Summer is the Time for Hogfish (It Says So in the Bible.)

     Are you familiar with Sharpe's Rifles, that amusing series of books written by Bernard Cornwell?   Set in India and the Iberian Penninsula Cornwell follows the career of Lt. Richard Sharpe, an up from the ranks

Hawaiian Hogfish imm  Kahalu'u August 2013

 superstar of fisticuffs, riflery, with a dazzling romance around every turn. If you are acquainted with Sharpe, you will remember Sergeant Hakeswill, the villain who has it in for our hero.

    Hakeswill is a despicable swine.  Obsequious to superior officers, he's obese, a talented liar and prone to making the most outrageous statements that he justifies by declaring, "Says so in the Bible."

    Well, I'm here to tell you that summer is the time for Hawaiian Hogfish immatures.   While I may or may not be an overweight mendicant, it says so in the bible.  Which is to say that John Hoover, in the Ulitimate Guide to Hawaiian Reef Fishes, says that this fish is common in the summer.  Hoover's book is the bible for identification of fishes on our reefs.  He has many pictures showing different color patterns and lengthy text, in which he deposits little pearls like this.

H. Hogfish imm  B. albotaeniatus  Classic silhouette

      Common may be an overstatement.  Before Sandra and I saw one at Ho'okena last September, we hadn't seen an immature hogfish for years.  Of course, last year was the first that we started living year round in Hawaii.

   This summer we have seen two, the lone hog I reported at the pier in July and now this fellow at K Bay.  Here's the really cool thing about this guy:  He seems to be hanging around in the same spot.  Sandra discovered him a week ago.  That day I had the camera sans memory card.  Yesterday, in warm, cloudy water we had the camera, but the battery needed recharging.  Luckily I was able to come up with these two pictures of what I still consider a very rare fish.   But its common in the summer.  Says so in the bible.  Look for Junior Hogfish about ten meters to the left of the entry in the near shore rocky rubble.

Hawaiian Dascyllus imm   Kahalu'u  August 2013

   I saw two other nice immatures on the outing yesterday.  Careful to conserve battery power, I managed to get this nice picture of an immature Hawaiian Dascyllus.  This fish isn't rare, but sometimes hard to photograph.  Not only is it quite small, but like baby anemonefish, it darts for cover,  albeit in cauliflower coral, when approached.  Most often when we see immature dascyllus, we see several.  This guy was solitary.  Perhaps he was out of cover searching for his lost brothers and sisters.

    Out in the bay a found a large live Humpback Cowry.  I have good reason to fear that even here at Kahaluu, people remove cowries and other shelled molluscs to take home for their collections.  So I put a nice big piece of coral over this handsome living animal before bidding him adieu.  
    
    Most often, before getting out at Kahalu'u, I will take one final swim over to the Menehune Breakwater.

 Its good exercise, the water is clearer there and sometimes we see something special.  Yesterday we hit the big casino.  Sitting on a lump of coral only two feet deep was an immature Freckled Face Hawkfish.  This immature is so distinctive, that I play it as a separate fish on the list.  Forster's Hawkfish after the species name. (I do the same thing for Red Labrid Wrasse and Dragon Wrasse.) 

    As I was circling, preparing to dive down for a picture, I saw the tail of a Stout Moray Eel protruding from the adjacent coral head.  Picking my handholds with a bit more care, less Señor Stout mistake my fingers be mistaken for a quintet of Vienna sausages or a small octopus, I was able to nab the picture at right.  This is my best photo ever of this handsome and moderately uncommon immature.  I just love the chartreuse cape on this little guy. 

    So be assured that Obadiah Hakeswill will never get the best of Richard Sharpe.  And that immature Hawaiian Hogfish are common in the summer.  Says so in the bible.

jeff