Rock beauty

The rock beauty is a member of the angelfish family.  As it grows, the coloration changes from nearly completely yellow (with a blue-ringed, black spot on the body) as juveniles, to black across the body as the fish mature.  The head and tail remain yellow, and the blue markings above and below the eye are present at all stages.  Adults develop blue lips.

This fish has a very striking appearance, and although I often try to photograph them, my efforts are usually without success.  They are rather shy. They grow up to 12 inches, but the adults in these photos were only about 8 inches long.  The photos were taken at depths between 15 and 40 feet.

Juvenile, about 2 inches

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Juvenile/intermediate, about 4 inches

Redband parrotfish

The redband parrotfish is one of many species that exhibit multiple color phases.  Juveniles display one of many patterns, including a striped pattern, a mottled stripe pattern, and a camouflage pattern.

As adults, they display either the initial phase, in which the body is a solid color (some shade of green), with red fins; or the terminal phase which has much more complicated coloration on the body, including a small yellow blotch with black spots.

These fish were about 8 inches long.  The photos were taken at depths of 35 to 45 feet.

Initial phase

Terminal phase

Frogfish

For many divers in Bonaire, finding a frogfish is an important achievement.  From season to season, the number and color of longlure frogfish that we have observed has varied wildly.  The longlure frogfish tends to set up in one spot and remain there, fishing for prey using its lure.

Sometimes a brief glimpse of color is all that we see of them.

Upside down, facing to the left.

While at other times, we see them moving around, looking for better fishing.

Head down, tail up, "walking" down the reef.

These photos were taken at a depth of about 35 feet, and the frogfish was about 4 inches long

Lionfish

Over the last 4 or 5 years, lionfish have become established on Bonaire's reefs.  Lionfish lack natural predators, as they evolved in the Indo-Pacific region.  However, an army of lionfish hunters (divers who have been trained to capture lionfish with spears) continues to remove lionfish from the reefs.  As a result, we don't see lionfish on every dive.  But they are still present, and won't ever be eradicated.

The smallest lionfish that I have seen was less than an inch long, and nearly transparent.

Less than an inch.

As they grow, their pigment darkens.  The fish in the photos below was about 3 inches long.

By about 5 inches, lionfish acquire their adult coloration pattern.

Although lionfish grow up to about a foot long, most of the ones that we see are fairly small.  The big ones are being eaten in restaurants here in Bonaire.

These photos were taken at depths between 15 and 40 feet.

Foureye butterflyfish

The foureye butterflyfish is named for its large, black eye spots, which are designed to confuse predators.  The first thing a predator sees is the false eye spots.  With these, it appears that the back end of the fish is the front end, and any predator would expect the fish to move one direction, while the butterflyfish can escape by swimming off the other direction.

The juvenile foureye butterflyfish has a second set of the false eye spots above the set that they retain as adults.  The real eyes are obscured by the diagonal black bar that runs through them.

This species can grow up to 6 inches, but the fish in these photos were about 4 inches long.  The photos were taken at depths of 15 to 30 feet. From my observations, I would say that this is the second most abundant butterflyfish on Bonaire's reefs.

Cardinalfish

We have been on several night dives, and one of the most interesting things that we saw was how small cardinalfish move out into the open, and up into the water column.  During daylight hours, we only see them hiding under reef structures, but at night they come out to feed.  Their eyes are adapted to the night light.

These photos were taken in 15 to 25 feet of water. Cardinalfish don't get much bigger than about 3 inches, but some of these were even smaller.

Dusky cardinalfish

Twospot cardinalfish

Juvenile dusky cardinalfish

Creole wrasse

We often see creole wrasse on our dives.  At times, large numbers of them are up in the water column feeding.  They are often streaming down the reef.  They bring a rush of bluish purple to many of our dives.  They seem to swim constantly, except when they are soliciting cleaning.  At that time, they stop and assume unusual postures to communicate with the cleaner fish (or shrimp) that they would like to be cleaned.  So, the best time to photograph them is when they are begging to be cleaned.  They grow up to a foot long, but these fish were 7 or 8 inches.  The photos were taken at depths of 40 to 50 feet.

A cleaning goby can be seen on the brain coral, to the left of the wrasse.

A cleaning goby can be seen entering the mouth of the yellowish wrasse in the foreground.

Soft Corals

 Many of the dive sites in Bonaire are loaded with a variety of soft corals and finely-branched rope sponges.  Diving through them is something like running through a fern forest.  Their branches flow back and forth with currents.  Unfortunately, I didn't bring a guide to corals with me, so I can't identify them to species for you.  The photos were taken at Tori's Reef at a depth of 30 to 35 feet.

Coral restoration

Prior to the storm surge from a hurricane in 1999, sandy shallow water habitats between Bonaire and the much smaller island of Klein Bonaire (to the west) were largely covered with delicate staghorn coral.  The storm surge broke much of this coral into little pieces.  In areas with lots of abraiding sand in the water, the coral hasn't recovered.

Currently, a coral restoration project is underway.  Part of this is culture is happening off Klein Bonaire.  A smaller demonstration project can be viewed next to the Buddy Dive reef, at a depth of 15 feet.  Pieces of healthy coral are brought in from other sites around the island, and grown on artificial "trees."  Then once the coral has reached a certain size, it is planted (using some sort of glue) onto rocks to grow out.

Both elkhorn and staghorn coral are being cultured this way.

Coral planted to grow out (note the white glue).

Mullet at a cleaning station

White mullet are schooling fish that we often encounter in shallow water, over sand.  They don't usually let divers get close, except if they are at a cleaning station.  This year, on several morning dives, we found the mullet in about 3 feet of water, being cleaned by juvenile French angelfish.  These mullet were about 10 inches long.  The French angelfish were about 2 inches long.

Porcupinefish

The porcupinefish is another spiny puffer.  This species can inflate when molested.  Their puffed-up size and erected spines dissuade most anything that wants to try and eat it. They are rather shy, and often swim away from divers.  They hide in reef recesses, which is sometimes the best place to photograph them. They get up to 3 feet long, although these fish were only about 2 feet long.  The photos were taken at depths of 35 to 45 feet.

Fairy basslets

Fairy basslets are charming little fish that don't get bigger than 3 inches.  They are often swimming upside-down near reef structures, and they always have a nearby hiding place.  Their purple and gold colors are quite striking.  They occur from depths of 10 feet down to 200 feet.

Unfortunately, recent analysis of the diet of the invasive lionfish on Bonaire have revealed that fairy basslets are one of the top 5 prey items of lionfish.  Regardless, we still encounter fairy basslets often, and they always seem to light up the reef.

Sergeant major

The sergeant major is an abundant damselfish that we see on every dive. They don't get bigger than 7 inches, and they occur from the surface to 40 feet deep.  The fish in today's photos were about 5 inches long.

Most damselfish are incredibly territorial.  They will swim out and bite divers if they feel the diver is too close. The sergeant major becomes territorial only when guarding its eggs.  During the time that they guard eggs, their coloring changes to dark blue.

Guarding its purple eggs, getting ready to charge