Turneffe Atoll Photos + Fish ID request

[Fish in a Barrel]

I had a great week in Belize staying at Turneffe Flats. Here is an album of photos I took with my Canon S120 - Album.

I really like this camera so far, and I think I'm getting great pictures considering I'm just shooting with ambient light and custom white balance. I think my biggest challenge is dynamic range. Too often I'm trying to shoot a fish on the reef, and the sand around it gets completely blown out while the subject is properly exposed. I've been trying to shoot in raw while keeping the exposure low. That way I can tweak it on the computer. That's works OK, but it's a lot of work.

Can anyone tell me what this fish is, though:


It was hovering near the bottom. It moves in a rippling, sinuous motion. When I got close, it darted right into the sand without leaving a trace.

 

[drrich2]

Reminds me of a fish I posted a shot of in my May 2014 Bonaire Trip Report:



Imorin in that thread identified it as a Sand Tile Fish, and noted:

Sand tile fish has yellow snout and upper tail rays; elongated, and probably hung/cruised around a few feet off the bottom.

Your fish has different coloration/patterning; I wonder whether there is frequent color/patterning variation, or different types of tile fish?

Richard.

 

[jimbeeler]

I agree with drrich... Sand Tile Fish.

Jim

 

[Fish in a Barrel]

Yeah, the photos I've found of it online look very similar.

Awesome, thanks!

 

[drl]

Yep, sand tilefish. Nice shot!

 

[KeithG]

sandtile fish. they create a burrow in the sand that will have a bunch of coral debris on top of it. there are lots of small crabs and juvenile fish livng in the debris.

kind of reminds me of beaver huts.

---------- Post added March 8th, 2015 at 09:55 PM ----------

they are found on flat sand bottoms.

 

[drrich2]

By the way, nice shots. Liked the sharks; not always easy to get good pics of. The iguana on the log to the side on land is a neat 'did you notice' aspect. Wasn't expecting to see Atlantic spadefish in a Caribbean shot.

Richard.