Viewing: Bony fishes
October 16, 2017
Krefft’s Frillgoby, Bathygobius krefftii
I’ve long yearned to have a fish species, or any species at all, named after me. That doesn’t look like happening in a hurry, but I now feel content that I have at least had some influence, no matter how small, on the name of a fish species. The story behind this ‘naming’ commenced when I photographed this little fish that was found in one of Catherine McMahon’s oyster monitoring baskets at Outer Harbor recently: – The Krefft’s Frillgoby, Bathygobius…
Posted in Bony fishes | By Steve Reynolds
October 10, 2017
The small congolli that I found ‘belly up’ at Myponga Beach
I recently collected a small congolli that I found effectively ‘belly up’. The small congolli effectively ‘belly up’ (Taken by David Muirhead) Actually, it was lying on its side, on the shallow bottom towards one sandy rubbly bank of the moderately briskly outflowing but very narrow rivulet. The small congolli lying on its side, on the shallow bottom (Taken by David Muirhead) The rivulet, barely 2 metres wide at that point, was running across the beach towards the sea, since the tide was out…
Posted in Bony fishes, Citizen Science, Coastal species, Freshwater systems, intertidal zone | By David Muirhead
September 17, 2017
Pipefish encounters: One genus, two species, endless entertainment
Encounters of the kind below are not what most of us expect when at the beach for a swim and a bit of relaxation on a nice summer day. Which adds a special touch, for me at least. You can wade bare-footed at knee to waist depth off almost any white sandy beach in Gulf St Vincent and Spencer Gulf and see several species of pipefish that specialize in hiding in and around the edges of those dark patches of seagrass detritus that are…
Posted in Bony fishes, Coastal species, Syngnathids | By David Muirhead
June 13, 2017
Congolli, Pseudaphritis urvillii
This fish that I photographed at the Ships’ Graveyard in the North Arm of the Port River earlier this year was confirmed on iNaturalist as being a Congolli (Pseudaphritis urvillii). I had reported the sighting of the Congolli in my article titled “Further Discoveries at the Ships Graveyard” at http://mlssa.org.au/2017/03/25/further-discoveries-at-the-ships-graveyard/ I came across another one in Angas Inlet at the Garden Island jetty during a night dive there on 8th June (World Oceans Day). My photos of it were certainly…
Posted in Bony fishes | By Steve Reynolds
May 10, 2017
Normanville Jetty and Hotspot
David Muirhead says that the Normanville jetty is “a pretty poor excuse for a jetty”. “I have, however, found some surprisingly good photographic subjects on the piles at high tide, which is all the more titillating given the entire jetty can be above the water mark,” he says. (The present jetty is the second Normanville jetty. The first one was a short distance to the south of the current one but, after severe storm damage, it was decided that repairing…
Posted in Bony fishes, Dive Reports, Jetties, Maritime History, Syngnathids | By Steve Reynolds
April 27, 2017
Shrimps, Seadragons and Siphonognathus argyrophanes
Shrimps, Seadragons and Siphonognathus argyrophanes (As told to Steve by David Muirhead) The fish Tubemouth, Siphonognathus argyrophanes, looks very pipefish-like, and many veteran divers incorrectly think that they are true pipefish. They are, however, in the same family as wrasses (Labridae), which includes the ‘rock cod’ or ‘parrotfish’, plus weed whiting and western blue groper (which strictly should be called a western blue groper wrasse because it’s completely unrelated to tropical groupers like the giant Queensland Grouper). Tubemouth, Siphonognathus argyrophanes…
Posted in Bony fishes, Citizen Science, Crustaceans, Syngnathids | By Steve Reynolds
April 14, 2017
Goby Gets Nice Eye Rings
David Muirhead took this photo of a goby at Rapid Bay jetty in April 2016: – Goby at Rapid Bay jetty He has speculated in the past about why they (Grooved-cheek gobies?) get “nice eye rings”. He says that they can have gold irises or eyebrows. David thinks that they are probably Grooved-cheek gobies, Nesogobius species. They have also been called Opalescent goby. One of David’s photos of a Grooved-cheek or Opalescent goby featured as the background image for December…
Posted in Bony fishes | By Steve Reynolds
April 10, 2017
Spotting Pipefish
David Muirhead and I had Facebook conversation about finding pipefish with one-time Society member Ron Bellchambers recently, after David had posted this photo of a Crested pipefish on his Facebook page: – Crested pipefish (a.k.a Briggs Crested pipefish) (Taken by David Muirhead) (This Crested pipefish is typically cryptic below detrital seagrass leaf on silty sand @ 4 m depth Second Valley 5-4-17. The crest of its dorsal fin is just visible where its trunk meets the seagrass blade) I subsequently…
Posted in Bony fishes, Syngnathids | By Steve Reynolds
April 9, 2017
Photo of a Smooth Toadfish Blind in One Eye
In 2014, David Muirhead wrote an article titled “Opalescent Eye of Toadie – Reflecting on refracted light” – see http://mlssa.org.au/2014/08/11/opalescent-eye-of-toadie-reflecting-on-refracted-light . A Smooth Toadfish with two good eyes (Taken by David Muirhead) The article features a slide show of four toadfish images, along with comments such as “I’ve many dozens of similar shots of this adult individual and numerous other smooth toadies. Some are juveniles or sub-adults, while most show equal, or maybe even better, opalescent appearance of the nearer pupil. The colour is…
Posted in Bony fishes, Underwater Photography | By Steve Reynolds
March 25, 2017
FURTHER DISCOVERIES AT THE SHIP’S GRAVEYARD
In addition to my recent discovery of an Oyster Blenny at the Ship’s Graveyard in the North Arm of the Port River, I also found this bivalve mollusc shell there: – I checked it out further when I got home. I thought that it was a Venus shell, Tapes literatus. I photographed it with my mobile phone at home and sent the photo to Peter Hunt from the Malacological Society of SA for a positive ID. Peter’s response was as…
Posted in Bony fishes, Invasive species, Marine invertebrates, Molluscs | By Steve Reynolds