Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Something 's a little fishy in here. (post 1/2)

Okay, so yesterday I talked about shooting through the glass.  I got the chance to take shots of fish at a large fish/aquarium store.  Today I'm just going to post the pics that I got that I liked.  No big discussion today. :)


The Aliens Have Landed
 Isn't this guy a trip?  I have to say that I love that this aquarium uses a lot of flat black backdrops.  Especially here.  If anyone wanted to know if there was proof of aliens visiting Earth, I could show them this shot and probably have a few believers!   It's actually a form of boxfish called a "Longhorn Cowfish."
Anemones Do Not Eat Chocolate Chips

 This was shot in a re-created tide pool, so there was no glass.  The starfish here is about half the size of my hand - maybe three or four inches tip to tip - and is called a chocolate chip seastar (It is not a starfish it is not a starfish it is not a starfish!  I know, I know, most of us grew up calling them starfish, but since they aren't actually fish at all there's a movement to get people to call them seastars and be more accurate) .  Something tells me chocolate chip cookies taste better.  On the tour we were allowed to touch the anemone out of water.  It's very odd to feel an animal that has absolutely no structural support to it's tentacles.  It was like handling mobile jelly!

Yeah, come on.  Check out my blue teeth...with your finger.
 This is a Harlequin Tusk.  It's actually a form of wrasse, which strikes me as odd.  I always think of wrasses as being much smaller and more torpedo shaped, but there it is.  What's really awesome about this guy is that he has blue teeth.
More Moray




I adore eels.  I'm not entirely sure why, but I suspect it has something to do with going to the Shedd with my grandparents as a kid and looking around the huge coral reef in the center for the big moray there and refusing to leave until I found it.  I got to feed this guy - using a grabber stick and some fair amount of contortion to get the squid into the tank.  He's a vicious little eater!


Psst... Is the coast clear?
Here's the anemone I showed before.  The starfish was being passed around to the tour, so this little red shrimp started poking his head out from under this little flat cave he was hiding out in.

A Shrimp Pairing







I'm not a huge fan of seafood, personally, but even if I was, these shrimp are far too small to be worth eating.  And besides, they're way too pretty.
Peekaboo, I see you too!







Everything I'm finding online says this should be some kind of jawfish, both in shape and behavior, but I can't seem to find a species that matches in color and has the little horn.  Any aquarists out there who can help me out?







Okay, that's half the shots from this trip.  It figures I had just a few more than I was comfortable putting up in one post, but not really enough to have two full posts.  Oh well, I'd rather err on the side of caution and not break anyone's internet with ridiculous load times. :)

I'll put up the rest tonight or tomorrow.

No comments:

Post a Comment