Rare Eel and Rarer Butterfly

[MauiScubaSteve]

I've attempted to capture images of what others have told me was a Giant (Javanese) Moray, but those head only shots did not cause me to be impressed or convinced. That was mostly due to the bad angle I had to shoot, or strobe issues, etc. Granted, I saw an impressive large head and mouth, but never the body thickness and reputed length (up to 8' according to Keoki Stender)

At one of my regular dive sites I have been seeing a group of very large Bluefin Trevally (up to 39" & 100 lbs according to Keoki), even witnessing a successful strike down into the coral for fish dinner. I have found many eels and octopi by investigating the coral head below smaller obsessed Bluefin, but this pack of full grown adults didn't seem to need a hunting party member other than themselves.

Last week they were in the usual place, 6 strong. They were even more obsessed than usual, and I got the camera really close without the usual retreat. It is pretty unnerving to have that many large aggressive fish darting about, so I was not looking away from them. One of the other divers pointed down with amazement and I joined his shock! Here was a very large and not very shy Giant Moray right at my fin tips, luckily not giving me a second thought.

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These images are just the teaser, the best images are at this link;

halemano : photos : Best of Lanai- powered by SmugMug

Another fish pic on that gallery is a Chevron Butterflyfish, which is only supposed to be found at French Frigate Shoals. One of these days I might even see both on the same dive.

Anybody else getting to dive with animals that shouldn't be there

 

[rgbmatt]

The state fishing record for the Giant Moray is 150 pounds. That's big!

Another fish pic on that gallery is a Chevron Butterflyfish, which is only supposed to be found at French Frigate Shoals. One of these days I might even see both on the same dive.

Anybody else getting to dive with animals that shouldn't be there

Chevron butterflies show up semi-regularly in Kaneohe Bay. My wife has seen two of them (and has video of one), and I know a couple of other people who've spotted them over the years. Coral-eating butterflies are almost never found in the aquarium trade so they're clearly natural recruits and not abandoned pets.

Supposedly, these butterflies only eat Acropora corals, with aren't found in the main islands. However, the ones in K-Bay were adult size and obviously hadn't had trouble finding food. She claims that they were eating Montipora capitata (rice coral) which makes sense since it's in the acroporid family. The one in your photos (nice pics BTW) looks good sized as well.

I've been fortunate to see many fish that aren't supposed to be here. One of the more recent was the Slingjaw Wrasse, also associated with Acropora and normally found only in the NWHI. The area (on East Oahu) has several of them, including a large male that's at least 2 pounds. Apparently they're able to survive here without their native habitat. One of them is in the attached photo - the reason it's in a bucket is because it was en route to Waikiki Aquarium. It'll be on display in the "reef predator" tank, so more people will be able to enjoy it.

The rules of where fish are supposed to be often have some exceptions.