Northwest Dive Club

WOW, 64,000 clicks on Whidbey Island Critters !
Another fish color puzzle. Why would the females wear all the different colors
on the same day, same reef ? Fashion show off ?

Wow I like the two on the bottom with the leopard pattern.

The real question is, how do you get them to sit still for you??????????

There sure is a lot of variation in female Kelp Greenling markings and coloration. I have no idea what the full story is on that, but I will say that I think I've noticed a couple of patterns...

a) the coloring changes with age/size/maturity - young females can look a lot like White-Spotted Greenling - even younger they tend to be solid red or olive

b) where there is surge or heavy current their colors seem more intense - maybe some of the variance relates to food?

My friend Stan and I were on a night dive off the NW corner of Tatoosh Island when we encountered (about 90fsw IIRC) a greenling which was at least 14" long, with solid bright red/orange coloration. It really grabbed our attention. I took photos and puzzled over it for a while - thought it might be some kind of early stage Rock Greenling, but after consulting with Christy and Janna, I ended up reporting it as a Kelp Greenling. Still feel some doubt about that fish identification - just didn't seem like any Kelp Greenling I've ever seen.

They are born here at he Jetty , after high school they wander off and we don't see them here
at Keystone anymore...

Another visit to the colors of Deception Pass . Even the Shaggy mouse are more
colorful here...

That's fascinating, Jan! I have often wondered what, if anything, eats metridium anemones.

LCF wrote:That's fascinating, Jan! I have often wondered what, if anything, eats metridium anemones.

At least some kelp greenlings eat them.

What a difference. One from the north end of Whidbey, the other from the south end of Whidbey.
As the realtor said LOCATION IS EVERYTHING ...

wow dramatic difference!

On the sandy slopes the Sunflower Star meets the lonely Pink Tritonia.
The nudibranch doesn't like it a bit. At first touch it starts the convulsed escape dance.

What a cool behavior to capture! Everything in the water is afraid of those sea stars, and with good reason . . .

Great find!

Visit to Langley Tire Reef. I found two Whitespotted greenlings guarding eggs.
And it looks like Bull Kelp is now a feature there too.

Jan K wrote:And it looks like Bull Kelp is now a feature there too.

Kelp at Langley?! That's a surprise to me.

Very cool White-Spotted Greenling study Jan - I've never seen the males of that species guarding eggs - Kelp Greenling all the time of course, but never the White-Spotted guys. Once again I find myself wishing I noticed the things that you do.

theres some kelp over at the far side of the side, very near where the boats come in, if you follow the wall all the way around

I don't recall ever seeing any kelp there - except damaged and washed in after a storm. Things have changed a great deal at Langley in recent years. Kelp is definitely a good thing Has been a while since I've been there - might have to make a point of checking it out sometime in the next couple of months.

Many of the Lion's Mane Jellyfish end up their lives as gelatin like blobs on the beach.
At Keystone on Saturday, the strong southerly winds churned up the shallows speeding up
their demise :(

There were about ten of them caught in the surf, hard to get a good picture as I felt at times
like the doomed jellyfish ...

Jan K wrote:The Cabezon was not about let its "Gunnel on the Stick" snack go when I found the two on Langley Tire Reef yesterday :

Hi Jan! You seems to be always at the right place at the right time!

So the orange belly gunnel that became the Cabezon's snack is a Crescent Gunnel not a Longfin? I saw tons of them at Langley Tire Reef yesterday. They have an orange belly...can they be Saddlebacks? I keep confusing them!

I have never seen a Cabezon at Langley or anywhere else on Whidbey Island.How do you find them?

Cheers

Tubesnout23 wrote:

Jan K wrote:The Cabezon was not about let its "Gunnel on the Stick" snack go when I found the two on Langley Tire Reef yesterday :

So the orange belly gunnel that became the Cabezon's snack is a Crescent Gunnel not a Longfin? I saw tons of them at Langley Tire Reef yesterday. They have an orange belly...can they be Saddlebacks? I keep confusing them!
I have never seen a Cabezon at Langley or anywhere else on Whidbey Island.How do you find them? Cheers

This was shot long time ago, I agree, Cabezons are not frequently seen here on Whidbey, I had actually more
luck at Keystone than at Langley. I thought that it was Crescent gunnel then, but I think you are right, it looks like I messed up. Nobody corrected me in 2007 so it was hiding there all this time - Saddleback gunnel snack, indeed.

hmm, not so sure you should switch. The markings on the side look a lot more like that of a crescent than a saddleback in the second picture. Look at fig. A and D on pg. 129 of the new Lamb & Edgell and compare to saddleback on the next page.

Greg Jensen wrote:hmm, not so sure you should switch. The markings on the side look a lot more like that of a crescent than a saddleback in the second picture. Look at fig. A and D on pg. 129 of the new Lamb & Edgell and compare to saddleback on the next page.

Hi Greg,

So both crescent and saddleback have orange in their belly, sides and cheeks?

They both can have orange in those places- or no orange at all, so color isn't a reliable character. Both species vary a lot in color but (at least in my experience) crescents seem to vary more than saddlebacks. Everything from a dark, almost blackish gray to pale yellow; orange to bright red. So I rely on the shape of the dorsal markings and the pattern on the sides.
I still sometimes find ones that don't seem to match either very well, though.

Greg Jensen wrote:They both can have orange in those places- or no orange at all, so color isn't a reliable character. Both species vary a lot in color but (at least in my experience) crescents seem to vary more than saddlebacks. Everything from a dark, almost blackish gray to pale yellow; orange to bright red. So I rely on the shape of the dorsal markings and the pattern on the sides.
I still sometimes find ones that don't seem to match either very well, though.

Now that we talking about gunnels. Have you ever seen a Pen Point Gunnel without the spots on its sides?

Generally when I've taken a closer look, the spots that the Pen Points are named for are present but difficult to see. But there are a couple of similar fish in our area - the Rockweed Gunnel comes to mind. Look at some photos in books and pay attention to the pectoral fins and other noteworthy differentiators.