Scuba Snorkeling category: 142 books

I have always had a fascination for Goliath groupers. When I first met them, they were called jewfish. Itʼs common knowledge that Goliath groupers were nearly wiped out by overfishing up through the 1980s. They were protected beginning in 1990, and remain so today. Nowadays I see some talk from the...

Filefish have a protruding mouth with some very sharp teeth, similar to a triggerfish. They have narrow, compressed bodies with rough spiny scales and a front dorsal fin that can be raised or lowered. When the fin is raised, it resembles a file, which some reference sources say is the inspiration...

"While I was researching goatfish for the last column, I realized there is another group I have not paid enough attention to in my reef travels. Wrasses. This is a large and diverse family. Wrasses seem to be everywhere. They are quick and colorful. Perhaps some of the most vibrant colors on our reefs...

There are a few places in the outer edges of the Florida Keys reef tract that are a whole different world. Deep French, Deep Elbow and Deep Molasses are quite different than the shallower namesakes. The contours begin around 50 feet, and usually bottom out in the 80 to 90 foot range. Nitrox is the...

"Classified as a “nuclear” species, goatfish truly play a leadership role. Other species are attracted to the substratum-disturbing foraging. And when several goatfish are involved in the fray, the groupies increase in number and diversity.Single goatfish usually have up to three “follower”...

When I’m on the reef and I want a chuckle, I look for a fish in a box. Not a cardboard box of fish like you find in the bait shop, but a body box that fits perfectly and is color matched to its occupant. I bet I have seen some sort of fish in a box on every dive. On some occasions we find juveniles,...

"While the vast majority of observations during the day are while eels are resting or on a cleaning station, a few times I have seen an eel coupled with a grouper. The first time I saw this was on the Winch Hole. A graysby came to a stop on a pile of rubble, and a goldentail came out from its lair....

Cleaning stations are an essential element in reef ecology. All three parties - cleaners, clients and parasites - are part of a big matrix that runs the gamut from mutually beneficial to intrusive or harmful. When I first began my research, I thought this would be a no-brainer. A fish or turtle pulls...

"Hogfish got their name because they root around the sea floor, like a hog roots around the barnyard. They are opportunistic feeders, like their barnyard counterparts, but feed mostly on crabs and mollusks. We have three species here: Spanish, spotfin and the big kahuna, Lachnolaimus maximus.I...

"As Dr. Kelble points out, the variability of salinity levels in Florida Bay is incredibly important to the food chain. What does this have to do with minnows? Well, everything. He examined the relationship between mesozooplankton, salinity and bay anchovies.What follows is a massive oversimplification...

"As I stood on the boat with my morning coffee and watched the people pile in the boats and head out to the whale sharks, my immediate reaction was “we are in a whale shark theme park”. Pop in a roller coaster and a hot dog stand and we have an instant attraction for the entire family. An Imax...

I want to spend more time watching redlip blennies. They mate beginning at first light in two week cycles that start ten days before the full moon. The mating sessions last about three hours each morning, and males generally have female visitors every day. Sometimes the same females come back, but...

"Puffers are a group of species I like to shoot, especially the larger varieties. They have a shy, but jovial personality. At least they always look like they are smiling. Sometimes they won’t turn around to face the camera, and sometimes they don’t seem to care. They are not exactly speed demons...

Lots of reasons are given for the collective behavior of schooling. There is a whole host of scientific literature to study on the topic. Schooling occurs in up to eighty percent of species at some point in their lifetime. Protection from predators, breeding and searching for food are the top reasons...