This little guy was less than 1/4-inch long, bright yellow and moved by wiggling its whole body frantically in all directions. I photographed it while doing my safety stop... Any ideas?
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More Plankton-like Stuff
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i believe it is dirt
uuuuuuur um, this critter ID is getting way to hard for me ... im gonna have to go do a BSc in Marine Bilogoy just to keep posting in these forums.
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It is a larval fish. It is unusual for larvae to be pigmented, usually they are pretty much translucent. It doesn't have any major distinctive features so hard to ID any further.
When I was doing long night dives for coral spawning in September the water was full of fish larvae and post larvae. While waiting for the coral to go off I watched a group of about 10 post-larval surgeonfish settle.
Alex
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Come on, Alex! I threw you an easy one. I thought for sure you'd know this one... It's no other than the post-larval stage of a whale shark.. Can't you see the resemblance?.. No, neither can I.
I think the critter's pigmentation was what truly caught my eye. Where as mostly everything I photograph in The Plankton Zone (15ft) is translucent, this little critter was a very bright yellow color. If I ever see one again I will attempt to get a better (closer) photograph.
