This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 9:53 pm and is filed under History, Information, Snorkeling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Photo Courtesy Gloerfelt-Tarp/fishbase.org
What the heck is that? That was the first reaction this author had when seeing this picture. Next question that came to mind was “where is the mouth?”
Researchers named this unusual fish the Coffinfish. It is in the Seatoad Family and the Order of Anglerfish. What a cutely bizarre fish and a highly unusual name! Researchers tell us they grow to about 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) in length. There is no information on what they eat, but one very interesting piece of information is they are seen around the new island forming underwater SE of the Big Island of Hawaii. The little seamount, courtesy of Madam Pele, the fire-goddess of creation, is called Loihi. Volcanologists predict this active volcano will break through the surface of the ocean in about 1,000 years, give or take a few hundred, in the very warm water and in depths of 500 meters (1640 feet) to a whopping 1985 meters (6512 feet)! The Coffinfish is known to be in deep waters of Indo-West Pacific: Japan to Kyushu-Palau Ridge, Australia and Indonesia; Chesterfield Islands. What a perfect name for a little fish with Frankenstein stitching decorations!
Snorkeling in Hawaii is full of amazement, even if we do not get to see deep water species. There are anglerfish in shallower waters we can look for and we will discuss these in future postings. Keep checking back and Happy Halloween!
