Giant Sea Bass changing spots

[MaxBottomtime]

I'm always amazed when I photograph multiple Stereolepis gigas, Giant Sea Bass aka California Wreckfish, only to learn that they were the same fish. Watch how quickly they can go from silver to spotted.

 

[drbill]

Good one, Phil. I've watched wreckfish change their coloration in seconds several times out here off Catalina. It intrigues me in terms of how that affects individual identification.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I took these four photos of the same fish within two minutes.

Right side, silver phase

Right side, dark phase

Left side, silver phase

Left side, dark phase

 

[drbill]

Yep, those "color" changes can be pretty fast. Was hoping to hang with a few today, but the blue sky and sun turned into thick overcast in 30 minutes so I'll be editing my fish footage fro, the Philippines today

 

[wnissen]

Apparently there's a project to identify them. Nice pictures within.

To help give the big fish a boost in the wild, divers are plopping several hundred giant sea bass reared by the Aquarium of the Pacific and the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium into the ocean. At the beginning of March 2020, close to 200 babies from the Cabrillo aquarium began to settle into the waters of Santa Monica Bay; the Aquarium of the Pacific’s brood will be next.

To gather scientific evidence about how these and other members of the species are faring out there, a citizen-science project is tapping recreational divers in California to send in photos of the fish they encounter in the watery neighborhoods they swim through.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

We have contributed over 200 different fish to the project so far. That's one of my photos near the end of the article. We're fortunate to have a site within two miles that has dozens of year-round residents.

 

[wnissen]

We have contributed over 200 different fish to the project so far. That's one of my photos near the end of the article. We're fortunate to have a site within two miles that has dozens of year-round residents.

That's a really neat idea. When I hit 50 dives (who knows when that will be, thought it was going to be next month!) I feel like I'll have developed my skills to the point where I could start using a camera. It would be a great application to do research on a threatened population! I am surprised that they keep the gathered images so close to the vest. You can't even download them in full resolution, it says "You have requested a higher level of privileges". Presumably the wreckfish and other research groups could benefit from that data.

 

[driftwood]

I used to dive a lot at Spring Lake in San Marcos. Tons of large mouth (black) bass. It was a rare dive that I didn't see a 5 pounder. Some were very silver and others had the prominent black stripes. Asked the lake manager about it and got the answer that they changed color based on how stressed/excited they were. Naturally, anglers only see them when they are highly stressed.

 

[spottinggiantseabass]

Apparently there's a project to identify them. Nice pictures within.

The project you are talking about is our project Check us out here