Nano Gobies

super-agile Bluehead (Thalassoma bifasciatum) and the
Creole Wrasse (Clepticus parrae), provide flashes of color
on the reefs. The Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) is notable
due to its size. It is hard to believe that the bright
yellow juvenile form of the Blue Tang (Acanthurus coeruleus)
will eventually change into the equally attractive
adult. On the other hand, the yellow of the Trumpetfish
(Aulostomus maculatus) was purely temporary; normally
the species is reddish brown.
Ungainly swimmers such as the Smooth Trunkfish
(Lactophrys triqueter) and the Bridled Burrfish (Chilomycterus
antennatus) prefer to stay under cover. Circumspection
is also beneficial to particularly small fishes, such
as the Peppermint Goby (Coryphopterus lipernes), the
Cleaner Goby (Gobiosoma genie), the Roughhead Blenny
(Acanthemblemaria aspera), and the Redlip Blenny (Ophioblennius
atlanticus). Naturally there are also numerous
invertebrates—shrimps, crabs and lobsters, nudibranchs,
and sea urchins, to mention just a few groups.
HARD TO GET USED TO
But the real attractions of the Jardines de la Reina are
the big fishes whose size far exceeds the capacity of a domestic
aquarium: the massive groupers and streamlined
sharks that we encountered at close quarters, with no
protective pane of glass. There was a simple reason why
these fishes, which normally keep their distance, had lost
their timidity: for many years these huge fishes have been
lured to the area by regular feeding by visitors. This is disappointing
in the sense that the fishes no longer exhibit
their natural behaviors, but on the other hand, divers
have the rare opportunity to see these impressive hunters
up close on almost every dive.
When we arrived at a dive site after a quick tour
through the mangrove zone in the boat, the sharks would
usually already be there. Most of the “powerpacks” doing
their rounds near the surface were larger than we were.
This might give a novice pause before he falls backward
from the safety of the gunwale into the company of the
predators, but these sharks prefer to eat fish—people
aren’t on their list of prey. And their finely tuned senses
allow them to distinguish one from the other very well. In
fact, our noisy arrival is more likely to scare them away,
even though they are presumably used to us by now.
Regardless of which dive site we visited, there were
Silky Sharks (Carcharhinus falciformes), Caribbean Reef
Sharks (Carcharhinus perezi), or both in attendance. As
we followed the face of the reef downward, the unusual
assembly “upstairs” gradually broke up and moved away,
and soon the fishes were ranging further afield in deeper
regions. They kept on disappearing from our field of
view, only to return again before long.
We often encountered Black Groupers (Mycteroperca
bonaci), whose flight distance is less than that required
to fill the viewfinder of the camera. Sometimes these respectably
sized fishes had a pattern of red-brown spots,
but the black edge of the caudal fin was a reliable diagnostic
character. The less common Nassau Grouper
(Epinephelus striatus), with its unmistakable pattern of
stripes, was less bulky in appearance. But the most impressive
member of this group was the Goliath Grouper
(Epinephelus itajara). The longest of them was almost
The invasive Red or Volitans Lionfish (Pterois
volitans) is as common in some parts of the
Caribbean as it is in its natural range.
98 CORAL