Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Turneffe Tales Left Untold: Part 2

Fish Tails, continued....

In addition to enjoying the "ugly" fish in the sea, I really love the little fishes, especially blennies and gobies! These are the incredibly cute fish that often sit on the bottom (here's a picture of one of each -- the neon goby is the bright blue fish toward the bottom of this pic). Neon gobies are especially fun. Their occupation is to clean parasites off of other fish (including the inside of mouths). Like a neon "CAR WASH" sign, cleaner fish are usually brightly colored. That way, other fish know where to pull in. Neon gobies often rush out to clean an approaching diver, but, in my experience, usually turn away as they get close. I think that they may be near sighted.

Blennies and gobies are extremely diverse. They are also often difficult to spot because they may be only a fraction of an inch long and camouflaged. In many cases, I've found blennies in pictures that I've taken and I didn't even know that they were there until I looked at the pic. Take a close look at the super cute blenny! Simply adorable.
One of my favorite caribbean fish is the Sharp-nosed Puffer. Only an inch or two long, these two are absolutely gorgeous. Don't pass them up on your next snorkel or dive. They're commonly hovering near the bottom, often near soft coral or a gap in the reef. Look for a characteristic bend in their tail while they hover by the reef. I think that I'll end this post with a bunch of good points.

No comments: