New Years Babies

Red Labrid Wrasse,  Kahalu'u  December 2011

   Traditionally we look forward to the first baby of the new year, perhaps because that infant is symbolic of the new beginnings promised by the advancing  calendar.   Appropriately, Sandra and I have recently seen the two outstanding Hawaiian immatures in greater numbers.  And I've got some killer pictures which I am eager to share.

A Transitioning Red Labrid at deep, turbulent Kona Makai

    In previous blogs I have talked about two immatures seen this season which are quite unusual.  The Orange-Tail Triggerfish  turned out to be the immature of the Pink-Tail Triggerfish.  We had never seen that fish prior to this season.  Recently my friend John Hoover has told me that while that fish is very uncommon, for some reason if you see one its not unusual to see another.  I've also mentioned the little green immature of the the Blacktail (Old Lady) Wrasse.  I first saw that fish last year, but had heard of it in prior years from fellow snorkelers on the beach.   After a mere two sightings in early November, I have not seen one since.   Like the Orange-Tail Trigger, I regard that fish as very uncommon.
    The two fish I'm going to talk about today are not particularly unusual; every time I swim in Kona I halfway expect to see one or the other.  However, these two make the "super" list by being extremely beautiful and unusual.  They are both so different from their parents that they initially were categorized as different species. Just in the last week, consistent with our New Years theme, both have become more plentiful in our neighboring waters.  

Clark's Anemonefish,  Bali 2009

    The Red Labrid Wrasse is the immature of the Yellowtail Coris.   This fellow has broad vertical red and white stripes.  His dramatic coloration confuses some of the uninitiated into thinking that they have just seen an anemonefish.   A cursory look at this wrasse will reveal his sharp, wrasse-like snout, much different from the blunt damselfish nose of an anemonefish.
    Anemonefish are simply not possible in Hawaii.; each species is inextricably linked with a species of large anemone.  This symbiotic relationship is elegantly defined in Finding Nemo.  Like many other groups of interesting invertebrates, these large anemones occur in the south and western Pacific, but not here in Hawai'i.  We have one tiny anemone, the glass anemone and no self respecting fish would look to that frail organism for protection. 
    As the Red Labrid transforms into an adult Yellowtail it undergoes a sequential transformation.   It trades in its red and white stripes for midnight blue starting near the tail and working anteriorly.  These intermediate forms are no less common than the pure Red Labrid immature.

Dragon Wrasse April 2011  Kahal'u

    The Dragon Wrasse is the immature of the Rockmover.  It, too, can be found in many locations in the vicinity of Kailua Kona, but it is especially common at Kahalu'u. The striped pattern of the Dragon Wrasse, combined with its irregular motion in the water, is highly suggestive of a piece of drifting weed.   This immature remains fairly constant as the fish grows.  One sees tiny one inch specimens and big four inchers that are essentially identical.  Its my impression that they transform quickly into a mature Rockmover.  You will see the occasional smaller Rockmover with "antennae" anterior to the dorsal fin, but there is no common fish with other characteristics of the Dragon Wrasse. 
   I hope you enjoyed the pictures of these New Years babies.  And I  hope you will know an anemonefish when you see one...or not!  And most of all I wish you a Hau'oli Makahiki Hou with plenty of time at the beach.

jeff