Today’s photograph is also another flashback Friday photo for my trip to Hawaii. One of the things I tried to do on my trip was sit near the water in areas where I could observe fish and other aquatic life. I then tried to zoom in with my camera to get pictures (this was all before I got a digital camera that I could then actually put in the water). So some of the photos came out nice and crisp, and other (like this one) had more of abstract look to them.
I thought that the fish in the photo is the Moorish idol (Zanclus cornutus)—or a member of the butterfly fishes that also closely resembles it—hard to totally tell from the picture. Anyway—the Moorish idol is a fish that has a wide distribution through the tropical and subtropical waters, especially around reefs and lagoons. But know I think that it is the black and white butterflyfish; these fish are also found throughout the tropical and subtropical waters around reefs.
The diet of the butterfly fish varies depending on the species—some eat coral polyps and sea anemones, while others are more omnivorous (which makes them easier to care for in salt water aquariums).
The way the fish mature is unique as well—butterfly fish release their eggs, which float on the currents with plankton until hatching. Then as they mature, the young go through a stage where they are covered in large, bony plates that are shed when they mature.
The Moorish idol is a very difficult fish to try to keep in captivity—mainly due to its diet (it feasts on sponges, coral polyps, tunicates, and various other invertebrates) and the fact that they require very large tanks as well. So that is why butterflyfishes (especially the black and white) are sometimes called the Moorish idol replacements.
I would like to go back to Hawaii and try my hand again at getting pictures of various fish under water, now that I do have a camera that I can stick underwater (at least a few feet).
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