Northwest Dive Club

I did a bunch of diving this last weekend at sites where we saw quite a few of these fish. I was surprised to see a number of them sporting iridescent blue patches on their cheeks, kind of like the blue spots on a male kelp greenling. I don't remember seeing this before, and going through a whole bunch of internet images of the fish, I see one or two that show it. I'm wondering if this might be breeding plumage?

Not sure, because sometimes I see it, and sometimes I don't. In California, that bright blue patch is much more prominent, so there might be slight geographical differences? They use the patch as an ID feature down there.
- Janna

Thanks, Janna!