Spotted trunkfish

The spotted trunkfish is a member of the boxfish family.  They can grow as long as 12 inches, but most of the ones we see are closer to 6 or 8 inches. Most often, we encounter them hiding in recesses in the reef.

It's always fun to find them swimming above the reef.  This fish was hiding in a lavender rope sponge. All the photos were taken between 30 and 40 feet deep.

Stovepipe sponges

First of all, sponges are animals. They are nourished by filtering food and oxygen out of the water that passes through them. The water goes into the sponge through many small in-current pores, and exits the sponge through large ex-current openings.

Bonaire has an incredible variety of sponges, of various shapes and colors.  Stovepipe sponges are tube sponges that resemble stovepipes. Water flows in through the pores in the sides (see below), and out via the stovepipe.  Cleaning gobies often live inside them.

They are generally quite symmetrical, as you might expect.

But every once in a while, we find stovepipe sponges that seem to have lost their direction, as below.

Whitespotted filefish

Despite their name, whitespotted filefish don't always show their spots.  Sometimes they display an orange phase. They can easily change the number and brightness of their spots.  They swim slowly over the reef, often in pairs. These fish were all about 12 to 14 inches long.  The file is the first dorsal fin, and in each of these photos, it is lying along the back, starting just above the eye.

Filefish swim gracefully, propelled largely by wave-like action along their yellow dorsal and anal fins. These photos were all taken at depths of 30 feet or less. The file is erected during some tight turns, but it may also be used to communicate with other filefish.

Black durgon

The black durgon is a member of the triggerfish family.  It has a black body that is accented by pale blue lines at the base of the dorsal and anal fins.  The blue lines are visible from quite a distance. This fish gracefully propels itself largely by moving its dorsal and anal fins.

When you get close to the black durgon, with the right lighting, it becomes apparent that the fish is not solid black, but a delicate pattern of lines and diamonds, with a yellow cast on the head, and pale blue lines through the forehead.

In the below photo, the trigger is visible, as the first dorsal fin.

Permit

The permit is an oddly shaped, silvery fish in the jack family. It is related to the pompano. We often encounter small groups of 2 to 4 permit while snorkeling, and occasionally while diving. Most of the permit that we have seen were a little over a foot long.

Today, we encountered this big permit (at least 2 feet long), swimming alone, in shallow water.  It looked a little beaten up around the head, mouth, and tail.  It might have recently been hooked by a fisherman.  It swam very close by, and didn't seem to pay any attention to us.

Graysby

The graysby is a small sea bass. They are very abundant in Bonaire, and fun to find.  We encounter them hiding in various places on the reef. These were all about 10 inches long.

A favorite snail

This snail is called a flamingo tongue.  It is small (about an inch), but lovely to look at. The shell is a solid color, off white.  The beautiful design of orange spots, with black outlines is not part of the shell.  Rather it is part of the mantle, the snail's outer tissues that secrete the shell.  The camouflaged mantle is extended over the shell.

The foot of the shell (the part that extends out the shell, and drags the snail arround) is colored similarly to the mantle, and can be seen in the bottom 2 photos. This flamingo tongue was about 25 feet deep.

Bonaire has actual flamingos as well, but I don't believe that their tongues look anything like this shell.

Squid

This year, we have encountered fewer Caribbean reef squid than in past years.  And the few that we have seen don't allow us to move close to them.  In past years, we have often been able to lure the squid to us, by waving our fingers.  These squid were about 8 inches long.  The first photo was taken in about 10 feet of water, above a mooring block.

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Yesterday, at about 30 feet, I was able to get closer, and take the following photos. Squid are really graceful animals, a joy to watch as they propel themselves via the wavy action of their fins and jet propulsion.

Ocean triggerfish

On our dive today, we had the fortune of encountering an ocean triggerfish.  I always enjoy seeing them.  They move gracefully through the water, by flapping the big fins on their back and belly. Most triggerfish are rather shy, and don't hang around divers.  Today's fish was pretty calm.  The front dorsal fin is the trigger, which triggerfish can lock in place.  The trigger, which is up in the first photo, aids the fish when it is turning. This fish was about 18 inches long, and we met it in about 20 feet of water. 

Triggerfish can quickly lighten or darken, as you might guess from its different shades below.

It feels like it's raining fishes

Some days as we dive, we encounter so many small fish up in the water column, foraging, that it seems like it's raining fishes.  In fact a restaurant in Bonaire is named "It Rains Fishes".  Today was one of those days.  Schools of brown chromis were moving up and down, back and forth, feeding.  Swimming in the midst of these schools is a nice feeling.  It's hard to capture the experience in photos, but I tried.

The fish in the photos above were about 4 inches in length.

Juvenile brown chromis (about 1.5 inches, above) stay a little closer to shelter where they can escape from predators. 

This is a close-up of a brown chromis.  They sometimes swim down to the reef to solicit cleaning from cleaner fish.  The photo doesn't show any cleaners, but I believe this fish was trying to be cleaned.

Spotted cleaner shrimp

I find sea anemones almost irresistible.  One reason is the creatures that live within and around their tentacles.  The spotted cleaner shrimp is my favorite anemone resident. I see them frequently, but still stop to try and take photos of them.  These photos were taken inside giant anemones, about 20 to 35 feet deep.

These shrimp were about an inch long.  Today, I finally lured one out to check out my fingers. It tried to clean, but didn't stay long. Cleaning a fish must be more rewarding.

Slender filefish

When encountering ropes, rope sponges, and gorgonians, I try and look to see what is hiding in them.  Slender filefish blend in pretty well in all of these places. These photos are of juveniles in rope atop a mooring block, in about 12 feet of water. The fish were about an inch an a half long.  The adults don't get more than 4 inches long.

The hardest part of taking photos of these fish is getting an auto-focus camera to focus on the camouflaged fish.

When the current is strong

Today, we dove into a very strong current.  And I noticed that many fish species seemed to modify their behavior in response to it.  We often see quite a few mahogany snapper, about 10 inches long, pictured below.

Normally, they swim in the water column, spaced apart.

Today, they were plastered together behind corals, rocks, and sponges to save energy, and stay out of the strong current. Here they were seeking refuge behind a rope sponge, and to the right, in the distance others were seeking refuge below coral rocks.

They did seem to pay attention when a predator, a great barracuda swam by.