A few more fish from Bali

Luiz you did so well here are a few more! haha

Snake Eel- perhaps Ophichthus bonaparti or Sharpsnout snake eel , Apterichtus klazingai

Lionfish- can't find anything close

another goby sitting on a barrel sponge

all from Bali again

1. Ophichthus bonaparti looks closest to me.

2. Not the best ID shot but I vote Parapterois heturura.

3. Striped Triplefin Helcogramma striatum

Ok, I will give it a shot

#1 Ophichthus bonaparti

#2 juvenile Dendrochirus zebra (not sure, what size was it?)

#3 Any other photo that shows the dorsal fin? If it has three dorsal its a triple fin, like William says, if not its either Trimma, which has an elongated second spine, or Eviota which doesn't.

I just noticed, the goby is featured in the www.finsonline.com ad in the right column.

Luiz, do you know of a Trimma or Eviota which look similar? Otherwise, it is very similar to this picture I took on the GBR which clearly show all three fins. http://photography.willandsam.com/Gallerie...RW_1039_RJ.html

Yep, the one you shot is a triplefin for sure, and the color looks identical to Mike's, so I think it is safe to assume they are the same (although there are some Eviota with very similar color). Still not sure about the lionfish...

thanks guys, ya, that lionfish was a strange one.

Larger and more elongate than your typical Zebra. I just found a book with heterura in it and i would say that is probably it, same filamentous tail...

How about a strange filefish...

Big sucker, probably 20-24 inches long hiding in some tube sponges near the surface..

Can you tell i am finally getting to my Bali shots from October?

Still not sure about the lionfish...

I believe that lionfish is what Graham Abbott and Yan call "bluespotted lionfish" [or actually "bluefin lionfish" as I remember now]. It is occasional at PJ. but uncommon other places, saw it in Alor also; and it looks exactly like that when buried in the sand/muck. Very distinctive lionfish. You can't see the "blue spots/fins" until it takes off, then surprise!! I've got some pics of it, I'll dig them out when I get time, buried one moment and "flying" the next.

I still haven't found the scientific name and I'd like to know. Perhaps Graham will chime in?

Carol

Big sucker, probably 20-24 inches long hiding in some tube sponges near the surface..

If it was really that big, I've got no clue. Non of my ID books have any filefish with skin flaps reaching anything close to that size.

ya, i have two books here and neither shows... including the new World Atlas from Kuiter and Debelius..

hmmm...

maybe 18 inches?

But was def on par size wise with the scrawled or scribbled filefish

The only filefish that I can think of that fits the color and size is Pseudomonacanthus peroni, do you remember if it had a tail like that? The one in the photo doesn't have the spikes in the skin, but some do.

P.S.: Next time take some ID shots! You know, side shots showing the entire fish... Not that you would waste film doing that...

The one in this photo kinda looks like yours:

http://www.edge-of-reef.com/monacantidi/MO...husperonien.htm

P.S.2: Looks like P. macrurus too, but the maximum reported size for P. macrurus is 8 inches, and the max size of P. peroni is 18 inches.

id shots!?!?! bah! hahah

ok, i think you are correct with peroni i googled till i found some good photos of it and this is the one...

http://www.edge-of-reef.com/monacantidi/MO...husperonien.htm

Still not sure about the lionfish...

More data on the lionfish Mike photoed here. Still haven't gotten the scientific name but Larry Smith calls it the "gurnard lionfish". It is the same one as on page 88 of the recent Fathoms mag. The article says it is "very uncommon" and they photoed it at Pantar, Alor. That is where I saw my first few juvs on night dives [Pantar, Alor], but at PJ that lionfish is not uncommon. I saw about 5 different individuals during the day in my 15 dives at PJ in Oct. 2005.

So Graham calls it the "bluespotted lionfish" or "bluefin lionfish" and Larry calls it the "gurnard lionfish" (or at least Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock do who wrote the article for Fathoms).

Now all we need is the scientific name....

Maybe it is the same as William's ID?? But very likely different as there seems to be discrepency.

I've asked for data, haven't heard anything yet.....

Best, Carol

thanks for looking into this Carol, much appreciated

Gurnard Lionfish scientifically called Paraterois heterora or something like that, my latin names suck and I'm not near my books. I'm pretty sure though cos I identified it for a few people in PI and South Africa. Also known as the blackfoot firefish in ZA.

Reef Fish ID calls the Gunard Lionfish Parapterois hetururus

Cheers,

Marli

Reef Fish ID calls the Gunard Lionfish Parapterois hetururus

Cheers,

Marli

Yes you are correct Marli, I missed that...., too bad they didn't get the large patches of blue in the fins - I understand that ID shot but sometimes it is actually best to shoot more down on some subjects! I saw this pic before but thought it might be different species till I found out that Larry calls it the gurnard lionfish. As said Graham calls it the "bluefin lionfish"...., regardless it is cool but not realy rare as the Fathoms article states.......

If I hear something different on the ID or a variation I'll let you all know, but I think we have it now.

Thx, C

thanks everyone!

The lionfish is definately the P. heterura also known as the blah blah or thingy ma bob. We can all go over common names of what strange fish are called in each different region be it in PI, FA, NZ, BTU or any other abbrevation for places we have no idea about, and none of the common names will probably overlap! We can call it what we like for ever and ever, though call it we may, it will never respond to any one of us! Though I'm sure there are a few divers who'd disagree with me on that one and reckon they get responses back from marine life!

It is actually on page 95 (i think it's page 95 anyway) of the new Kuiter/Debelius World Atlas of Marine Fishes.