Smooth trunkfish

The smooth trunkfish is a member of the boxfish family.  It has a boxy skeleton that is triangular in cross section: narrow at the back, and quite broad along the belly.  This species is easy to approach.  Adults occasionally grow past 10 inches, but most are 6 to 10 inches long.

An adult

An adult 

Early juveniles of this species take refuge in and around reef structures.  They resemble a brown pea with white polka dots.  This morning, I found an early-juvenile smooth trunkfish, and took quite a few photos of it.  This little fish was about 25 feet deep, and was 1/2 inch in diameter.  They are really hard to photograph, because they are always moving, and my camera has a short delay between the time I push the button and the picture is taken.  Many of the photos were rear-end shots.  These were the best.  If you look closely, you can see the snout, the eyes, and the fins.

This fish is heading towards the lower left.

This fish is heading to the lower right.

This fish is facing the coral, the tail is wrapped to the right.

They are fun to observe over the season as they grown larger.

Two "similar" fish species

This morning, while diving at a depth of about 60 feet, I was struck by the physical similarity of two species, both of which were milling around me.  Their coloring and body shape is quite similar: a silver, torpedo-shaped body with a long yellow stripe down the center and a yellow tail.  But these two species have very different life styles.

The first fish is the yellowtail snapper.  This is a fast-swimming, visual predator that feeds on smaller fish in the water column.  These individuals were about 14 inches long, but they grow to over 2 feet in length.

The second species is the yellow goatfish.  It is a bottom feeding fish, that feeds using chemoreception to detect the scent of prey.  These fish were about 9 inches long, and they don't grow much larger than one foot.

Athough they superficially look like each other, their lives are very different.  But they were all hanging out in the same area, not interested in feeding.

Hogfish

Until this morning, I had only seen photos of this fish, but I recognized it from many years of pouring through my Reef Fish Identification book.  And the amazing thing was that this fish was completely calm, and didn't flee when I approached.

Today, I am sharing my photos of a hogfish.  It is a member of the wrasse family.  This fish was about 12 inches long.  It's coloration is mottled.  The species grows longer than 2 feet, and the black bar on the tail is not fully developed, so this fish is not an adult.  The photos were taken at a depth of about 35 feet.

Brain coral as habitat

Brain coral is a type of stony coral that is fairly common on Bonaire's reefs.  It's name comes from the similarity of its structure to the surface of a brain.

Brain coral

Several little fish species reside in or on brain coral.  These photos feature blennies, possibly secretary blennies.  They live in small holes in the brain coral.  They dart out to feed.  Their eyes move independently of each other, so they can search a wide area easily for prey, as well as predators.  These fish were about an inch long, and the photos were taken in about 15 feet of water.

Note the eyes looking in different directions.

First photos of our underwater season in Bonaire.

We have been diving for 2 days. Yesterday, I dove with an empty underwater-camera-housing.  Today, I dove with a camera in the housing.  And among other things, we encountered a lovely green turtle.  It was about 16 or 18 inches long, and didn't have any fin tags.

Such a sweet face!

This turtle was about 25 feet deep.

Stay tuned. I'm planning to post lots more.

Ho ho ho holidays!

I'm sending out a 3-frog tribute to the holiday.

And for those who need to know, here is what we've been eating.

For Christmas Eve: Stuffed squid in a tomato sauce on spinach fettucine

Today: Halibut with parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme stuffing; with wild mushroom gravy.

Still wishing for peace on earth.

Ah rain!

OK, we get it.  Most of 2015 was very dry here in Oregon, but the month of December is making up for it, big time.

This morning, the Pacific looked the color of cappucino.

During sun breaks in the series of storms that have hit us in the last week or so, I've been out walking on the beach looking for beach erosion.

While I have found some beach erosion, it isn't where I expected it.  And driftwood was everywhere, including still coming down the river, and out the mouth of the bay.

Beach erosion along the north edge of the bay.

I don't think that I would sleep well in this house during a storm.

Here's a pile of driftwood at the mouth of the bay.

A bald eagle perched on a log in the center.

Not everything was dismal.

Harbor seal

Great blue heron

Trust me, if I could, I would re-route some of this rain to needy parts of California.