Wrasse Me! Two fantastic fish at Kahalu'u.

    The surf was down, the chores were done, the tide was acceptable and I was changing into my winter snorkeling outfit at my favorite table in the shelter at Kahalu'u.  As I watched, a young couple arrived, toting what appeared to be a large underwater camera.  "Now that's what I call a camera!" I called out,  impersonating a hail fellow well met.  At that distance it was hard to tell just what he had in the way of a camera, (it did have an attached light)  In any event, his companion more than made up for whatever sort of camera it might have been.  

Bullethead Blenny  B. gibbifrons  Kahalu'u March 2022

 

     As I completed my preparation, the distaff portion of the duo walked by me for a closer look at the bay, affording me a closer look, as well.  "Are you the photographer?" I asked.

   "No, she replied with just  a trace of an edge., "That's Mr. Pro over there."  Finally ready and walking out towards the beach I asked her,   "Are you just the spotter?'  

   "And the editor!"  responded the gentleman photographer.  

   "My wife is also my editor," I replied, "But she finds this place too cold and too boring.  And she's not entirely wrong.  But good luck to both of us.."   

    The water was cold, but it was higher than the last time I had been to Kbay.  A week ago it was Shallow.  So low was the tide that I was scraping on the rocks both coming and going.  And there hadn't been much in the way of fish, either.  On that day I nabbed a pretty good picture of a Bullethead Blenny... a lucky shot capturing a tiny fish as the current pushed me by.  And that was about it.  Would today be any better?  At least I wasn't scraping my belly on the rocks.

Ornate Butterflyfish, Kahalu'u 2022

    Just outside the entry, I saw a Yellowmargin Moray hiding in the inshore rocks.  Not a bad sighting, but no photo opportunity.  The nearby coral heads yielded nothing special and out by the breakwater I was reduced to taking a few pictures of a cooperative Ornate Butterflyfish.  Don't get me wrong, the ornate is a very pretty fish, but among our most common butterflies.

The test of a Keeled Heart Urchin, Kahalu'u 2022

    I circled around and headed up the middle.  There, lodged in a coral was the test of a Keeled Heart Urchin.  These are pretty cool animals, being irregular in shape and living their lives crawling in the  sand, totally beneath the sea bed.  As they make their way, their spines are bent backwards like the quills on a porcupine.  This test was a pretty big one, two or three times the size of the one that Kim Hillis bequeathed to us when she left for Utah. Of course, this one had a big hole in the top while Kim's remains a perfect specimen.  I took a picture and left the test for the next lucky snorkeler.  

  

 

 About two minutes later, I encountered a fish so magnificent that it had me exclaiming, "Oh my! Oh my!"  Fifteen  or twenty feet up ahead was a large female Blackstripe Coris.  I have not seen this species for about ten years.  And in all my time in Hawaii, my total number of sightings remains on one hand.  But those three or four sightings had all been keikis, pretty little fish but just four or five inches in length. 

Blackstripe Coris female, Kahalu'u, March 2022

   This was a magnificent big fish!  Later when I met Sandra ashore, I estimated that it was between 18 inches and two feet, while holding out my hands to indicate a monster of a fish.  John Hoover implies that the females may be bigger than the males and that the species attains a maximum of twenty inches.  

    Suffice it to say, I was quite aware that for me, this was an opportunity of a lifetime.  For about five minutes I maneuvered to get close without scaring this big, beautiful fish away.  I did not close withing ten feet and I didn't get around the fish, so I was always shooting into the sun.  Nevertheless, we produced a couple good efforts.

   From the moment I saw her, the fish started moving seaward.  Despite marshaling my best discretion, she headed out sooner that I had hoped.  As I lost sight of her, I surfaced and looked around.  Of course, I was looking for the couple I had met at the shelter, but they were nowhere to be seen. 

Coris flavovittata, the Blackstripe Coris female  KBay as seen today!

                   The genus coris is a big one.  A few years ago we had two species resident  here at Kahalu'u, but starting last year, the Elegant Coris is no longer found here.  In any event, it is not a big fish.  The male Yellowtail Coris is no shrimp, but it tops out at 15 inches in length.  And from top to bottom it is no match for the female blackstripe.  

    On the Great Barrier Reef, a place I have yet to visit, there lives a complete aberration.  The Double Header, so named for its seemingly redundant forehead, somehow makes it into the genus Coris as Coris bulbifrons.  It is battleship gray and enormous.  As it attains a length of  four and a half feet, when seen in real life it must look like the ugliest submarine on record.  

   Aside from this freak of nature, the Blackstripe Coris, C. flavovittata, is the largest coris in the Indopacific.  So no wonder that I was shocked by the size of this fish.  Looking at a picture in the field guide just does not prepare you for her dramatic size.

Pearl Wrasse female, Kahalu'u March 2022

   The Great Oz tells us that this magnificent fish is endemic to the Hawaiian Chain.  John Hoover goes on to opine that the juveniles are sometimes found in the main islands while males are rare.  He says that females are uncommon.  Suffice it to say, my opinion is that the female are also rare, at least around Hawaii Island at snorkeling depths.  

    Well,  I was aglow.  If one is a fishwatcher, he lives for such an encounter.  Riding that happy bubble I swam in by the Rescue Shelter, looking around the rocks, as is my wont, for a Leaf Scorpionfish.  Nothing there, I headed towards the entrance.  Behind a large rock appeared a large fish that I initially thought was a Palenose Parrotfish.  But wait a minute, he has a red eye!  That's not right!  Another second and I realized I was looking at a male Pearl Wrasse.  Looking over my shoulder I realized he was swimming with a female, who I quickly photographed.  This was a good thing as she departed, never to be seen again. The picture was taken in fairly clear water and it's not too bad. 

Pearl Wrasse male, Kahalu'u  March 2022

     Amazingly, the male did not follow his lady love out into the bay.  I haven't seen a plethora of male pearl wrasse, but in every previous instance, I was allowed a quick picture and he was outa there.  This guy stuck around for so long that I eventually swam away from him.  Which is not to say that I didn't watch him for a long time.  He spent most of his time in the far corner of the bay which is notoriously turbulent, the water full of debris.  I followed him around and around grabbing my chances when he swam into clear water.  Eventually we were rewarded with a good opportunity in relatively clear water resulting in the picture you see here.  

   As you enjoy the picture, note the handsome green patch around the eye, the bright blue fin linings and that red eye, that I mentioned earlier.  This guy has a white belt around his waist which is a sign that he is in breeding mode.

   Pearl Wrasse are around but in my experience they have never been common and Mrs. Blackstripe was a great find.

jeff

Editor's note:  Kathleen Clark, the administrator of the Reef Teachers at Kahalu'u, says she has seen the female Blackstripe Coris twice.She has never got very close.  Note that Kathleen swims there to do a survey at least two times a week. As far as she knows, these are the first pictures taken of this amazing fish.  

j