Smooth trunkfish

Earlier, I posted photos of the spotted trunkfish.  The smooth trunkfish is a close relative.  They are in the same genus.  This species reaches 10 to 12 inches in length, but these photos were taken of juveniles that weren't bigger than 3 inches.  The smooth trunkfish is a member of the boxfish family, with a triangular, boxy skeleton.  Today, I took a photo of the broad, flat bottom side of one.

All the photos were taken at depths of 20 to 25 feet.

This fish is the smallest, about the size of a thumbnail.  It is facing downward.

Facing left, with its tail wrapped around to its left.

Facing right, with the tail wrapped around to its left.

Swimming to the left.

Bottoms up!

Porkfish

Over the many years we have been diving in Bonaire, we have seen porkfish in only 3 years.  And in each case, a single porkfish remained in the same area for months.  This year is a porkfish year, and the vivid coloration of this fish brightens any dive. The porkfish is a member of the grunt family. Although many of the grunts have a fair amount of yellow coloring, the porkfish just seems brighter.  This fish was about 8 inches long, and the photos were taken at a depth of about 25 feet.

Years ago, we were told to think of the two black bands across the head as pieces of bacon -- that way we would remember it was a porkfish.

Brittle stars

Yesterday and today, by lifting several small hiding places and peeking underneath, I uncovered two brittle stars.  They forage about the bottom at night, but hide during the day.  Their central disc is less than an inch across, their arms extend out 4 or 5 inches.  Brittle stars are echinoderms like sea stars (also know as starfish).

The photos above were taken at a depth of about 15 feet.  I'm guessing this was a banded-arm brittle star.

This photo was taken at a depth of about 35 feet.  This appears to be a ruby brittle star.

Coral shrimp

This post features two species of coral shrimp that are in the same genus.  They are structurally quite similar but different colors.  The banded coral shrimp grows up to 2 inches long.  The golden coral shrimp is slightly smaller.  Both species range from shallow water down to about 130 feet.  Both species are cleaning shrimp, and they wave their antennae to attract fish for cleaning.

Banded coral shrimp, also know as barber pole shrimp

Golden coral shrimp, with fireworms in background

The banded coral shrimp is fairly common in the Caribbean.  The golden coral shrimp is considered "occasional to uncommon."

Spotted trunkfish

This morning, I encountered half a dozen spotted trunkfish on my dive.  Trunkfish are members of the boxfish family.  They are triangular in cross section, with a triangular boxy skeleton.  They have a broad, flat belly.  They don't swim very fast, and are often seen hiding under reef structures.

These fish were 5 or 6 inches long, and the photos were taken at depths of 35 to 50 feet.

Yellowhead wrasse

Many wrasse species pass through a variety of color phases before reaching the terminal phase. This species goes through a largely yellow juvenile phase (with a blue mid-body stripe), to an initial phase with a dark head and back, with a wide yellow mid-body stripe, to a yellow-headed fish with striking facial markings and color bands on its body.

These photos are of terminal phase yellowhead wrasse.  The fish were about 5 inches long, and the photos were taken at a depth of 40 to 50 feet.

This species is constantly swimming around reef structures.

This particular fish looks like it had a rough night. We often see fish that have bite marks, or look diseased.  It's a fish eat fish world down here.  Only the strong survive.

Spot the spotfin

Today's post features the spotfin butterflyfish.  Five butterflyfish species occur on the local reefs.  On a really good dive you can sometimes see 4 species.  Based on my own observations, the spotfin is the third most abundant butterflyfish.  Although I encounter them regularly, and they frequently travel in pairs, they often swim away when approached.  These fish were about 4 inches long, and the photos were taken at depths of 30 to 35 feet.  The spot for which they are named is on the rear end of the dorsal fin.

The usual fleeing posture.

This one swam towards the camera.

Two crabs

There are many species of crabs living in Bonaire's coral reef habitats.  They vary widely in color, size, and shape.  Many crabs are more active foraging at night, and hide under ledges and in holes in reef structures, during the day.

The crab pictured above is a batwing coral crab.  It was about 5 inches wide.  This species is in the same family as the stone crabs of Florida, and has a very hard shell.

Above, is the yellowline arrow crab.  Compared to the batwing crab, the arrow crab is more of a delicate ballerina. The legs of this crab spread out about 5 inches, but the body was less than an inch wide.

Peacock flounder

This flounder is camouflaged to blend in with the sand.  Its stalked eyes stand out from the surrounding sand.  But the closer you look, the more color you see.  First you might see the faint blue ringed markings on the body. Gold spots on the eye stalks, and blue spots on the fins and head certainly do not look like sand.

This flounder was about 8 inches long, and the photos were taken at a depth of about 30 feet.  In all the photos, the flounder is facing to the left, and the mouth is below the eyes, to the left.

Super close-up for color detail around eyes

Honeycomb cowfish

This fish, a type of boxfish, is named for the honeycomb pattern across its body, and the sharp spines above the eyes that resemble cattle horns. They vary widely in color, ranging from blue hues to green and yellow. And they are able to rapidly darken or pale.

These fish were about 12 inches long, and the photos were taken at depths of 30 to 40 feet.

Check out the horns.

First turtle of the season

This morning, we encountered our first turtle of the season.  It was a small (10 to 12 inches) hawksbill turtle (the most common turtle in the Caribbean).  The entire time we watched, the turtle was preoccupied with feeding on something beneath a ledge.  Turtles often feed on sponges, so my guess is that the turtle was feeding on a small sponge, which was out of my view.

We were a few feet above the turtle, at a depth of about 45 feet.  These are not the most flattering photos, but at least they show the turtle doing whatever it wanted. I didn't see any tags on its flippers, so it hasn't been included in any of the official surveys yet.

Scrawled filefish

This morning, I encountered a scrawled filefish that I could approach without scaring.  Most often, I have chased after this species, but this kind fish stayed in one place long enough for me to take several photos.  This fish was about 18 inches long, and the photos were taken at about 35 feet deep.

Their coloration varies, and they can rapidly darken or turn pale, but they all have blue spots and lines, and black spots.  They look kind of out of focus because of all the scrawled markings.

The file, for which they are named is an elongated first dorsal spine.

File down

File down

File up

File up

The royalty of parrotfish

About a dozen species of parrotfish inhabit Bonaire's coral reef ecosystems.  They vary widely in size and color.  Only two species have royal names: the queen parrotfish (which can grow up to 2 feet long), and the princess parrotfish (which reaches about 12 inches in length).

Queen parrotfish at about 20 ft.

A close-up view of the parrot-like mouth of the same queen parrotfish

Princess parrotfish, photo also taken at about 20 ft.

Parrotfish scrape algae and coral polyps off rocks and coral reefs, with their beaks. As they feed, they also ingest bits of coral rock. Their tough digestive systems break the rock down into sand.

Animal, vegetable or mineral?

This is not always an easy question to answer underwater.  Many animals camouflage themselves in coral reef habitats.  Some are hiding from predators, and others are hiding from prey.  Hide and seek is an important part of coral reef ecology.

So, can you figure out what is featured in the first photo?

This color was with a flash.

The photo has been cropped and enhanced with red.  The eye is in the center.  The mouth is upper left.

This shot shows the whole animal.  The spotted scorpionfish (about 12 inches long) is upside down, facing left.  The banded tail is clearly visible to the right.

So the correct answer to today's question is an animal trying to look like vegetables and minerals.

Back underwater in Bonaire!

This morning, we made our first dive of the season, and as usual we saw lots of interesting fish and invertebrates.  One sponge grabbed my attention.  From one angle it looks like a hand waving and from another angle it looks like a giant whale surfacing with its mouth open.

Hello!

Moby Dick?

I was surprised to see quite a few small sharp-tail puffer fish in the shallow water.

Ecological Food for Thought on Seafood

For anyone who is interested, I recently published this book.  It is available in print or as an e-book.

Reflections on the new year

A few days ago, I was walking on the Hidden Lake nature trail and came to realize that reflected images often seem to be clearer than that which they are reflecting.  The camera captured clear reflections in the lake, while the tree tops appeared to end in a hazy sky.

New Year's Day is a great time for reflection.  Best wishes for 2014!