Red Indian Fish portrait

This Red Indian Fish struck a pose ...

(they normally play dead )

Nice! I'd love to see one of those.

Great shot and nice composition.

Alex

That is a gorgeous fish and a great capture.

Leander,

Lovely portrait. Been a few years since I dived JB, but always a great site for photos.

Had a surprise encounter with a red indian at Byron Bay in August, and this one played dead.

All the best

Nigel

Wonderful!

cheers

Alex, The next one I see I'll stick to a rock for you

Yeah Nigel, sometimes they are frustrating subjects! Hard to find and with a tendency to lay over and float away ... they sure have the knack of looking like they are dead, or in some way "restrained" What was the one at Byron hanging out on? Here I've mostly seen them among the pyura (ascidians).

cheers

Leander

Leander,

The one at Byron Bay was curled next to a yellow coloured sponge one day (hard to spot) and the next day was beside a grey sponge (very easy to spot). Last one I saw was in Sydney years ago and extremely well camouflaged amongst the orange sponges. Wrote an article for Dive Log about the Byron Indian, as very unusual to see one there.

For those that don't know this species is endemic to south eastern Australia, but most commonly found in the cooler waters of Jervis Bay, rather than the warmer waters of Byron Bay, over 1000km north of Jervis Bay.

Regards

Nigel

most commonly found in the cooler waters of Jervis Bay, rather than the warmer waters of Byron Bay, over 1000km north of Jervis Bay.

yeah, I was wondering where it would be hanging out B)

great photo!

do you see them often?

what an interesting fish... I looked it up on-line and found lots of fun facts about the red indian fish, and their behavior, on this page:

http://www.amonline.net.au/FISHES/students/focus/patac.htm

scott

do you see them often?

Don't see them often, maybe a couple of times a year. There's one spot that folks in our dive club say they are quite common - but then I probably only dive there once a year due to access issues.

They are pretty out there for fish, especially the way they swim. And though they seem conspicuous in photos, finding them on a reef is hard. I've had critter-spotting buddies swim past one right in front of them.

When they are found they become local celebrities. I've seen a queue of several photographers on a shootout sitting on the sand waiting to shoot one

cheers

Leander

Hi Leander,

Checked out your website - some wonderful images - great baby PJ. Miss the PJs since I moved up to Brisbane, but we get leopard sharks instead.

All the best

Nigel

Great shot and composition, Well done. I'd love to see one of these. I have never heard of this fish before.