Lovely fishes and then those scorps!

Every time I see an Ambon Puffer fish, I try to catch a bit of the blue dorsal fin....and finally, I did!

I like the lines and dots, too. And why do the dots end midway down the tail? And why no dots on the upper back? I'm tellin' ya, these things can keep you up at night. (Well, maybe not, but maybe in a good way...)

 This 4-spot butterfly fish was all alone! Sad...usually they hang out in pairs.

I was going to call this Which Fish Doesn't Belong, but it's kinda obvious: the Blue Fin Trevally! The rest are goat fish, which hang out altogether.

 I am having a hard time again with an urchin, still trying to get the image so you can see the little ball on top of a rock.. This urchin was probably about 2 inches across, but look at the rocks it had adhered to itself! That is some kind of protection. 

Shrimp, hiding in its hole. I am still amazed that they can burrow such a neat, round hole. Well, maybe someone else does it and they just steal the space. But they do have the claws for that job.

 A lot of shells have been appropriated by Hermit Crabs. This one is the electric blue crab. 

Basket shell. maybe 1.5 inches long.

 Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse about to get busy with the Goat Fish. This was a very busy cleaning station, with goat fish, trevally and convict tangs awaiting their cleaning.

Cowry shell hiding.

 I wonder if the Snowflake Moray eel had to back into this hole? Or maybe it knows another entry.

This Peacock Flounder was a small one that I saw immediately upon entering the Kiddie Pond. (I started there because the NO SWIMMING sign was still up near the deep side. We had a drowning recently in the deep end, so they are being even more cautious than usual. And I have adjusted my behavior to stay out of the deep end until the sign comes down. Which it did sometime after the lifeguards arrived at 9 a.m.)

 You can see another Hermit Crab at the top of the Horn Shell.

Scorpion Fish. I think this was the first, and smaller, one. Note the mouth slightly agape. I find them usually by seeing the fins with their ribs.

 It is a face only a mother could love! And for you novice snorkelers out there, that's why I try really hard not to touch the bottom, with hand or foot!

Male Trunk Fish.

 Moorish Idol having breakfast.

Close up of the Peacock Flounder skin pattern.

Pinktail Durgon showing its teeth. I usually catch them with my camera while they are running away, so this was a nice treat.

 Scorp #2. This was a larger one which was resting near where I look for octopus. See?! I managed to get almost all the way through the post without mentioning the lack of octopus sightings. I'm sad...

And it's easy to blame the seal for eating the octopuses. It could also be a human fisherman. Or maybe they are just getting better at hiding.

 Starfish wandered out from under. Not sure what rousted it, but it's unusual to see them out during the day.

 There SHOULD have been an octopus in this hole! (And if there was, I didn't see it. Drat.)

Upside down Rock Mover Wrasse. Just so you can see the clown face in the different way.

I have mentioned this in prior posts, but please please be careful and obey the signs when swimming. ESPECIALLY if you are there prior to the lifeguards arriving. And thanks for respecting the space of the seals, turtles and oh yeah, other swimmers!