James and the Surge Wrasse

    A day or so before he left for Portland, James and I took a trip down memory lane, i.e. we went snorkeling at Kahalu'u.   We have been swimming there together since he was three years old, or to put it

Surge Wrasse at Kahalu'u

 another way, for 27 years.  when he was three, he would wear inflatable water muscles and swim goggles, hang on my back and take quick excursions to look at the fish.  A Kodak moment if ever there was one.  And may, I add parenthetically, thank goodness those 27 years have been kinder to us than the company founded by George Eastman.

    Early in the swim, James was reminiscing about the Saddleback Butterfly, which we saw together as a life fish when he was 6.  I can still remember the thrill of seeing some of our gorgeous fish for the first time.  Its only a lefefish once, but I have to admit that they are still beautiful.

    Anyway, we swam for a long time, almost an hour, before we saw something notable.  Finally, we spotted an immature surge wrasse.  He was a big one and he was eating something large, choking it down actually.  At the surface, James asked me what I thought it was. I replied,  "I hope it was a shrimp but I'm afraid it was a plastic bag." At any rate this

Surge Wrasse,  Thalasoma purpureum,  Kahalu'u  Feb. 2014

handsome guy swam around the rocks for a while affording us the opportunity for these pictures.  In the process we saw a second, smaller surge wrasse.  What a treat!

    Our friend John Hoover notes that a good field mark for this unusual fish is the triangular marking on the snout.  That triangle, that seems to point just inside the eye, is quite obvious in these pictures.  The other thing that is obvious is the bright orange patch at the axilla, roughly the shape of the United Kingdom.  This is the sort of thing that your brain seems to filter out, but when you face it in the middle of your photograph it is starkly undeniable.  I did nothing to enhance this bright orange marking.  If I was able to photoshop, I would have repainted it a few shades less brilliant.  At any rate, if your eyes and brain are fast enough, this may be a good field mark, as well.

    As I have gained experience with the immature Surge Wrasse, it has become apparent that (field marks aside) it looks quite a bit different than the immature Christmas Wrasse. The Christmas Wrasse immature is a light colored fish with fine dark bands interspersed with light blue.  Its overall affect is delicate.  In addition to being larger (sometimes), the immature surge is a darker fish with bold brick red markings.  When I see an immature Surge Wrasse, I get the impression that he knows he is going to grow up to be a beast.

     Having finally seen something of merit, we shrugged off the cold and continued our search.  A few

Bullethead Rockskipper  Blenniella gibifrons  Kahalu'u  2/14

minutes later James summoned me to a surprisingly intact head of Everman's Coral where a Bullethead Rockskipper was sitting.  This is not an unusual animal, but ordinarily this blenny darts back into his hole before you can get the camera out.  This guy posed cooperatively for a couple minutes.

    It was time to get out, but as we swam back towards the entrance we saw a medium sized Dragon Wrasse swimming around a piece of rubble.  I waited for my chance and then took a poor picture to document the sighting.  For some reason James decided that this was the moment to become a fish photographer.  To the best of my recollection, the last time he consented to take a fish picture was during his previous visit when he made an attempt at the Flame Angelfish at Ho'okena.  That fish was small and deep.  Though he gave it a good try, his effort was doomed.  The Dragon Wrasse was 25 feet closer and he dove repeatedly, working hard for the best shot.  In the process, he came up with a very nice picture of this interesting immature wrasse.

James captured this gorgeous shot of the Dragon Wrasse!

    After he completed his near drowning photographic experience, we got a fine look at a Lagoon Triggerfish.  I quickly explained to him that the lagoon is so beautiful that I have found it an irresistible subject;  I've got  too many pictures of the Lagoon Triggerfish and have vowed not to take any more.  This was the only lagoon he saw on his very quick trip, so we appreciated it without another photograph.

    Sadly, James did not see a Saddleback Butterflyfish on this trip.  So I suppose he will have to return once more to these Very Sandwich Islands!

jeff

   

Aloha nui loa, James.  I guess you will have to return!