The (Possibly) Confusing Barred Filefish.

2013 Is the Year to Boogie!

     This winter has been quite a bit different from last year...the year of the creepy calm.  Starting in October we have had lots of rough days out in the bay and coincidentally the water clarity has not been all that great for taking pictures of the fish.  This winter there have been many good days for the surfers and boogie boarders.    In fact, its really high surf right now.  Not being able to go fishwatching (the beaches are closed again and I wouldn't be able to see much anyway) I whiled away the time Sandra was exercising with my good friends Tom and Marcia Pickens on the deck of  their condo, looking back towards Kailua town.  From their deck we watched waves breaking onto the first floor units at Sea Village, the units just north of Alii Villas.  Time to go to Lowe's for a shop vac and a case of paper towels.  Spectacular for us, soggy for them.

     Sadly, over the last month we haven't seen very many unusual fish in the less than crystal clear water.  Luckily, in the last couple of weeks we have a found several immature Barred Filefish.  This fish looks and behaves just differently enough from the adult that one might confuse it with something else.

Adult Barred Filefish, Kailua Pier, 3/23/11

  
     The adult Barred Filefish, as i'm sure yu will recall, comes in a rainbow of grays, with several light bars ventrally.  Its one of the bigger fish on the reef.  Even though we don't get extremely close, it is easy to identify.  And although the Barred Filefish doesn't encourage a close approach, its not particularly skittish, either.  It isn't common to see it ducking into the coral.  finally, the adult does not usually do any peculiar posturing.  In its boring gray way, it just sort of hangs out

    The immature is surprisingly different.  First, it is the color of dark chocolate.  When you first encounter it, it may have a constellation of distinct, punctate white spots over the entire  body.  The most striking feature of this baby is the bright orange tail.  On two different days, in the rubble on the

Ironman side of the pier, we have encountered a few individuals of this immature.   The first time I was so taken with the bright orange tail that I thought I might have an aspricaudus. the Yellowtail Filefish common in Bali and rare as hen's teeth in these very Sandwich Islands.

      The first thing you will notice about my picture is that it isn't very good.  What can I say, when the water isn't clear, this is the sort of picture I'm stuck with.  Second, look at the way he is spreading that bright orange tail.  some filefish, like the Fantail Filefish, posture with a spread tail routinely.  When approached, this fellow spread his tail almost every time.  Additionally, he completely and instantly lost those handsome white spots.  I'm really sorry that I don't have a picture of the spots, but try as i might, I could not get close to the fish without the spots disappearing.  and the last thing about this fish's behavior is that when you approach, he doesn't swim away (like the adult Barred Filefish would.)  He darkens his spots, spreads his tail and finds cover in the coral.

David R's picture of  P.  aspricaudus

   I have not personally taken an acceptable picture of the Yellowtail Filefish.  I have seen it once briefly in Hawaii.  I'm borrowing a photo from David R. so you can see what it looks like .  In John Hoover's Ultimate Guide he has a pretty good picture of the Barred Filefish immature.  Prior to that, I don't think any fish guide you might have laid your hands on would have showed this shy fish with the orange tail.  I'm sure with David's fine picture as a foil, you can appreciate how one might be confused.

    So you try not to be confused and I'll do the same.  and good luck to both of us.

jeff