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Fish I.D. 2: How to Tell Your Wrasse from a....um...'Nuther Kind of Fish

Same disclaimer as on the first fish I.D. album (see http://optimimagery.com/gallery/7934566_squYR/1/515598376_RsLwG). Second, I'd like to thank Brad Derksen for suggesting these little tutorials. You can see his excellent and entertaining website at http://scubablues.blogspot.com/ (if you click for that and see that I have contributed the most recent entry, scroll down until you come to some of Brad's stuff).

If you see anything herein which you like, or anything which you disagree with, please leave your very own comments on the shots. You can also contact me at optimimagery@gmail.com.

If you are like me, it is quite common for you to surface from a dive to hear your dive buddy ask “What kind of fish was THAT?” Also, if you are like me, it is not uncommon that you may have no idea WHAT kind of fish it was. Well, if you keep the following in mind, it may help: 1. There are more species of Gobies than there are of any other family. 2. Gobies are generally in holes, and often are not seen. 3. The family in SECOND place for number of species is WRASSES. 4. Wrasses tend to be swimming in the water column, not hiding in holes or resting on bottom, so they are out where they are more likely to be seen.

So, if you have no idea what kind of fish you saw (and it was swimming), you can play your odds (and likely impress your dive buddy) if you say “It was probably a wrasse.”

You will be even MORE likely to be correct if your mystery fish has some of the characteristics mentioned in this album (in the captions under the individual photos).
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Wrasses (including cleaners) tend to be elongate and colorful. The characteristic which strikes me most, though (but which is less noticeable in the little cleaners), is the fact that wrasses tend to use their pectoral fins (the fins which seem to us humans to be where arms should be) to swim. If you watch them, they seem to use these fins almost like hands to change directions, etc. (whereas many other fish seem to use their tail or dorsal {back} fins much more). Wrasses also have forward-facing mouths at the extreme front of their bodies (terminal), as opposed to the lower, down-facing mouths of goatfish or upward facing mouths of stonefish.
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Wrasses (including cleaners) tend to be elongate and colorful. The characteristic which strikes me most, though (but which is less noticeable in the little cleaners), is the fact that wrasses tend to use their pectoral fins (the fins which seem to us humans to be where arms should be) to swim. If you watch them, they seem to use these fins almost like hands to change directions, etc. (whereas many other fish seem to use their tail or dorsal {back} fins much more). Wrasses also have forward-facing mouths at the extreme front of their bodies (terminal), as opposed to the lower, down-facing mouths of goatfish or upward facing mouths of stonefish.

070805obyancheckerboardwrasse

  • First, there are the little cleaner wrasses, which you see bobbing up and down in a dance to attract other fish to clean. Here you see two cleaner wrasses catching their dinner to the delight of their host, who is enjoying such efficient removal of pesky parasites which provide the diet for the cleaners. <br /> <br /> A little aside for photographers wanting to get nice shots of different kinds of fishes: Park yourself where you see cleaner wrasses dancing. Very often you will see numerous species come by for a good cleaning over a short period of time. Often, otherwise shy fish will remain at the cleaning station and allow you to get some decent photos.
  • Wrasses (including cleaners) tend to be elongate and colorful. The characteristic which strikes me most, though (but which is less noticeable in the little cleaners), is the fact that wrasses tend to use their pectoral fins (the fins which seem to us humans to be where arms should be) to swim. If you watch them, they seem to use these fins almost like hands to change directions, etc. (whereas many other fish seem to use their tail or dorsal {back} fins much more). Wrasses also have forward-facing mouths at the extreme front of their bodies (terminal), as opposed to the lower, down-facing mouths of goatfish or upward facing mouths of stonefish.
  • Also, look at grouping characteristics (how do they interact with others of the same kind?). There are some exceptions, but most wrasses tend to be solitary, in pairs, or in loose groups of a few individuals spread over a fairly wide area (i.e., they don’t tend to form close schools).
  • While some wrasses will tend to stay near the bottom (such as the Rockmover wrasse you see above), none of them (that I am aware of) hang out ON the bottom (except at night when they are inactive).
  • So, here is a review of usual wrasse characteristics:<br /> <br /> 1. Usually elongate (long body). The Red-breasted wrasse shown above is among the LEAST elongate wrasses you may see.<br /> 2. Colorful<br /> 3. Swim with obvious control from their pectoral fins (“arms”)<br /> 4. Forward-facing, terminal mouths<br /> 5. Tend to be solitary, or at least to NOT school<br /> 6. Tend to swim in the “water column.”
  • Not that it's a valid identifying characteristic, but you often find wrasses accompanying our Hawksbill sea turtles, hiding out under the giant beast and darting in for dinner when his large friend loosens bits of yummy stuff for the wrasse to grab.
  • Untitled photo
  • Admittedly, these characteristics will not help much in distinguishing wrasses from parrotfish. Usually, parrotfish have thicker “lips.” However, it’s my understanding that some taxonomists believe that parrotfish are actually just sophisticated wrasses anyway, so you may be correct (at least, according to some experts) even if you “mis-identify” a parrotfish as a wrasse. This is a wrasse in this shot, by the way.
  • Test time: Wrasse or NAW (Not A Wrasse)?<br /> <br /> Answer: Wrasse! Bird wrasse, to be specific.
  • Wrasse or NAW?<br /> <br /> Of course the puffer fish is NAW, but there is a nice cleaner wrasse on the puffer's back. So, the more correct answer here is WRASSE!
  • Wrasse or NAW?<br /> <br /> Answer: If you can find a wrasse here, your eyes are much better than are mine! These are Bigeye scad, who sometimes form huge schools at our Lau Lau Bay divesite. So, gotta go with the answer NAW.
  • Wrasse or NAW? <br /> <br /> Answer: You can eliminate the central fellow, since that is a goatfish (with a mouth which opens downward). The two fish nearly surrounding the goatfish, however, are Katherine's wrasses (and no, I have no idea who Katherine is). So, correct answer here is WRASSE!<br /> <br /> If you like this kind of thing, take a look at <a href="http://optimimagery.com/gallery/7934566_squYR/1/515598376_RsLwG">http://optimimagery.com/gallery/7934566_squYR/1/515598376_RsLwG</a> for a similar album comparing Scorpionfish with Stonefish.
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