up one of my fingers along side a razor sharp wall we had a great time!

We have a busy day of fun in the sub ahead, I better get moving! Till tomorrow, Barry

Lipogramma Robinsi, Grammatidae, Rare Deep Water Fish

barry — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:38:36 +0000

Good evening readers, once again you lucky folks get to be among the first humans on Earth to see another beautiful little fish from the deep called a “Lipogramma Robinsi”. This little two inch fish was found at around 550 feet out in front of the Curacao Sea Aquarium with the new “Curasub”, www.substation-curacao.com and scientists from the Smithsonian are saying that it could be a new species of Lipogramma!! Cool huh? These fish are “basslets,” not true “basses.” The fish family that contains the true basses (groupers, soapfish, sea basses, etc.) is the Serranidae. The family that contains the basslets (fairy basslet, banded basslet, yellow-bar basslet, ‘gramma klay,’ etc.) is the Grammatidae. They are apparently not very closely related, although evolutionary relationships among the perch-like fishes are not well understood. “Robinsi” (below) is named after the prominent ichthyologist Dr. C. Richard Robins whose work and students have contributed significantly to our understanding of the neritic, bathyal and abyssal faunas of the tropical Western Atlantic and Caribbean Sea. A few other Lipogramma’s have been found with the Johnson Sea Link, one in Belize and one in San Salvador, Bahama Island but differ from the one shown here. As I learn more I will pass it on, I promise!!

I had a pretty busy day, first a dive with the sub then another dive with the macro lens photographing another cool deep water hermit crab in his cool cone shell.

That’s about it, I have a whole lot to do tonight, be back Sunday evening, have a wonderful weekend!

Barry