A Plethora of Piñatas.

Elegant Coris male, Kailua Pier, February 2012

      One of my favorite movie characters, El Guapo from The Three Amigos, asked his henchman Jefe if he had a plethora of piñatas.   And did he know what a plethora was?  Of course, Jefe knew that the boss just wanted to get layed and he was taking out his frustrations on the employees.  In this instance, all I want to do is show you my backlog of pictures  that demand presenting, even though they don't have any coherent story.  So without further ado, I'd like to present my plethora.  Enjoy the pictures and try not to get shot already.

A Bird's Eye view of the Elegant Coris

      The day we saw the Blood Crab along the pier, we also saw a striking example of a male Elegant Coris.  This is not a rare fish, but the face pattern on this male is pretty dramatic.  And he has now persisted in the shallows near the first swim buoy for two weeks.  Long ago, about 25 years back, I thought I saw a Sunset Wrasse at the Mauna Kea.  The field guides weren't nearly as good back then. And Al gore hadn't quite invented the internet.  So my resources for identification were not what they are today.  Even now, with my Hoover's and Randall's photographic guides in hand, the dramatic markings on the face of this Elegant Coris male had me wondering if I had seen a Sunset Wrasse.  I'm not prepared to say that I didn't see a Sunset Wrasse on that day long ago, but it would be well worth your time to slip in at the pier and find this fish.  Tres Elegant!  

      As part of the plethora I'm throwing in a heavily doctored photo of Kailua taken from the water by the pier.

Kona In The Sky With Diamonds

  Picture yourself by the pier in the water.
  Where Sea Glass Hawaiians cast Passion Fruit Flies.
   Suddenly someone is there at the palace.
   Its Sandra with vog in her eyes!

Speckled Scorpionfish, Kahalu'u  February 2012

   With apologies to the Beattles, we will get on with the plethora.   At Kahaluu a week or so ago, I nabbed a couple pictures of this strange little fish.  The Speckled Scorpionfish lives in the intrstices of Pocillopora meandrina, otherwise known as Cauliflower Coral.  When one thinks of scorpionfish, one's mind is drawn inexorably to slow, painful death.  This fish is the most inoffensive member of that tribe.  He cowers so deep in the coral, peering out meekly, imploring you to just go away.     The second picture shows the prickly spines on his dorsal fin.  I assume that if you dove down and poked at the poor little dear, it would be possible to get a sting on your pinky.  So keep your (expletive deleted) hands to yourself.
      This is always good advice.  As in Alice in Wonderland, though, I sometimes have trouble taking my own good advice. (Just ask the Traveling Mr. Hazlett!) In the case of moray eels, scorpionfish and other obviously dangerous sea creatures, I do my best to follow this advice and keep my hands to myself.

Speckled Scorpionfish, Note the spines on the dorsal fin!

Hidden Hermit Crab, Calcinus Latens,  Kailua Pier 2012

     The next picture in the plethora is of the Hidden Hermit Crab, Calcinus latens.  I nabbed this picture at the pier the same day that Mr. Hazlitt ran the Ironcrab.  Note that this guy is sheltering in a cone shell.  This is a nice picture of a small crab, but you gotta believe when I find a cone shell that I suspect of having a hermit crab, I'm hoping for a Cone Shell Hermit Crab,  aka Stripey.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy this picture of the latens.   Note, if you will the purple band on his walking legs just above the white.  The spots on the elbows of the chelipeds of this crab always remind me of the nighttime stars.

The stars at night, come out so bright.
(whump, whump, whump whump.)
Deep in the Heart of Kona.

If he's going to sing again, I'm going to wrap it up.  I hope you enjoyed the plethora and (as the say at La Cantina de los Borrachos) try not to get into too much troubles. 
jeff