It has taken me a while to write this because I started looking at REEF data, and went down some data analysis rabbit holes. Maybe I can write some of those up in the Marine Science Section under the REEF thread. In the meantime some ideas on fish identification.
SInce this is the BHB Trolls thread I am going to address identiifying fish specifically at BHB. So you went ahead and bought fish identification books to be better prepared to identify the fish you see on your next dive. But there are a lot of images in those book, how do you even know which images to concentrate on before your next dive(s)?
There are good resources to answer that question.
Reef Enviromental Education Foundation (REEF) and
iNaturalist Blue Heron Bridge Project are two I use most frequently. You can learn much faster exploring both websites on your own than I can explain in writing here.
On the REEF website you can get a Geographic Area Report for anyplace you might be interested in (check the programs tab) Geographic zone code for BHB is 33010059 (link is in the paragraph below the table). All the dive sites between Jupiter Inlet and Key Biscayne begin with 3301, you can a report for that whole area, or a report for all Florida (east coast). TWA list comes from the top ten stats, not a geographic report.
The table below lists the species occurence by percentage for the area at the top of the column. You can see that Blue Heron Bridge is not necessarily a good representation of the larger areas, that encompass Blue Heron Bridge.
Edit : Apparently the table heading looks differenet after submission. TWA first column, Florida second column, Jupiter Inlet-Key Biscayne third column, Blue Heron Bridge 4th column.
TWA Florida Jupiter Inlet-Key Biscayne Blue Heron Bridge
| Bluehead-87 | Bluehead-81 | Porkfish-83 | Sergeant Major-91 |
| Blue Tang-87 | Blue Tang-78 | Sergeant Major-79 | Porkfish-89 |
| Stoplight Parrotfish-84 | Sergeant Major-78 | French Grunt-76 | French Grunt-88 |
| Bicolor Damsel-82 | Porkfish-75 | Bluehead-75 | Gray Angelfish-85 |
| French Grunt-79 | Stoplight Parrotfish-74 | Doctorfish-69 | Sharpnose Puffer-85 |
| Foureye Butterflyfish-76 | Bicolor Damselfish-74 | Sharpnose Puffer-68 | Yellowfin Mojarra-84 |
| Sergeant Major-73 | French Grunt-73 | Stoplight Parrotfish-68 | Doctorfish-84 |
| Ocean Surgeonfish-73 | Yellowtail Snapper-70 | Redband Parrotfish-67 | Lane Snapper-81 |
| Redband Parrotfish-72 | Bluestriped Grunt-69 | Ocean Surgeonfish-67 | Stoplight Parrotfish-80 |
| Yellowhead Wrasse-72 | Ocean Surgeonfish-67 | Blue Tang-64 | Tomtate-79 |
The whole list of species observed for Blue Heron Bridge as of now is 479. Too long to print here, especially since the report can be accessed on the REEF website
Blue Heron Geographic Report. Accessing that list reveals 74 species that occur at least 25% of the time.
Since those species are most likely to be seen, those are the ones I would concentrate on identifying if I was just getting started doing so. And of course I would carry some kind of camera. Sealife Sportdiver for phones is excellent for this purpose, relatively inexpensive, and easy to handle. Keep in mind sometimes it easier to capture a subject for identification by video rather than a still image.
Going slow is always recommended by fish surveyors asked to provide a good tip to people who are starting out. At the bridge its even easier than that. You can find a good spot and stay mostly still watching what happens. What is a good spot? There are a many what I call microhabitats at Blue Heron. These include but are not limited too Bryozoan Patches, Algae Patches, Hydroid Patches, sand and gravel patches, silt patches, bridge pilings, snorkel trail modules, rip rap, Mangrove Roots, dock pilings, sunken boats, Moon Jellyfish, and of course the entire wate column. Most of the microhabitats can be broken down further into sub habitats. Species have preferences for certain habitats. Find out those preferences and you can find the different species.
If you access inaturalist Blue Heron Bridge project and check out the fish species, many examples of the same species can be seen. However the amount images of one species is not representative of how often a given species occurs at the bridge. Sometimes from the background of the image it is possible to gleen the species habitat and know where to look for them.
Of course if an individual really wants to flatten out a steep learning curve quickly they can always hire a guide or instructor that knows where all the fish can be found. Yes I am an instructor, yes I guide, yes I teach fish id, yes i teach underwater naturalist, yes I have an MS Marine Science, yes I am a published underwater photographer.
How many species can you expect to see on an average survey at BHB? According to the Geographic Area Report, the average for experts is 52, and novice is 34. For myself a species/minute, up to about 70 minutes is a good average. An explanation of survey levels can be found here,
REEF Experience Levels
And what is the point of identifying all these fish unless you are going to submit a REEF survey of the effort?
You could get images of the fish and upload them to inaturalist Blue Heron Bridge Project as a way to keep a record of what species you have seen.
Some data facts about BHB:
There are a total of 10149 separate sites with at least one survey in the Tropical Western Atlantic.
There a total of 196,354 surveys for the Tropical Western Atlantic. If we did an equally distributed average, there would be 196,354 surveys/10149 sites = 19.3 surveys/site
BHB has been surveyed 3052 times for a total of 3678 hours, more than any site in the TWA. Considering the amount of cumulative bottom time wracked up at Blue Heron by all divers 3678 is a small number though.
Total species observed for BHB =479
Total species observed entire Tropical Western Atlantic=940
BHB is the only site of 10149 sites where >50% of species in TWA are observed.
The ratio of expert/novice ratio 5:1 for BHB, the expert/novice ratio for TWA 2:3
