Anyone know these, A Puffer, a Goby, and a sea star

The fish are both from Fiji. I thought the Puffer might be a Juvenile White-spotted, Arothron hispidus, but I can't find a picture or description of one. The Sea Star is from the Galapagos Islands.

The top two are indeed young white-spotted puffers (Arothron hispidus).

The third is a goby from the genus Oplopomus. I have just been looking into these and they are tricky. There are two species

- O. oplopomus which I just observed this summer in the Red Sea but is distributed widely in the Pacific (should include Fiji)

- O. caninoides which looks quite similar on fishbase images but is more restricted with no reliable reports in AquaMaps East of New Caledonia. So on that count I would identifiy your specimen as O. oplopomus.

In Reef Fishes of the East Indies the images of the two species are much more different, with yours again more closely resembling O. oplopomus but there is considerable variation within the species.

The two images below come from the Red Sea where supposedly O. oplopomus but not O. caninoides is found. The first has more bold colouration while the second is more subdued and has a different pattern in the anal fin. Perhaps this reflects sexual dimorphism. If I find out more about them I will post an update later.

Bart

PS: Your last question concerns a species without scales and tails so I am of no help

Thanks again Bart,

I can see the Goby now, but never would have got it from the pictures in any of the books I have.

I'll try to post a few more tomorrow.

Craig