Newly Hatched fish

[sea nmf]

On yesterday's dive, I swam into a newly-hatched-fish nursery. These things had to be just a quarter inch long and see-through. They seriously had to have just been hatched minutes before I came upon them.

I then looked to the left and there was a large school of (what reminds me of trevally) those smallish predator fish with the azure blue top fin snapping them up. I've not seen that many of those fish in one place before. There were probably 25 of them.

Of course, no one else on the dive saw it. It was shallow so it wasn't a case of narcosis.

 

[drbill]

The mutual eating society in action.... that's why many critters have to produce tons of offspring to make sure a few survive to reproduce a new generation!

 

[scottitheduck]

Yeah, I think Rednecks use the same theory.

 

[Cacia]

I wonder what they were Becky, any idea?

hey watch it, I have da redneck bloodline. You capitalized it like it is your family name?

I like those baby Hawaiian Dominoes that hang in the coral heads and try and act ferocious.

 

[sea nmf]

No idea what they were. Generic planktonic fish at that stage.

I had a domino adult trying to chase me off the Corsair that day. I always laugh and get water in my mask. Cheryl found a large frogfish on the Corsair, too. Very well disguised!

 

[bluemagoo]

...
I like those baby Hawaiian Dominoes that hang in the coral heads and try and act ferocious.

If you want, I have some lineups to a couple of beautiful pillow-type coral heads at Ala Moana Beach Park. They're typically loaded with Dominoes. Nobody bothers them, probably 'cuz nobody knows they're there. Maybe 8ft deep at the most. There's a couple more nice rocks on the Magic Island end of the park; 15ft deep.

 

[bluemagoo]

Ok, these aren't perfect lineups, but they're how I locate the two Domino coral heads. There's one each on either side of the 3rd lifeguard tower across from McCoy Pavilion. Start in deep water, not quite out at mid-channel.

The first rock is a large pillow, about 3ft diameter. To find this one, look at the guard tower and lineup the 2nd streetlight on the left (the 1st is practically right behind the guard tower) with the center column of the mirrored Nauru Tower. Swim shoreward and watch for a sudden change in the murk; maybe 6-7ft deep and fairly close-in, maybe 20yds offshore. There's a huge swarm of Dominoes on this one. If you're lucky and the water is relatively clear, I bet you could get some nice pics.

The second rock is across from the restrooms to the right of the guard tower. On the right-side of the restrooms is a series of columns and exactly between the rightmost pair is a small coconut tree, maybe 3-4ft tall. Lineup directly in front of this tree, also balancing the sight-picture of the columns, and swim shoreward. In maybe 8ft water and a little further out than the other rock, there's a 2-3ft tall coral head with a resident swarm of Dominoes.

Both coral heads are seriously alive, not barren rock. Take the usual care to avoid damaging the polyps.