Summertime

   As the seasons move along, the reef treats us to a parade of delightful immatures.  In the last two days, I

Hawaiian Cleaner, Labroides phthirophagus Kahalu'u 2009

 had the chance to snorkel both the Ironman side of the pier and my favorite spot, Ho'okena.  I'm shocked to tell you that in comparison, the pier won.

    It was cruise ship Wednesday, so there was lots of action around the pier.  Making my way through the mob, I swam out to the palace and then back in, not seeing much until I got to the third swim buoy.  There I spotted an immature cleaner wrasse. He was almost as long as my little finger, but not nearly as chubby.  He had set up home in a coral head about five feet deep where he was plaguing a variety of fish. (They can't resist to come to a cleaner, but so often the plucking seems painful.) He afforded me many close looks and I carefully noted where he was relative to the swim buoy and the sand around his particular coral refuge.

Blue Streak Cleaner Wrasse L. dimidatus Amed, Bali 2009

   This particular immature is interesting, as it is virtually identical to the immature Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse, L. dimidatus, found elsewhere in the pacific.  Here in Hawaii we have a single cleaner wrasse.   Throughout the western pacific there are two.  The aforementioned blustreak and the Bicolor Cleaner Wrasse, L. bicolor.  The immature of the latter sports a handsome chartreuse stripe.  My conclusion is that our fish and dimidatus share a more immediate common ancestor.   I'm including a picture, sadly taken with my first underwater camera, hence not very good, of the adult dimidatus in Bali.  Looking for this picture among the Bali portfolio really made me want to go back.  Great fish, great people, fascinating culture,  delicious (if somewhat monotonous) food. Only downside: Hotter than the hinges of Hades.

     But I digress.  As I got to the shore, I realized that I had another ten minutes to swim.  "Why not,"  I

The Male Pearl Wrasse, Kahalu'u 2012

  asked myself,  "don't I swim back out and see if I can find that baby cleaner wrasse whose location I so carefully noted?"   Try as I might, I could not relocate that lovely little fish.  Cleaner wrasses tend to pick a spot, the cleaning station, and stay there.  I'm sure there is a message here. Perhaps, "don't ever count on being able to swim back to a fish on the reef."  On the way in the second time, my persistence was rewarded with a male Pearl Wrasse.  This was the first time I had ever seen a male pearl at the pier.  Unless I'm mistaken, it was my first immature cleaner wrasse, as well.

    The following day we headed down to Ho'okena,
a spot where we almost always see something special.  The day was gorgeous.  After a morning rain the sun was out, the sky clear and a mild breeze was keeping it cool.  The water was a pleasant

  temperature, too.  Very near the entrance, I saw a maturing Red Shoulder Surgeon, almost adult size, half gray and half yellow.   He was deep and we couldn't get a good picture.   Further out,  we found a coral head with at least two pairs of Potter's Angelfish.  They were about thirty feet deep.  On the way back in I was imagining what their names might be:  Beatrix, Colonel Sherman, Harry and Hermione (By this time the dashing young wizard must have swept her off her feet)  


     The best summertime news is terrestrial, today as we motored home from our late morning swim we saw our resident pair of Kalij Pheasants with a brood of six chicks.  The chicks were already as big as small chickens.  We can look forward to more of these beautiful birds at Casa Ono.

Kalij Pheasant at Casa Ono. 

aloha,
jeff