Really cool rare find!!!

[MaxBottomtime]

The fish that Missy, Doug and I found at Marineland, previously described as a Pacific Spadefish has now been possibly identified as a rare fish from Hawaii, the Barred Knifejaw, Oplegnathus fasciatus. John Moore has been a big help in identifying this fish along with the SIO marine vertebrates collections guys. I don't know what the chances are of finding it again, and they would prefer that someone spear it so they can study it. I think I'll take my camera back to Marineland tomorrow after work and hope for the best.
http://www.hawaiisfishes.com/fishes/hanauma/oplegnathus_fasciatus.htm

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

So, is the assumption it was released? Or just far from home?

Why would they want you to spear a rare fish??

 

[MaxBottomtime]

It was either released, or possibly rode across as larvae. Scientists love to study dead things. The last two Brown Bears living in California were killed in the last century to study them.

 

[wetrat]

Nice find Phil - exciting! Wondering if that fish would last through the winter anyway. Water temps were unusually warm over the summer here in SoCal, which could explain how it survived this long. Must be a hearty species.

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

It was either released, or possibly rode across as larvae. Scientists love to study dead things. The last two Brown Bears living in California were killed in the last century to study them.

The all-encompassing stupidity of that boggles my mind.

Really nice find! That's cool to spot such an unusual fish

 

[PhotoTJ]

That's beachin'! I've got a LaPaz Pearl Oyster in my fishtank right now, caught it at Leo Carillo, the theory is it came up on an el nino in it's larval stage. Much cooler to see a fish, though.

 

[Kevfin]

Poor thing must be lonely, cold, and depressed. No family, no relatives, no friends… Probably wants to be speared.

Cool find.

 

[DiverBuoy]

...they would prefer that someone spear it so they can study it.

Noooooo!!!

 

[drbill]

That's beachin'! I've got a LaPaz Pearl Oyster in my fishtank right now, caught it at Leo Carillo, the theory is it came up on an el nino in it's larval stage. Much cooler to see a fish, though.

Is that the winged pearl oyster (Pteria sterna) you're referring to? Was it attached to a gorgonian. I find them frequently around Catalina and always on gorgonians. I've also seen a related winged oyster in Belize on gorgonians.

I wrote one of my newspaper columns on it. You can read it here:

http://www.starthrower.org/products/DDDB/DDDB_100-149/DDDB_128 winged pearl oyster.htm

 

[drbill]

So, is the assumption it was released? Or just far from home?

Why would they want you to spear a rare fish??

You know how some biologists are... they want to KILL things to study LIFE! After all the dissections in school, I was determined to teach biology without requiring dissection and killing. So I focused on things like ecology and animal behavior. Much more fun.

As for killing it, they wanted to get DNA samples for study. Of course there are ways to get samples without doing the critter in. However, it is an alien species. But then it appears to be solitary and few fish can reproduce single-handedly. Heck, even I can barely do that!