Is it a Frogfish? Or the Critical Piece in Identifying the Warty Frogfish in the Sandwich Islands.

      Today I'm going to present two juvenile fish that Sandra and I have been lucky to see this week.  One is an interesting offspring of a common Hawaiian fish.  The second may blow your mind.

     Two days ago we went snorkeling at Kahalu'u.  The water was high with a moderate current, but quite clear for this time of year.  We saw little of interest until we got to boulder city in the south east corner,

Juvenile Blue Goatfish  P. cyclostomus  Kahalu'u 2014

where the water is always cloudy.  There I saw my first immature Blue Goatfish.  This little guy was swimming with a mixed school of immature fishes.  About three inches long,  this small goatfish was very dark.  You will recall that the adult blue goatfish has a lovely yellow saddle, the color of the sun on a clear day.  This juvenile had a circular patch over the caudal peduncle that was the color of a harvest moon;  Sandra called it orange.  We chased the little guy through the murk for a few minutes and got the picture you see here.

      Suffice it to say, the story of the baby blue goatfish was not going to be enough to carry an entire blog.   So, with the selfless intention of keeping our reading public amused, Sandra and I packed a lunch and headed down to City of Refuge for a Labor Day swim. 

     After going through a period where the number of fish seemed to be declining, the  City of Refuge is once again a great place to see a large variety of fishes.  I was certain that we would see something worthy of the

The Author and the Pyramid of the Sun

 blog.  And, sure enough, when we made the corner I spotted a school of Pyramid Butterflyfish.  Along with Thompson's Butterfly, the pyramid is becoming a regular at City.  Instead of a few individuals, which we have seen our last two swims there, this day there was a school of at least twenty fish.  These guys were past the drop off in about thirty feet.  I have never seen more pyramids in one school, but it was too deep for a picture.


    The water was cloudy in that spot,  totally inadequate for photography .  (Perhaps that had something to do with the profusion of pyramids.  Or maybe the water was just cloudy .)  In any event,  we paddled on past a school of  Thompson's Butterflies mixed together with a bunch of Three Spot Chromis.   We were required to swim around a pair of young ladies who were attempting to stand on a paddleboard, (from our perspective a situation both amusing and fraught with 

Sir Galahad Guides Us to the Holy Grail of Hawaiian Fish.

danger... have you ever had a paddleboarder fall on you?)

    On the far side of the paddleboarders  I spotted a diver near the shore.  As I approached, it was obvious that he was holding on to the bottom and photographing something that looked like a child's yellow bath toy...a  rubber ducky that he had brought along to practice his underwater craft.
   
    Surfacing, I caught the begoggled eye of my beloved and gave her the come hither sign.  I pointed down to the diver and asked, "What is that?"  Like the true Jeopardy superstar that she is,  Sandra phrased her answer as a question. "Is it a frogfish?"

      For those of you who don't know, frogfish are chubby spuds that coax prey into their mouths with a lure formed from the first dorsal spine.  Dangling the fish like esca  just in front  of their enormous, upturned mouth, they suck in the prey with a quick gulp.   That clever spine provides the genus name, Antennarius.

Warty Frogfish,  Antennarius Maculatus Honaunau 2014

 The pectoral and ventral fins of the frogfish have adapted to this sedentary life, now appearing almost as hands used for gripping the bottom.  Look carefully at the pictures to appreciate these amazing appendages. 

    When one boards a Hawaiian Airlines flight, he is obligated to sit through a video of reef fishes.  Always present on this pre-flight reef is a Commerson's Frogfish.  It is as if seeing one of these unusual creatures was the simplest thing.  The video is highly misleading, as is the card provided by Snorkel Bob.  Frogfish in Hawaii are not terribly common and live almost entirely below snorkeling depth.  Sandra and I had never seen a frogfish before.  It had become the mythical Holy Grail of Hawaiian reef fish.

      The diver held his camera mere inches from the frogfish and persisted in his efforts for several minutes.  During that time, I dived Señor Frog three times.  The few pictures that I took on those dives benefited from the diver's light that that bathed the fish.   All this time the frogfish barely moved.  Its hard to imagine any wild animal with half a nervous system allowing such photographic access.  

    Eventually the diver had enough data and swam away, allowing us to swim down to the frogfish for more 

Note the Black Warty Saddles Over the Caudal Peduncle and Shoulder

 pictures.  If you had asked me two days ago how deep I could dive, I would have said twelve feet.  As it turns out, with enough motivation I can do twenty.  We watched the fish for about ten more minutes.  During that time he adjusted his position on the coral head, turning about 100 degrees but not changing his physical location more than an inch.  Once he opened his mouth wide and it was possible to see how a he could indeed capture something virtually as big as he in that gaping maw. 

    Apparently that slow mouth opening was not associated with eating...engulfing prey occurs so fast that you might not be able to see it.  It could have been associated with locomotion.  According to John Hoover, a frogfish can fill with water and expel it through their gills, creating a jet that can send them several meters.  Lucky for us, he did not scoot away, patiently permitting us to take all the pictures our hearts could desire.  Juvenile frogfish are well known to remain in the open on a single perch for long periods.

     We finally had enough of this and made our way back to the two step exit.  Ashore, I was able to thank  

 the diver who had indicated the position of  Señor Frog.  He was a pleasant fellow (all us fish watching enthusiasts are a delight) and congratulated me on seeing my first Commerson's Frogfish.   

    On the way home, Sandra was all over the internet trying to learn as much as she could about frogfish in general and the different species of frogfish that might be possible.  Back at the ranch we downloaded the pictures that you are enjoying here and sent them off to our friends, relatives and our two experts, John Hoover and Jack Randall.  After dinner I checked my email to find the following from Jack Randall:

Jeffrey:

 The second known record for Antennarius maculatus for the Hawaiian Islands.  Thanks!

Aloha, Jack

     Or to put it another way, "Commerson's Frogfish, my ass!"

   Well, Sandra went into full search mode.  The Warty Frogfish, according to Pietsch and Grobecker, isn't found any closer to these very Sandwich Islands than the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia.  This little yellow beauty with the ugly black spots has to be a waif.   As was the only other record for the state.

   The key to the identification  (which Dr. Randall made faster than a frogfish can gulp down her mate)

Teresa Zubi's Favorite Hangout in Puerto Vallarta!

 involves those dark saddles that you see straddling the dorsum.  As juveniles, both Commerson's  and the Warty are that brilliant lemon yellow.  Supposedly it mimics a yellow sponge.  But the Warty has black saddles near the caudal peduncle and shoulder.  Sandra is in the process of becoming pen pals with Teresa Zubi, who provided the best description of the immature maculatus.  Teresa is the international frogfish authority (www.frogfish.ch).  Her website will reveal as much as you want to know about any frogfish.

    It is interesting that this species is found more shallow than A.commerson, so if a snorkeler encounters a frogfish they might keep this species in mind.  On the other hand, its a long way from New Caledonia!

Before we went to bed, we got one more email from Jack Randall:
Jeffrey and Sandra:

    If you see the fish again, you might collect it for the first specimen for the Hawaiian Islands. Frogfishes are the easiest in the world to capture; just grab by hand.
No sharp spines.

Aloha, Jack

"Daddy Loves Froggy.  Froggy love Daddy?  Ribbit.  Ribbit."  Hedley Lamar, Blazing Saddles.