A Tail of Two Triggers

The beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad, so I had one more for dessert

     As the bard once said, "I never drink anything stronger than gin before breakfast."  Actually it was W.C. Fields, but I don't think the three youths sitting on the table at Ho'okena could have cared less.  It was 0930, the sun was out and they were pounding Budweiser while playing guitars and singing poorly.  But loudly. The Redoubtable SKG and I were ready to look at some fish, but as we passed their perch, we took the opportunity to admire the other thing that Ho'okena has to offer: local color.
      Leaving Woody, Willie and Curt to twang and yelp to their heart's content, we made our way down the sunny beach.  On the way to our entry, we encountered an adult who had dug himself a substantial hole from which he was holding off  four various boys in a wet sand fight.  Not my cup of tea, but at least he called a truce while we passed by.

I count at least nine Four Spot Butterflyfish.

     The water this day was cool, clear and free of stinging critters and we had a nice swim across the bay.  We didn't find the coral clump with the Potter's and Flame Angels, but we had a sweet look at the Gilded Triggerfish.  Additonally, there was a remarkable aggregation of Four Spot Butterflyfish.  A few butterflyfish appear commonly in large groups;  Lined and Raccoon are two species commonly seen in groups of ten or more.  The Four Spot, like the majority of butterflyfish,  is usually seen in pairs. I assume this grouping had something to do with reproduction.  At the least, it was unusual.

Bridled Triggerfish  Sufflamen frenaetus

    It looked like that would be it as we turned for home when suddenly there was a large triggerfish beneath us.  Black with white caudal peduncle and large curvilinear fins.  I recognized it as a fish we saw last year, unable to remember its common name I called to Sandra, its frenatus something.   In fact, it was the Bridled Triggerfish, Sufflamen fraenatus.  (The Latin name was imprinted on my brain the previous year when i asked for help identifying this species.)   Having spotted us about the same time we saw him, this guy was getting out of Dodge.  I gave him a chase, but the best I could do was a photo of the north end of a southbound fish.  Still, it was a very good fish, the first Bridled Trigger for the year and only the third in my illustrious (or not) fish finding career.  I'm including the picture that I took last April.  That fish was much deeper and obviously wasn't worried about me and my camera thirty feet above.  Last year's fish (pictured)  and the one we saw a couple days ago are extremely dark.  If you look on the web, you will find pictures of the Bridled Triggerfish almost as light as Sufflamen bursa, the Lei Triggerfish.  The first one I ever saw, swimming deep off the edge at Kona Makai, was lighter in coloration.  There was no doubt it wasn't a Lei Triggerfish, though...this is a very big triggerfish!

Local color at Ho'okena!

    As we came ashore there was a couple of a certain age entering the water.  The guy looked like a farmer of semi-exotic weed.  He sported a grizzly white beard and for a bathing  suit he had chosen a pair of cut off dungarees.  That he put his fins on well up the beach and then approached the waves bass ackwards only enhanced his remarkable appearance.

    Sandra and I got showered off and repaired the small kiosk for lunch.  As I got things set up, she set off down the beach to take some pictures.  Right in front of us, three generations of ladies played in a tide pool.  Sandra asked permission and was invited to photograph the baby, mother and grandmother as they played in the pool.  By the time she was done taking pictures, the ladies had made her an honorary auntie!

    So yesterday I hauled my lazy bones down to the pier and went for a swim on Paul Allen's Reef.  The water was cold and cloudy, so I decided to swim fast.  About fifty yards past the rip rap I spotted a Finescale Triggerfish.  The large, ghostly fish saw me too and similar to my triggerfish encounter from the previous day, the Finescale headed rapidly away.  I'd like to show you a picture that I took a different time of this fish, but I have never taken a good picture of the Finescale Triggerfish.  It really is a ghostly whitish gray and, at least in my experience, quite shy.  Its not nearly as uncommon as the Bridled, though, and we have been disappointed that we did not have it on the list for this season.  Now we do! 

Spotted Burrfish, Paul Allen's Reef,  March 2012

Chloromycterus reticulatus

One more look at the rare Burrfish

     As I turned for the barn, I was presented with a wonderful opportunity.  A Porcupinefish was resting in clear, shallow water and permitted me to dive three times for pictures.  At last he came to his senses and swam away.  Its hard to tell if he was sleeping out in the open with his eyes open or if he was stunned for some other reason.  As you can see, he wasn't being cleaned.  So who knows why he was so cooperative.  It wasn't until I got home and looked more carefully at my pictures that I realized that this was not the common Porcupinefish, but a Spotted Burrfish, a fish I have never claimed before!  It is only due to the camera, the cooperative nature of this individual and the really superb photographic field guides that I was able to make this call.  I hope you enjoy those pictures as much as I do!
    Here in Kona, we have five triggerfish that I would say are quite common.  The Gilded is pretty regular at Ho'okena and I've seen him at Honokohau, as well.  The two that we added to the list are pretty unusual and I'm grateful to Kanaloa for steering them our way this year.

jeff