I saw three different species of nudibranchs between the two dives!
This photo was taken while out on a dive off the coast of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands. Despite having been to the Pacific dozens of times, this was surprisingly my first ever dive in the world’s largest ocean. As we left the dock, I asked one of the dive masters how long the boat trip would be. He said around an hour. Knowing this, I lazily gazed out over the ocean and settled in to enjoy the long trip. After five minutes, the boat suddenly came to a stop. We were at the dive site! Apparently, he had made a joke that I took seriously, having been used to the long trips out to dive sites on the east coast. I quickly got my gear ready and hopped off the back of the boat.
This photo was taken during the second dive at a site called Koko Kraters, which was only a few minutes away from the first site. I was keen on seeing small creatures in the water, so I was passing over each part of the reef very slowly trying to take it all in. I was so excited because I saw three different species of nudibranchs between the two dives!
When I first saw this leaf scorpionfish, I thought it was maybe a rock or a leaf covered in algae. This fish is a master of camouflage, and was floating along with the current. You might look at this photo and struggle to tell that it’s a fish even though I’m telling you that’s what it is. Their skin intentionally has blotches to help enhance the camouflage effect. They also have appendages around their mouths and real algae and hydroids growing on their skin. This is all to improve their camouflage. They also have a unique ability to molt, which happens approximately every two weeks. When they molt, they can change colors. The leaf scorpionfish can be found in many colors: green, red, pink, brown, ocher, yellow, and white.
These fish go by many other common names: paperfish, paper scorpionfish, sailfin leaffish, and threespine scorpionfish. The scientific name for the leaf scorpionfish is Taenianotus triacanthus. It can be found throughout a wide range of the Indo-Pacific. They ambush their prey, which are typically small fish or shrimp. They will walk forward with their pectoral fins if close to the sea floor. Then they open their mouth suddenly and suck in the prey.
I thought it was maybe a rock or a leaf covered in algae.
Did you know?
- Leaf scorpionfish can be found from the east African coast to the Red Sea to the tropical Indo-Pacific. They are also found in the Galapagos Islands, the Ryukyu Islands, Hawaii, and New South Wales.
- They can be found in water as deep as 300 feet.
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