pretty fish spotted in Grand Cayman

This is a pretty fish that is shaped like a hind, but bright yellow with some blue spots. It is about 15 cm long, and spotted at depths of about 10m.

Cool fish partner, I thinking it's a Coney - Golden phase, Epinephelus fulvus

Cheers,

Steve

I would call it a Coney too, Cephalopholis fulva according to fishbase.

It is similar i guess to a Rock Hind, Epinephelus adscensionis.

I do not think that Rock Hinds have yellow phases though, Coneys have a couple of cool different colourations. like two tone!

What I do not know is what causes the colour variations .. I always figured yellow was juvenile, and the two tone was maybe female.

Made me look Giles , found what appears to be it in my copy of Paul Humann's Reef Fish Identification, Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas 2nd edition. It's on page 155

This ref lists it as Epinephelus fulvus, guess it could have changed or ?

Steve

The second edition of Humann's reef book is full of errors, you should get the third edition... The correct genus for this pretty guy is Cephalopholis, and to be even more precise, the correct name is Cephalopholis fulva, ending with an "a".

Cheers!

The second edition of Humann's reef book is full of errors, you should get the third edition... The correct genus for this pretty guy is Cephalopholis, and to be even more precise, the correct name is Cephalopholis fulva, ending with an "a".

Thanks Luiz! appreciate the heads up. Doing books like these much be an editing nightmare.

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks guys. Not to be too pedestrian, is there a common name for the fish? - Erwin

Thanks guys. Not to be too pedestrian, is there a common name for the fish? - Erwin

Steve mentions it in his first response, the common name is "Coney". Great photo by the way, those yellow ones are relatively rare... Here is a link for more info about it if you are interested:

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/speciessummary.php?id=8816

Thanks Luiz. I had seen what Steve had used as the common name, but I was not sure if that was a typo along with the scientific name. Incidentally, it is interesting to hear that they are relatively rare with this coloration. I saw at least 3 of them on separate dives. They are very pretty and distinctive. Maybe they are more common in Grand Cayman? Thanks also for the link. - Erwin

Hey Erwin,

If you meet me at the bar and say you saw "That pretty yellow fish with the blue spots" I'll know which one you mean.

Hey Erwin,

If you meet me at the bar and say you saw "That pretty yellow fish with the blue spots" I'll know which one you mean.

Steve, that would work, too. - Erwin