Postcard from the Reef – Posing Dascyllus

Hawaiian dascyllus are a favorite of ours. I would expect that these fish are a favorite of many divers and snorkelers. These bold little fish will often challenge even a diver who invades their territory. Floating nose to nose with a little black fish is just too comical…

eb Photographing a Dascyllus
Deb wielding a camera at a defiant Hawaiian Dascyllus (Dascyllus albisella)

A Nudi Party

The cave was huge, one of the largest I had ever seen on the Kona Coast. It was also thick with sponge, the ceiling inches deep in places… Perfect nudibranch habitat.

Pete found this group, a cluster of white margin nudibranch having a… uh… party? The results of the “party” can be seen in the center of the photo, small white, spiral egg masses.

The photo is actually upside down, the party was taking place on the ceiling.

White-Margin Nudibranch and Eggs
Several white-margin nudibranch (Glossodoris rufomarginata) apparently mating and laying eggs

Scarface

Not where I expected it, a tiny cavity in an otherwise sheer rock wall covered with sponge. It was red… A flash bright red in the dive light had my attention quickly. I could not see the fish well enough to ID it, red is uncommon enough that I set up and fired anyway, just taking a photo was hard enough in the surge.

Only after downloading the photo I realized it was a scarface blennie…

Scarface Blennie
Scarface blennie (Cirripectes vanderbilti), in a small crevice, depth 15ft.

Teardrop

The little teardrop butterfly was playing peek-a-boo with me. It would peek out, the strobe would fire, it would dart back into the coral. Repeat cycle…

This little fish had good reason to be shy, it is a favorite of the aquarium collectors.

Teardrop Butterflyfish
Teardrop butterflyfish (Chaetodon unimaculatus) peeks out from under cover