The guide in Cozumel found this little guy.

Is it a pipe fish?

It certainly is, albeit a baby one. Very difficult to tell what species at the best of time, even when full size. Pretty cute!

Cheers,

Marli

Thanks Marli

Hi Ellen, looks like we are both going over the Cozumel images.

Our dive master, Geiser, also pointed out these little guys a few times. They must be somewhat common, though not commonly found by mere mortals like us. I'm attaching two more images, may even be the same fella, that show a bit more detail of head and body in hopes one of the experts can come up with a positive ID.

Bart

Hi Bart. I was also told by a friend of mine that Coz is the only place you'll ever see a splendid toadfish as shallow as we did. And all of my photos of them really suck.

My splendid toadfish shots also turned out not so splendid after all. However, Debbie got a great shot and with her permission I've posted her Splendid Toadfish on the FishDB website. You can find my first uploads from the February Cozumel trip there as well. Many more to come.

Bart

The markings on the body seem to indicate that this may be a Shortfin pipefish, Cosmocampus elucens. They are known to vary from dark brown to lavender.

Cheers,

Marli

Hi Bart. I was also told by a friend of mine that Coz is the only place you'll ever see a splendid toadfish as shallow as we did. And all of my photos of them really suck.

Splendid toadfish at any depth Only found in Coz (though of course now that Lionfish are in the Carribean, who knows what can happen.)