Marine animals with vegetable names

Many of the structural animals on the reef, like sponges and soft corals look a lot like plants.  But things get even more confusing when animals are given plant names.

This morning, on our dive I found 4 different lettuce sea slugs.  Each was between one and two inches long.  Their name is derived from the lettuce-like appearance of the skin ruffles on the back.  They absorb oxygen through the skin ruffles.  They have a pair of tentacles that resemble rolled paper.  They graze on algae. The photos were taken at depths of 25 to 40 feet.

This lettuce sea slug is heading to the upper right.

This one is heading to the upper left.  Its tentacles are visible just above the center of the photo.

This one is heading to the lower right.

This one is heading to the lower left,  the tail end is visible to the upper right.

Another group of salad-vegetable-named invertebrates is the sea cucumbers.  We regularly see them, in sandy areas around the reef.

Today's example is the donkey dung sea cucumber.  Not too appetizing a name.  This sea cucumber was about 10 inches long.  The photo was taken at a depth of about 20 feet.

Donkey dung sea cucumber.

Changing color

Although many fish (and some invertebrate) species are capable of changing color dramatically, we don't often see them in the process of changing colors.

This morning, I followed a small honeycomb cowfish (7 inches long), and watched it change.  This species is a member of the boxfish family, and has sharp spines above the eyes.  These photos were taken at a depth of about 45 feet.  Within a minute this fish went from very little blue pigment to quite a lot of blue, to no blue.

Note blue in tail, and a little on the dorsal edge

Lots of blue pigment throughout

Note the absence of blue pigment

Soapfish

We encounter greater soapfish on many of our dives.  They are almost never swimming around.  Most of the time they are wedged inside or under reef structures.  They appear to sleep during the day, and hunt at night.  This might seem to make them vulnerable to predation during the day, but they secrete a toxic (soap-like) mucous that predators avoid.  They get my vote for the laziest looking fish on the reef.

These fish were 8 or 9 inches long, and the photos were taken at depths of 15 to 40 feet.

Out in the open

In a stovepipe sponge

Under a coral rock

Under a patch reef, and getting cleaned by gobies

Squid

This morning, we encountered a pair of Caribbean reef squid that let us approach them.  Some years they have seemed to be more abundant.  Squid are really beautiful creatures, even when they don't perform some amazing color change or squirt their ink and disappear.  Although this species can reach 12 inches in length, the body of this squid was about 6 inches.  The photos were taken at a depth of 20 feet.

A predator appears to have taken a bite off the end of one tentacle.

As a bonus, I'm including a photo that I took on the same dive, at about 50 feet, of a fast moving cero, a type of mackerel, that I caught a glimpse of (over my shoulder) before it swam past me.  It was about 2 feet long, and I had never seen one before.  I thought that it might be a wahoo.  Between the time that I pressed the shutter and the camera took the photo, the cero's head had moved out of the frame, but the body details were sufficient to identify the fish.  So close to a nice photo!

Two shrimp that reside inside sponges

Sponges, particularly vase sponges, provide habitat for a variety of small fishes and invertebrates.  That is why I look inside sponges.

Azure vase sponge, a great sponge to look inside

My favorite sponge resident is the peppermint shrimp.  They are less than 2 inches long, and act as cleaning shrimp. Their pale bodies are lined with thin red stripes, like a peppermint candy.

A single peppermint shrimp

A pair of peppermint shrimp

I was surprised to find another shrimp, that I had never seen before inside one sponge.  From the few parts that were visible, it appears to be a two claw shrimp.  This species grows up to 2.5 inches long.

A two claw shrimp

The above photos were taken at depths between 40 and 50 feet.

Bluespotted cornetfish

Recently, I've been quite close to a couple of cornetfish.  One I didn't see at all, because I had my head down as it swam over me (a fellow diver told me after the dive).  However, this morning, a bluespotted cornetfish crossed our path three times during our dive.  Their name is derived from the cornet-like shape of their snout and mouth. Often, they look at divers, and then zip off.  This guy didn't seem to mind us, and appeared to be following us for a while.  This is a beautiful, long, thin fish, and one that we don't see very often. 

This fish was at least 4 feet long. We encountered it at depths between 40 and 50 feet.

Lionfish

After colonizing Bonaire within the past 8 or 10 years, the population of invasive lionfish that we see on local reefs seems to be dropping.  This may largely be attributed to a very aggressive campaign by some certified "lionfish hunters" to remove every lionfish that they encounter (or that they hear about).  A few local restaurants feature lionfish for dinner. 

At any rate, it is a nice change to not see lionfish on virtually every dive and every dive site.  In our 3rd week of diving, we have only encountered 3 lionfish.  That's progress!

The lionfish is native to the Indopacific region, and spread here through escaped specimens from the aquarium trade in the SE United States.  Without natural predators in the Caribbean, it has spread rapidly.  And having not evolved together, juveniles of local species are vulnerable to being lured in by the lionfish fins (which they may mistake for shelter) then eaten. Undoubtedly, the lionfish that are inhabiting depths below safe diving limits are still there.  But it's great to only rarely encounter them.

Below are three views of a lionfish that was 6 inches long.  Photos were taken at a depth of about 50 feet.

Below are three views of a juvenile lionfish that was about 2 inches long, nearly transparent.  Photos were taken at a depth of about 20 feet.

 

Balloonfish

On our dives, we encounter balloonfish occasionally.  They often remain in the same spot for quite a while.  Sometimes they hide in reef recesses.  Balloonfish are members of the porcupinefish family and have long spines all over their bodies.  The fish can inflate when disturbed.  Their spines are normally flat, but they can be erected. 

Balloonfish are usually between 8 and 14 inches long.  They have gorgeous eyes, with iridescent crystals in the pupil.  They have sweet faces.  This fish was about 10 inches long, at a depth of about 25 feet.  Although sometimes rather shy, this fish let me photograph him from several angles.

Scrawled filefish

This year, we are encountering many more scrawled filefish than in previous seasons here in Bonaire.  This species is graceful as it swims using its dorsal and anal fins.  Their colors range from pale gray to olive-brown, with blue stripes and black spots.  They can quickly darken or become lighter.  Their file (a modified spine from the first dorsal fin) is often folded flat, but it can be erected to maneuever or possibly to communicate with species-mates.  The species reaches 3 feet in length, but these fish were about 16 inches long.  Photos were taken between 25 and 35 feet.  The first 4 photos were taken at 35 feet, and the coloration was appropriate for the environment.  The last 2 photos were taken in shallower water, and reflect a better choice of camouflage for that shallow-water habitat.

The tail is often folded as they swim.

The file is up.

The file is up and the tail is expanded.

Horse-eye jacks

This morning, we encountered a sizable school of young horse-eye jacks (also known as bigeye jacks).  Although this species reaches 2 feet in length, this group of fish were only about 12 inches long.  Jacks are open-water predators that feed on smaller fish.  When they aren't feeding, they often hang out together and swim in a big, slow spiral.  Occasionally, we are able to get inside the spiral.  Today, we viewed it from outside.  These photos were taken at a depth of about 25 feet.

Bori taking video of the horse-eye jacks

Fish begging to be cleaned

Cleaning stations are popular sites on the local reefs, both with fish and with divers.  Fish often assume quite odd postures or orientations as they beg to be cleaned.

Today's post features juvenile Spanish hogfish (small, blue and yellow fish) as the cleaners, and a queen parrotfish and creole wrasse begging to be cleaned.

These fish were about 40 feet deep.  The queen parrotfish was about 16 inches long.  The creole wrasse were about 6 inches long, and the Spanish hogfish were 2 or 3 inches long.

Wrasse and parrotfish soliciting cleaning from juvenile hogfish.

Wrasse with mouth open, parrotfish head-up

Queen parrotfish in head-up posture.

Creole wrasse in head-down posture with mouth open.

Longsnout butterflyfish

This morning, I had the pleasure of finding 2 different longsnout butterflyfish that didn't flee into the nearest reef crevice.  This is my favorite butterflyfish on Bonaire's reefs. The species is small (about 3 inches), delicate, and almost always solitary.  They are rather skittish, and taking photos of them has always been extremely challenging.  Today, for the first time, I found a longsnout butterflyfish in a cleaning station.

Swimming up.

Swimming to the upper right.

In a cleaning station with a Pederson cleaner shrimp.  The fish is facing the lower left.  The shrimp is bluish, just to the left of the fish.

Getting ready to flee the cleaning station.  The fish is facing the lower right, the cleaner shrimp is to its left.