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Yellow Tail Coris with interesting transitional coloration

    Sandra and I have not quite completed our move, but we have definitely cut our home owning ties back on the mainland.  We are ensconced in our new home on the slopes of Hualalai, 700ft above kailua Kona.  A cooler climate than the beach and its only a ten minute drive down hill to our favorite snorkeling spots.    The first few days we did little other than clean, but we've now been snorkeling four days in a row, hitting both sides of the pier, Kahaluu and Ho'okena.

Transitional YTC with Red Labrid Wrasse, both Coris gaimard

     The most interesting finds were a couple days ago at Kahaluu.  We went in about 10 AM.  Just after entry, in fairly clear water, we saw three immatures of the Yellow Tail Coris.   Two were the typical Red Labrid variety of immature.  The third was an interesting transitional specimen.  Note that he has the spotted blue flank and yellow tail  and he has retained the dorsal white bars.  We hadn't noted this coloration before.  Usually by the time you have a yellow tail, the white bars are long gone.  It just goes to show that fish do not change color on a strict schedule.  With seagulls, as an example, there are many successive plumages as the bird matures.  Each is well defined and an expert can tell exactly how old a young gull is by noting these successive changes.  Lucky for us, we were able to get a picture of the unusual transitional individual with one of the typical Red Labrid Wrasses.

The Hidden Hermit Crab, Ca. latens, wearing an Oily Miter

   Shortly after our encounter with the maturing YTC, we encountered a very cooperative hermit crab browsing on a coral head.  He was quite brave when I shoved the camera in his face and captured this picture using available light.  Over the last year, I have been trying to take more pictures of the hermits in the wild, as opposed to capturing them and transporting them to the aquarium for a photo op.  I think this is going pretty well.
     So who is this brave little fellow?    The walking legs are grayish with a distinctive purple band above the tip.  That and his speckled blue eyes confirms that he is a Hidden Hermit Crab, Calcinus latens.  The Guam Hermit Crab, introduced to Hawaii in the 1960s also has the black blotch on the elbow of the claw with pretty white speckles that remind me of the Milky Way.  That crab has straw colored legs with out purple stripes and black eyes with lots of white speckles.

Ca latens, the Hidden Hermit Crab  August 2012 Kahaluu

     I'm very interested in the shell this individual is carrying around.  That's not coralline algae...it really is brick red.   After consulting our Hawaiian Sells book, I believe it is the shell of an Oily Miter.  This snail lives in the shallows, consistent with his presence at Kahaluu.  However, I've never seen one before.  It is usual to find all the members of a colony wearing the same shell.  In this case there was at least one more smaller individual deeper in the coral head with the same shell type.  It is a very unusual shell and supports the idea that colony members go to some length to chose the same shell.  Crabs don't really have brains, the way we think of them...more a series of larger ganglia.  So how does the group decide on this unusual shell and how are they able to select it?  Food for thought which you might ponder over a glass of chardonnay and some cracked Dungeness!

     I'm sending you this blog from the library here in Kailua, as ATT is exercising their power by making us wait 14 days to get our internet hooked up at home.  Despite the extra effort, its my honor to be your correspondent from the beach.

jeff