Mystery fish

[Ken Kurtis]

Saw this little guy (and I mean LITTLE) in Avalon Saturday right in front of the steps in 3-5 feet of water. Although the first impression based on shape and movement is that he's a brand-new juvy Garibaldi, I've never seen coloration like this. Anyone have a clue (this is a frame grab from a video)????



Here's the video: Mystery fish at the UW Park in front of the stairs - kenkurtis' Photos

- Ken

 

[OCdiving Deb]

Yes, it is a baby garibaldi and there have been tons of them recently along OC's coast and Catalina....and perhaps elsewhere!

 

[Ken Kurtis]

You know I mean the small fish in the back, not the orange/blue guy in the front, right????

- Ken

 

[drbill]

As I informed Ken by e-mail after diving and filming it, this appears to be a baby white tail damsel (Stegastes leucorus). I am still waiting for confirmation of this from experts more knowledgeable than myself. They are a cooler water ("deep") tropical species whose northern geographic range extends to Guadalupe Island off Baja. Probably came up to Catalina as a larval from in the currents and has found our toasty waters this year suitable for growth. Good spot, Ken... I never would have seen it if you hadn't told me!

I did two dives to a maximum depth of 5-10 ft yesterday to film the little critter and here are two stills extracted from the HD video:

 

[Ken Kurtis]

Dan Gotshall, CA F&G fish ID guru (and author of many books on the subject) in an e-mail to Dr. Bill has concurred with Bill's initial thought that it's a juvy Whitetail Damsel (Stegastes leucorus). Previous northern end of the range was Guadalupe Island, 200 miles to the south of Catalina. So Dan says this is a record northernmost range sighting. Woo-hoo!!!!

- Ken

 

[drbill]

Just posted my most recent column (Dive Dry with Dr. Bill #506) about this on SB in the Marine Life and Ecosystems forum.

Ken deserves all the credit for spotting this tiny thing. I'm going to try a few night dives to film it under more even light than I can during the day.

 

[fnfalman]

I saw one of those just recently too. I thought that it was a juvi Garibaldi.

 

[drbill]

Where did you see it?

I saw one of those just recently too. I thought that it was a juvi Garibaldi.

I'm planning a night dive (to a maximum depth of five to seven feet) tonight to film it under more uniform lighting conditions. At that depth I could be under for days... or at least until my battery or 64 GB flash memory runs out!

 

[fnfalman]

Where did you see it?

It was at Santa Barbara Island. I don't remember the dive spot though because I didn't think that it was anything but a baby Garibaldi, so I didn't take any special note. But now with this new photo and see its coloration differ from a juvenile Garibaldi, it really stands out as a different fish.

 

[drbill]

I thought I'd post a collage of pictures of the fish from the video I shot yesterday in the dive park.