Two Days at City of Refuge From the Sublime to the Surreal

   This week we spent consecutive afternoons at the City of Refuge.  The weather was clear with a nice breeze.  The water was clear and warm.  And we got to go swimming with John Hoover.

Reticulated Butterflyfish  Kailua Kona  October 2012

On Wednesday we left for City right after lunch.  We arrived around 1 PM and nabbed a parking spot facing the beach in the shade of the tree.  No need to wait, so we headed right into the water.

    I slipped off the Two Step ledge and looked down to see a Reticulated Butterflyfish less than ten feet away in the crystal clear water.  I love retics, partly because they are an uncommon fish in Kona.  Not only that, but I think that their hounds tooth flanks are really handsome.  While fumbling to get the camera out my pocket, I lost sight of the fish.  Sandra had entered right behind me.  About five yards away she got my attention and asked, "Are you looking for the Reticulated?"   Unfortunately, while she was talking to me the little devil disappeared for the last time.  so I didn't get a picture, but at least we both got a great look at one of favorite fish.
    Following that we had a pleasant swim to the north cusp of the bay.  A school of bright rainbow runners shot by us, and the Thompson's and Pyramid Butterflies were out in force, but the frogfish was nowhere to be found.

Is it a Regal Parrotfish

     We swam back to Two Step and Sandra went in.  I turned to swim out to the island, immediately encountering a stretch of cloudy water.   About thirty yards from shore, I saw a large parrot that didn't look quite right.  It was large, too large to be a palenose or a bullethead.  The body appeared a uniform gray green and I noticed that his dorsal fin was rimmed blue with pink stripes below.  As I watched him, he took notice of me and decided to split, ending up twentyfive feet deep on the wall near the A in the cinder block aloha.  I got a picture just as he was swimming away.  Just to be sure it was not a bullethead, I made sure that the tail had streamers.  They weren't long, but they were there.  I made several diving  attempts to photograph the large parrot as he munched away on the deeper reef.  I suppose if I had been a better diver, hejust would have swam further away.  As it was, I got a picture that shows a terminal band on the short streamer tail. 

Can you see the short streamers and the terminal band?

    There was nothing special around the island and I soon found myself back on the beach with Sandra.  She had left her stuff on a rock.  Being really fussy about my equipment, I balanced my fins on an aged root in the shade behind our beach chairs.  Then I stacked my mask and wet swim shirt on top. After changing, we both added our wet suits to the pile.

      As I was settling in, I heard our neighbors, a group of thirty somethings going on about office problems.  Out on the beach  meanwhile, a self appointed sheriff was yelling at people.  He wanted them to use the two step entry as opposed to some rocks on the far side of a tidepool. And he didn't want them walking around in their fins.  One had to assume that his goal was to spoil schmoopie's fun.  (Sandra loves to take pictures of people attempting to walk in their fins.  The more ridiculous they look, the better she likes it.)  The Sheriff wasn't wrong on either account, but it is unusual to see such a take charge guy on a Hawaiian beach!

    Meanwhile, Sandra and I were enjoying a snack and discussing the parrotfish.  Eventually the snack was gone and it was time to go home to peruse the field guides for parrotfish.  As we turned form our chairs, we

Forcipiger longirostris pair, Honaunau, Sept 2014

were astonished to find that our equipment was gone!  We had heard the young businessmen talking about matching up equipment from a large plastic box.  We saw their box and our swimsuits, which had been thrown in the mud.  Sandra said, "I saw one of the girls with a pair of fins that looked just like yours."

    After ten minutes of storming about, we retrieved my fins mask and snorkel, which had been distributed among the group.  Luckily, none of them chose to swim for more than a few minutes.  They tried to make this seem like an innocent mistake.  In fact, at least three of the five said that to me.  And I would reply,  "But you had to throw away our wet suits to get at my gear."  Or words to that effect.

John Hoover with camera searches for the Warty Frogfish

    Sandra got me in the car before I got myself thrown in jail.  Back at the ranch it was easy to decide that the parrot was a Regal Parrotfish.  This is the first adult regal that we have seen in many years.   John Hoover labels it as rare in the main islands, but common in the Northwest chain.

    Speaking of John Hoover, that evening we received an email invitation to join him and an associate at City of Refuge the following afternoon in an attempt to follow up on the Warty Frogfish sighting.

    John wanted to hit the water at two in the afternoon, but its so pleasant there on the beach that Sandra and I arrived an hour early and sat in the shade, a cool breeze blowing off the water, reading our books.  Aren't we lucky to be so close to such an idyllic spot?  (I guess one of the tricks in life is concentrating on the positive.  And I am indeed very fortunate,)

While Crissy is ready to collect Froggy.  Ribbit, Ribbit!

    John arrived a bit after two, accompanied by his colleague Crissy, a young, attractive (and yet quite businesslike) marine biologist from Santa Cruz with a special interest in octopus.  She and John had spent two days at Ho'okena studying that most delightful cephalopod in vivo. As quick as they donned their suits (dare I call them frogmen?) we were in the water.  I don't swim with divers very often, so I was surprised that I was able, even in my aged condition, to swim across the bay much faster than my two companions.  Of course, John was encumbered by his behemoth of a  camera and Crissy was dealing with a net, in the event that she and John decided to collect the frogfish. 
   
   Soon enough we were in the location where I had photographed the Warty Frogfish three weeks earlier.  Froggy wasn't sitting out in the open.  This wasn't much of a surprise to me, as Sandra and I had returned twice to look for him without success.   John and Crissy descended to the bottom and proceeded to go over a ten yard radius with a fine tooth

Banded Sea Urchin,  Echinothrix calamaris  Spawning

comb.  They devoted about twenty minutes to the search. 

    This gave me some time to enjoy a single spot out on the City of Refuge reef.  The day before I had noted a larger number of black Very Longnose Butterflyfish, Forcipiger longirostris, than I had ever seen before.  Several of these black Very Longnose Butterflyfish appeared to be paired up with the yellow morph, which is usually the overwhelmingly predominant type.  One has to wonder if these black induviduals are a breeding (super) male.

    In The Ultimate Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes, John Hoover says this is apparently not the case.  One suspects that this conclusion was reached by an ichthyologist who took a fistful back to the lab and definitively determined their sex. Although we are told it isn't so,  in this case the black and yellow fish were apparently paired up.  I am proposing the super male designation to the black, as it is almost always much less common.  And super males of other fish are usually vastly outnumbered by their female counterparts.  But apparently I'm incorrect.  Oh well.  I've been there before.

     In addition to photographing John Hoover and his young companion, I took a few pictures of the black and yellow butterflyfish association.
  
   Towards the end of the dive, John surfaced and said, "The sea urchins are spawning."  Indeed, several  black banded sea urchins, Echinothrix calamaris, had climbed to the top of the coral.  This species is the

The Sea Urchin gametes are swept way in a cloud of fertility

most common sea urchin out on our Big island reef.  It is usually a dark purplish black. Only the younger individuals have the handsome banded spines, so its no surprise that these breeding urchins were black. As we watched, they expelled a white, threadlike stream of gametes that was gradually swept away in a cloud of fertility.  One was reminded of tiny volcanoes.  Or maybe fireworks on the Fourth of July.   In lieu of the missing frogfish, the spawning urchins made a spectacular end to our dive and our two days at City of Refuge.

jeff  




    

A Potpourri of Late Summer Sightings

   The nice people at KHNL tell us that today is the beginning of fall.  Does that mean it is going to rain less, hopefully become a bit cooler?  Lately, Sandra and I have been going swimming as much to thwart the

Spiky Sea Cucumber  Holothuria hilla., Kahalu'u  Sept 2014

 afternoon heat as to look for animals.   Not that the ocean water has been all that cool, but the cold shower after certainly helps.  In the process of cooling down, I have run across a couple things that I thought I might share with you.   So with out further ado, let me present my late summer potpourri. 

   The most interesting thing we have seen lately was this spiky sea cucumber.  We encountered him at K Bay last week.  John Hoover, in Sea Creatures, tells us that the correct common name is Light Spotted Sea Cucumber, Holothuria hilla.  Now I ask you, how silly is that?  I mean, this animal is obviously spiky... a veritable Bart Simpson among sea cucumbers.  This handsome cuke lives in the sand and is rarely seen.  This was only my third sighting.  I believe that he is primarily nocturnal.   This guy was still attempting to feed, so perhaps he survived the day.

    Sometimes as we paddle along, the Dear Good Lord affords us the opportunity to get in close and capture an excellent picture of one of our more common fish.   A few days ago, I was able to nab this photo 

Spotted Boxfish Ostracion meleagris  Kailua Kona Sept 2014

of a gorgeous Spotted (formerly Pacific) Boxfish.  Ostracion meleagris.  One tends to forget how handsome those orange colored spots are that adorn the flanks of our common super male boxfish.  This may be because many of the commonly used field guides do not present such a wonderful photograph!   The male Pacific Boxfish may actually be one of our most interesting fish, albeit one that we hope to see every time we get in the water.  Nest time you encounter the male boxfish, see if you can appreciate those orange spots.

    The second common fish I wish to present is the Manybar Goatfish, Parupeneus multifasciatus.  The manybar is one of our four most common goatfish (you may regard it as your personal quiz to name the other three) and the one most prone to hunt with the day octopus.  I saw this handsome gentleman at K Bay just yesterday.  The water in spots was uncomfortably warm, probably in excess of 90 degrees F!  One might hope for such a bath in January in Seattle, but not out in the ocean.
This individual permitted me to close within a foot or so to nab this wonderful picture. 

   The first three animals we presented in the potpourri were photographed in acceptably clear water.  (And without becoming inappropriately vain glorious, I would note that they are pretty fine pictures.)   If you hope for a nice picture, clear water is every bit as important as a nice looking animal that permits you to get close. Getting close helps, the less water (cloudy or clear)  between you and your subject the better.  But there is no camera, regardless of price, that will overcome cloudy water.

    Two weeks ago, while enjoying an afternoon cool down at the pier, I was presented with this Hawaiian Bigeye.  I know that this is not a rare fish, because

Hawaiian Bigeye Priacanthus meeki Kailua Kona

my friends who go angling at night show me pictures of the this species on the way to Da Poke Shack.  However, I rarely see it during the day and I had never before enjoyed truly close access.  This incredibly beautiful individual allowed me to get within two feet to take this startling picture.  How sad that the water was cloudy.

    Your brain is an amazing organ that somehow permits you to ignore, to some extent, the debris in the water.  Unfortunately, the camera reveals the brutal truth.  If I wanted a great picture of the bigeye, it seems that I should have brought along my water filter!

Pinktail Triggerfish Juvenile,  Kailua Kona, Sept 2014

   The last interesting fish I have seen recently is the orange tail immature of the Pink tail Triggerfish.  I saw my first orangetail just a couple years ago and had to repair to Hoover's Ultimate Guide to discover that I had not found a new species.  We have seen a few of these lately.  This picture was taken on Paul Allen's Reef ten days ago, right in front of the entrance to his private lagoon.  Perhaps if you hurry, Paul has one waiting there for you.

jeff

Answer to Quiz:  Blue, Yellowstripe and Yellowfin

Talk About Getting the Fish Eye!

Da Beach 69 Part of Dis Blog

    I must confess, I took a break between finishing part one and beginning this, Part Two of the Ho'okena-Beach 69 Blog.  For a sudy break, as it were, I went out and did some gardening.  It has been

Auntie Sandra's Famous Guava Jelly

 raining almost every day here at 730 feet on the slopes of Hualalai and the plant life surrounding Casa Ono requires daily attention.  I began by pruning the Bodhi Tree.  Sandra thinks we ought to chop it down, but I say that it gives me inspiration.  Budddha-like, I take up my pruners and hack away, all the while repeating my mantra, "How the hell did I rope myself into this?...Om."  Luckily Sandra was processing some lilikoi (with the intent of making a lilikoi cheesecake!) so the jungle smelled yummy.  After gardening we enjoyed a lovely desayuno, featuring huevos rancheros and toast graced with Sandra's homemade guava jelly.  (Our guava tree is every bit as indefatigable as the Bodhi Tree, but grows adjacent to the driveway for ease of hacking.)  So as we begin Part Deux, we are refreshed and well sated.  Om.

Purple Porites Coral Predicts Husky Triumph!

   On Friday we headed north to Beach 69.  Since the county has improved this park, Beach 69 (more correctly known as Waialea Beach) has become our favorite on the Kohala Coast.  Parking is safe and easy.  (Along with the improvements, the county has attempted to impose a $5 parking fee on non-residents.) The beach boasts the softest sand in town.  Best of all, trees grow close to the water providing blessed shade. 

    Arriving at 10 AM, we parked our beach chairs in a prime shaded spot and headed into the water.  The reef at Beach 69 is different in a couple ways.  Just north of the beach, there is a large patch  of mostly dead coral about thirty yards in diameter,  boasting many dangerous snags.  In addition to the dangerous snags, this portion of the reef seems to be persistently shrouded in cloudy water.  If you didn't know better, you might think that this reef was not worth snorkeling.  Being among the cognoscenti, we tend to snorkel only the edge of the patch.  On the way out, the patch yielded little until we came to the far edge

Day Octopus Waialea Bay 2014

 where we saw a choice bit of Porites (lobe or mound) coral.  The intense purple color of this coral was a harbinger of good things to come for the Huskies, who trounced the Illini the following afternoon.  Go Dogs!  John Ross III for the Heisman!

     From the patch, its a thirty yard swim over the sand out to the point.  Unlike the proximal patch, there is still a thriving coral reef associated with the north point of Waialea Bay.  This day, there were a couple kayaks anchored to the coral, which didn't seem like such an ecologically sound idea.  Nevertheless, as we approached, I saw a day octopus on top of the reef, only a fathom below the surface.  He was a gorgeous sweet chococolate brown,  his pedunculated proboscis protruding in front.  And he just sat there affording us a delightful look.  Of course, I

The Day Octopus Hunkers Down!

 had to try to get a closer shot and when I approached he retreated into the coral, but we were able to get quite close and take the second picture you see here.

     Having sufficiently annoyed the octopus, we headed back.  This time as we skirted the patch, I noticed something feathery waving beneath the overhang of a dying coral head.  Closer inspection revealed a mixed colony of Christmas Tree and Feather Hydras.  Describing hydras, our friend John Hoover uses the phrase, "commonly occur".  Perhaps this refers to diving.  As a snorkeler, my hydra sightings are far and few between.  My most recent experience involved a colony of Christmas Tree Hydras which livied near the Kailua pier for about six months a few years ago.  That colony vanished in March 2012; Suffice it to say, I was very pleased with these handsome hydras!

Christmas Tree Hydra  Waialea Bay 2014

     As it was sort of a choppy day in Waialea Bay, Sandra decided that the hydras constituted enough fun and headed for the barn.  I persisted around the perimeter of the patch and on the beach side ran across the spotted juvenile of the Barred Filefish.  I have seen this juvenile pattern several times, but on each occasion the fish has darted away before I could get a good photograph. This fellow, sheltering by a single rock protruding from the sandy bottom, was remarkably cooperative.  The water was clear and the fish permitted me to close within three feet, yielding this wonderful picture.  This juvenile pattern is so different from the bland colored adult that, on first seeing it, one might believe that they have observed a new species.  I was really pleased to finally have a chance to photograph this unusual juvenile filefish.

   Back on shore, we were struck by how many people had joined us in the shade beneath the trees.  In past blogs, I have shilled this beach as an ideal place for the family.  Soft sand and small waves for the kids. And

Barred Filefish Cantherines dumerlii  juvenile Waialea Bay, Sept 2014

 nearby, a shady refuge for their genitori.   On this Friday, however, there was a predominance of AARP eligible beach goers.  Those of us over 60 (sadly that is now the box that your decrepit bard must check) vastly outnumbered the Yuppies, the Gen Xers , the Millenials and all their progeny combined.  The graying of Beach 69.  Oh!  The humanity! 

  We all sat in our beach chairs in the shade reading our books and magazines (the more progressive among us perused their E-readers).  Occasionally we would look up to enjoy the sand, the turquoise water and perhaps a nubile young figure frolicking in the lovely waters of Waialea Bay.  Just because we are over 60, that doesn't mean that we're dead!


jeff








   

Ho'okena and Beach 69. The Best of the North and South.

   This last week Sandra and I splurged with two wonderful outings.  Early in the week we went to Ho'okena and on Friday we shot up to Beach 69.

Bluefin Trevally Hunting with a Whitemouth Moray

    Although it appeared cloudy as we drove south, by the time we got to Ho'okena the day was clear and bright and the the swell was gentle.  Even more amazing for this time of year, the water was crystal clear.  Varying from our usual plan of attack, about twenty yards out we turned north, parallel to the shore.

    Not too far along, in about twenty feet we saw a whitemouth moray hunting, accompanied by a pair of bluefin trevally.  We were able to watch this interaction for about five minutes, as the whitemouth worked his way from one coral head to the next.  The trevally swam, at times, very close to the head of this large eel.  At least twice the eel reacted in a threatening manner, indicating that he was getting precious little from the association. 

The Whitemouth Moray Threatens the Bluefin Trevally

   About a year ago, one of our readers chided me for not including the eel and ulua in my list of commonly observed symbiotic relationships on the reef.  This association is not nearly as common as the blue goatfish and the ulua.  If octopus was more common here in Kona, I am sure we would see the multiband goatfish and the day octopus teaming up more often, as well.  (As it is, I see a day octopus hunting so seldom that I have not seen one working with a goatfish in a very long time. Mostly when I see an octopus he is diving for cover, the better to avoid Da Poke Shack!)  I'm not sure that I have had as good a look at the eel-ulua relationship before and armed with this new information, I'm fairly sure that I would not call it mutualism, where both species benefit.  The goatfish readily accepts the company of one or two bluefin trevally and the octopus clearly works cooperatively with the goatfish.  This eel did not appear to be getting anything in return.  One does not usually think of a tuna as a parasite, but it appeared that the ulua was gaining something at the expense of the eel.  (According to wikipedia, if the trevally benefits and the effect on the eel is neutral, we should term it commensal.)

     Leaving the eel and ulua to work out their differences without Sandra, who is widely known among the fishes as the "Madeleine Albright of the Reef", we headed for the deeper portion at the terminal footing of the

 Mu Monotaxis grandoculus, juvenile, Ho'okena Sept 2014

defunct landing.  There, between the old pier and the adjacent coral pillar, we saw a bay Mu.  (I can not resist telling you that in bovine cirles the Baby Mu is referred to as a calf.)  The water was clear and we had a fine look at this young grandoculus.  Unlike his elders, who ply the waters of the upper column, the calf never left the bottom thirty feet below.   The water was perfectly clear, so, with my modest diving skills, I was able to get a picture.  But it would have been a better photo had I been able to dive closer.  It should be noted that this calf was every bit as circumspect as his elders,  moving away when I dove for a better shot.  When I see my friend the Mu on the reef, he generally does not allow a close approach, the better to avoid the aforementioned Poke Shack.  So its not clear that, even if I was able to plunge 50 feet like our friend Bob Hillis, that I would have been afforded a better shot.  I hope you enjoy the goldeheaded photo that we did get.

     This brings to a conclusion the first installment of Ho'okena and Beach 69.  Before going my editor wants

 us to throw out a “ Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag.” to Doctor Don, her cousin from New Hampsire, who is a devoted reader of the Kona Beach Blog.  Doctor D has contributed the accompanying photo of a species, the Sockeye Spamon, that he caught spawning while snorkeling in the Back Bay down in Boston.

   So everyone raise a glass and wish the Doctor a Happy Birthday!

jeff 
 

Is it a Frogfish? Or the Critical Piece in Identifying the Warty Frogfish in the Sandwich Islands.

      Today I'm going to present two juvenile fish that Sandra and I have been lucky to see this week.  One is an interesting offspring of a common Hawaiian fish.  The second may blow your mind.

     Two days ago we went snorkeling at Kahalu'u.  The water was high with a moderate current, but quite clear for this time of year.  We saw little of interest until we got to boulder city in the south east corner,

Juvenile Blue Goatfish  P. cyclostomus  Kahalu'u 2014

where the water is always cloudy.  There I saw my first immature Blue Goatfish.  This little guy was swimming with a mixed school of immature fishes.  About three inches long,  this small goatfish was very dark.  You will recall that the adult blue goatfish has a lovely yellow saddle, the color of the sun on a clear day.  This juvenile had a circular patch over the caudal peduncle that was the color of a harvest moon;  Sandra called it orange.  We chased the little guy through the murk for a few minutes and got the picture you see here.

      Suffice it to say, the story of the baby blue goatfish was not going to be enough to carry an entire blog.   So, with the selfless intention of keeping our reading public amused, Sandra and I packed a lunch and headed down to City of Refuge for a Labor Day swim. 

     After going through a period where the number of fish seemed to be declining, the  City of Refuge is once again a great place to see a large variety of fishes.  I was certain that we would see something worthy of the

The Author and the Pyramid of the Sun

 blog.  And, sure enough, when we made the corner I spotted a school of Pyramid Butterflyfish.  Along with Thompson's Butterfly, the pyramid is becoming a regular at City.  Instead of a few individuals, which we have seen our last two swims there, this day there was a school of at least twenty fish.  These guys were past the drop off in about thirty feet.  I have never seen more pyramids in one school, but it was too deep for a picture.


    The water was cloudy in that spot,  totally inadequate for photography .  (Perhaps that had something to do with the profusion of pyramids.  Or maybe the water was just cloudy .)  In any event,  we paddled on past a school of  Thompson's Butterflies mixed together with a bunch of Three Spot Chromis.   We were required to swim around a pair of young ladies who were attempting to stand on a paddleboard, (from our perspective a situation both amusing and fraught with 

Sir Galahad Guides Us to the Holy Grail of Hawaiian Fish.

danger... have you ever had a paddleboarder fall on you?)

    On the far side of the paddleboarders  I spotted a diver near the shore.  As I approached, it was obvious that he was holding on to the bottom and photographing something that looked like a child's yellow bath toy...a  rubber ducky that he had brought along to practice his underwater craft.
   
    Surfacing, I caught the begoggled eye of my beloved and gave her the come hither sign.  I pointed down to the diver and asked, "What is that?"  Like the true Jeopardy superstar that she is,  Sandra phrased her answer as a question. "Is it a frogfish?"

      For those of you who don't know, frogfish are chubby spuds that coax prey into their mouths with a lure formed from the first dorsal spine.  Dangling the fish like esca  just in front  of their enormous, upturned mouth, they suck in the prey with a quick gulp.   That clever spine provides the genus name, Antennarius.

Warty Frogfish,  Antennarius Maculatus Honaunau 2014

 The pectoral and ventral fins of the frogfish have adapted to this sedentary life, now appearing almost as hands used for gripping the bottom.  Look carefully at the pictures to appreciate these amazing appendages. 

    When one boards a Hawaiian Airlines flight, he is obligated to sit through a video of reef fishes.  Always present on this pre-flight reef is a Commerson's Frogfish.  It is as if seeing one of these unusual creatures was the simplest thing.  The video is highly misleading, as is the card provided by Snorkel Bob.  Frogfish in Hawaii are not terribly common and live almost entirely below snorkeling depth.  Sandra and I had never seen a frogfish before.  It had become the mythical Holy Grail of Hawaiian reef fish.

      The diver held his camera mere inches from the frogfish and persisted in his efforts for several minutes.  During that time, I dived Señor Frog three times.  The few pictures that I took on those dives benefited from the diver's light that that bathed the fish.   All this time the frogfish barely moved.  Its hard to imagine any wild animal with half a nervous system allowing such photographic access.  

    Eventually the diver had enough data and swam away, allowing us to swim down to the frogfish for more 

Note the Black Warty Saddles Over the Caudal Peduncle and Shoulder

 pictures.  If you had asked me two days ago how deep I could dive, I would have said twelve feet.  As it turns out, with enough motivation I can do twenty.  We watched the fish for about ten more minutes.  During that time he adjusted his position on the coral head, turning about 100 degrees but not changing his physical location more than an inch.  Once he opened his mouth wide and it was possible to see how a he could indeed capture something virtually as big as he in that gaping maw. 

    Apparently that slow mouth opening was not associated with eating...engulfing prey occurs so fast that you might not be able to see it.  It could have been associated with locomotion.  According to John Hoover, a frogfish can fill with water and expel it through their gills, creating a jet that can send them several meters.  Lucky for us, he did not scoot away, patiently permitting us to take all the pictures our hearts could desire.  Juvenile frogfish are well known to remain in the open on a single perch for long periods.

     We finally had enough of this and made our way back to the two step exit.  Ashore, I was able to thank  

 the diver who had indicated the position of  Señor Frog.  He was a pleasant fellow (all us fish watching enthusiasts are a delight) and congratulated me on seeing my first Commerson's Frogfish.   

    On the way home, Sandra was all over the internet trying to learn as much as she could about frogfish in general and the different species of frogfish that might be possible.  Back at the ranch we downloaded the pictures that you are enjoying here and sent them off to our friends, relatives and our two experts, John Hoover and Jack Randall.  After dinner I checked my email to find the following from Jack Randall:

Jeffrey:

 The second known record for Antennarius maculatus for the Hawaiian Islands.  Thanks!

Aloha, Jack

     Or to put it another way, "Commerson's Frogfish, my ass!"

   Well, Sandra went into full search mode.  The Warty Frogfish, according to Pietsch and Grobecker, isn't found any closer to these very Sandwich Islands than the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia.  This little yellow beauty with the ugly black spots has to be a waif.   As was the only other record for the state.

   The key to the identification  (which Dr. Randall made faster than a frogfish can gulp down her mate)

Teresa Zubi's Favorite Hangout in Puerto Vallarta!

 involves those dark saddles that you see straddling the dorsum.  As juveniles, both Commerson's  and the Warty are that brilliant lemon yellow.  Supposedly it mimics a yellow sponge.  But the Warty has black saddles near the caudal peduncle and shoulder.  Sandra is in the process of becoming pen pals with Teresa Zubi, who provided the best description of the immature maculatus.  Teresa is the international frogfish authority (www.frogfish.ch).  Her website will reveal as much as you want to know about any frogfish.

    It is interesting that this species is found more shallow than A.commerson, so if a snorkeler encounters a frogfish they might keep this species in mind.  On the other hand, its a long way from New Caledonia!

Before we went to bed, we got one more email from Jack Randall:
Jeffrey and Sandra:

    If you see the fish again, you might collect it for the first specimen for the Hawaiian Islands. Frogfishes are the easiest in the world to capture; just grab by hand.
No sharp spines.

Aloha, Jack

"Daddy Loves Froggy.  Froggy love Daddy?  Ribbit.  Ribbit."  Hedley Lamar, Blazing Saddles.