The regal tang goes by several names, palette surgeonfish, royal blue tang, hippo tang, and blue surgeonfish. They are sometimes mistakenly called blue tang, which is a different type of fish, although they may be correctly called Pacific blue tang. I recommend sticking with regal tang.

Physical description

The regal tang has an ovular shaped body characteristic of its tang family. It can grow up to a foot in length (31 cm), making it a decent sized fish.

The regal tang’s colors set it apart in the family. It is a royal blue color with yellow fins. The yellow tail fin is bordered by black stripes on the top and bottom.

There is a black swirl on the top of the fish, giving it the appearance of a painter’s palette, resulting in one of its many names (palette surgeonfish).

Geography and habitat

The Indo-Pacific region is home to a variety of colorful creatures, and the regal tang is one more species to chalk up for these waters.

Look for these fish in coral reefs at all depths.

Trivia

Most people know that the title character from the 2003 Pixar film Finding Nemo is a clownfish, but what type of fish is his friend, Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres)? That’s right, a regal tang. A bit of fun, spontaneous trivia for you.

Further reading

Wikipedia
Animal-World
FishLore

Photo by Jack Rydquist

I love goofy looking fish, and today’s fish identification definitely fits that description!

Physical description

We’ve seen triggerfish before when we covered the black triggerfish. The clown triggerfish has the same basic body shape. This means an oval shaped body that is very flat. Ventral fins on the body and rear dorsal fins “wave’ to allow slow movement through the water, giving triggerfish what is probably their most recognizable characteristic.

What distinguishes clown triggerfish is their coloring. The bottom half of the fish is covered in large white spots over a dark background. The top of the fish is medium sized black spots over yellow color. The fish also has a few white stripes, in particular below the eyes and along the dorsal, ventral, and caudal fins.

If all that color isn’t enough for you, clown triggerfish have distinctive yellow lips, large like their triggerfish brethren. These lips mask strong jaws used for crushing sea urchins and the like.

Geography and habitat

Sorry Caribbean divers, but the clown triggerfish is found in tropical Indo-Pacific waters. Even in this region, the fish is relatively rare.

Nevertheless, look for it at all depths around coral reefs.

Due to their colorful appearance, clown triggerfish are highly sought by the aquarium trade, despite being difficult to maintain.

Further reading

Wikipedia
Fresh Marine
Animal World

Photo by mjwinoz

Juvenile photo by cliff1066

The state marine fish of California, the Garibaldi damselfish (full name) is a common sighting off eastern Pacific waters.

Physical description

Garibaldis have the usual damselfish look: steep sloped head, heart shaped caudal fin, and the flowing dorsal and anal fins. However, the most identifying characteristic is their distinctive orange color. In fact, this bright red-orange color provides the fish with its name. It is named after Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian revolutionary famous for his red shirt.

Juvenile garibaldis are not as bright in color, and often have shiny blue spots which disappear with age.

Garibaldis grow up to 30 cm (12 inches) in length. Between their length and unmistakeable color, they should be easy to spot and identify.

Geography and habitat

As mentioned, garibaldi damselfish call the coastal waters off the western U.S. home. They are particularly common in San Diego, Los Angeles, and the islands of both these cities.

Garibaldi are fiercely protective of their home, particularly when eggs are present. They have even been known to nip at humans who approach too close to a deposit of eggs.

They are found at depths up to 100 feet in rocky areas, which they prefer to call home.

Legislature

Since it’s the state marine fish and all, California has taken measures to protect garibaldi damselfish. This link summarizes the legislation, but in short, you’re not allowed to kill or take garibaldi without a special permit.

Further reading

Wikipedia
Monterey Bay Aquarium

Photo by Stan Shebs

Juvenile photo by Randy Morse

Being a hogfish, the Spanish hogfish is part of the wrasse family.

Physical description

Spanish hogfish have the common appearance of most hogfish. Namely, the pointed snout that they use to root through the sea bottom. Spanish hogfish are 10-13 inches (25-33 cm) long, although fish who eat their Wheaties can definitely grow larger.

Spanish hogfish also have streamlined dorsal and anal fins which trail back. Along with the pointed tips of the caudal fin, this gives them an aerodynamic appearance.

Juvenile Spanish hogfish have an almost entirely yellow body, except for the upper front quarter, which is a purplish or possibly blue color. This is the Spanish hogfish’s most distinguishing characteristic. As they get older, the yellow fades into darker colors, like brown.

Geography and habitat

Despite their name, Spanish hogfish are not from Spain. The live in the warm Caribbean waters, only as far north as southern Florida and down to Brazil.

They live on the reef at depths as shallow as 3 meters down to 30 meters. They are constantly prowling for food. Look for them rooting on the sea bottom, or, if you’re fortunately, catch the juveniles cleaning other fish like snappers. Fish will open their mouths and gills, allowing the Spanish hogfish free access for cleaning.

Further reading

Wikipedia
FishBase

Juvenile photo by VenturaB.

Photo by brian.gratwicke

Dive for a while, and you’re bound to run into a fish named after Commerson. But just who is Commerson, and why is so much named after him?

Philibert Commerson was a French naturalist from the mid-18th century. He is best known—especially for fish lovers—for circumnavigating the globe with Louise Antoine de Bougainville from 1766-1769. An astute observer, Commerson discovered many species of fish, as well as trees and plants.

• Commerson’s dolphin. We saw this species in our guide to dolphins article. Commerson discovered this dolphin in the Strait of Magellan.
• Commerson’s frogfish. As with many circumnavigators, the Pacific was a great opportunity for European exploration, so this species of frogfish was particularly exciting. Look for it around the islands of Hawaii.
• Common sucker. This sucker fish’s genus name is Catostomus Commerson, and is sometimes called a sand sucker. It’s fairly common in the United States.
• Commerson’s anchovy. Yup, he even has his own anchovy. These little guys live around Australia and Southern Asia.
• Commerson’s glassy. This tiny fish can be found off the coast of Africa, where Commerson spent the end of his life.
• Commerson’s sole. This fish has hardly any distinguishable fins. It lives in the mud in brackish waters in the Indo-West Pacific.
• Commerson’s mackerel. A type of Spanish mackerel in the west Pacific.
• Commerson’s sea pike. This is basically another name for a Great Barracuda.

Quite a list, and I’m not even sure that it’s exhaustive. If anything, it shows that it pays off to be the first to go somewhere with an observant eye.

On the return trip to France in 1769, Commerson opted to stay behind on the islands of Mauritius and Madagascar. He died 4 years later.

Photo by prilfish

Sea bass is part of the grouper family, which we’ve already covered. There are many types, including black sea bass, Asian seabass, European seabass, and the giant sea bass.

Physical description

Being from the same family, it is not surprising that sea bass share grouper’s strong “fishy” appearance often associated with fish we eat.

The dorsal fins of the sea bass are one long continuous fin, rather than two separate sets of spines. The caudal and pectoral fins are rounded.

They have large, fleshy lips. It is also a tall fish, with a high back, moderately pointed snout, flat topped head, and eyes set high.

Color is inconsistent in this family, but generally lies in the dark range: browns, black, and dark blues.

Size can also vary widely based on specific species, with most in the 1-2 feet range. However, the giant sea bass has been reported to grow up to 2.5 m (8.2 feet) and weighing as much as 255 kg (562 lbs)! Quoting the wikipedia article, “Due its size and carnivorous nature, it can pose some threat to humans.” Whoa!

Geography and habitat

Sea bass are found all over the world, in all waters. Most areas have a few species that are specific to those waters.

They like to hang around the sea floor, especially near rocks, man-made reefs, wrecks, and the like.

Conservation

The Environmental Defense Fund lists the Chilean sea bass, a.k.a. toothfish, as an “eco-worst choice” seafood, and suggests avoiding. Basically everything that can be wrong is wrong: they are overfished, fished illegally, other animals are killed during fishing, and they have high levels of mercury. Best to avoid Chilean sea bass.

Efforts have been underway for a while to regrow the black sea bass populations, so they are listed as “Eco-OK” to eat.

Further reading

Wikipedia
gma.org
Britannica Online Encyclopedia

Photo by Mike Johnson

Photo by docbaty

If you’ve taken a Fish Identification specialty, you’ve probably heard of REEF, the Reef Environmental Education Foundation. REEF tackles an interesting problem, understanding and protecting marine life, by allowing recreational divers the opportunity to get involved.

REEF was founded in 1990 when its founders realized the increasing threats faced by marine populations. Despite these threats, the scientific community lacked the resources to collect the data needed to combat the problem. By tapping into recreational divers’ affinity for sea life, REEF vastly increases the available amount of resources.

The primary way in which divers help is by surveying fish populations. During a regular dive, the diver simply takes notes on the types and numbers of fish seen. This data is then sent in to REEF, where it is used to increase the knowledge base needed by marine scientists, conservationists, and resource managers.

Note that REEF currently only operates in the coastal regions of North and Central America, the Caribbean, and Hawaii.

Getting started

Interested in getting involved? The first step is to become a REEF member. Membership is free and includes a unique ID number, website login, and a newsletter subscription (annual by mail, monthly by email) that keeps you abreast of developments in the REEF community.

Next, you’ll need to brush up on your fish identification skills. You’re not expected to know every fish, but being able to identify a decent number of fish makes the data you collect all the more useful. See The Diving Blog’s fish identification series for a continual source of learning.

There are a few ways besides self study to learn fish. There are fish identification specialty courses. These will cover the basics of fish families and may involve a few dives to try it out. There are fish identification seminars at REEF field stations—check the website for more information. REEF staff also organize field-survey trips as a hands-on method of learning.

Collecting data

Once you’re ready to collect data, there’s not much left to do. You are welcome to join the aforementioned field-survey trips or survey fish during a dive of your own.

During a dive, REEF recommends what is called the Roving Diver Technique (RDT). This technique is based around the idea that you don’t modify your dive in any way, but simply mark types and quantities of fish as they are encountered.

This information is collected on specialized slates with waterproof forms specific to the region being surveyed. On it, you will mark the species of fish seen and the abundance: “Single” for one fish, “Few” for two to 10, “Many” for 11 to 100, and “Abundant” for over 100.

When you don’t recognize a species, you can sketch it on the slate, taking note of distinguishing features.

Afterwards, you’ll transfer this data to a special scanform (freely available from the REEF store) and send it to REEF headquarters, where it is catalogued and made part of the database.

For fun, REEF has levels of certification based on number of surveys completed and various quizzes that can be taken.

I have yet to collect a survey, but it’s something I’d be interested in doing. If you’re looking to add some purpose to your diving, or if you feel like things have stagnated for you, this could be an interesting way to renew your interest. Sign up and get some scanforms—you’re under no obligation to complete them. Try it out once and see how you like it. You may be surprised.

The ocean sunfish, or mola mola, as it is most often called, is a fascinating sea creature. Their odd appearance and enormous size makes them a popular attraction at aquariums around the world.

Physical description

Mola mola are big. Really big. In fact, it’s the heaviest known bony fish in the world. Sunfish, on average, weigh well over a ton (1,000 kg), and are almost 6 feet (2 m) in length. There have been sightings of mola mola over twice these sizes, though.

Sunfish look like some kind of freak accident. Their bodies resemble a lump of poorly molded clay with a fin on the top and bottom. The body is flattened vertically (imagine a vertical pancake).

The dorsal and anal fin are particularly large, make the entire fish as tall as it is long. It also has small, fan-shaped pectoral fins. The mola mola doesn’t have a proper caudal fin, and instead has a lumpy tail.

Geography and habitat

Sunfish live across the globe in tropical and temperate regions.

They can swim deep (up to 2,000 ft, or 600 m), and actually spend most of their lives at deep depths. This, combined with their presence mostly in open waters, makes them a rare sighting on dives. If you’ve ever seen one while scuba diving, consider yourself quite lucky.

Sunfish have an interesting behavior that is the source of their name. They will occasionally swim close to the surface and turn horizontal, exposing the large side of their body to the sun. This basking behavior is thought to “thermally charge” the fish in preparation for diving to deep, cold water.

Overall, very little is known about mola mola.

Further reading

Wikipedia
FishBase.org
Monterey Bay Aquarium

Photos by Ilse Reijs and Jan-Noud Hutten and Dan Hershman