Fish ID help -- Sorry, no pictures

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 4:00 pm

Last night in Cove 2, we found a fish I didn't recognize. We were in about 25 feet of water. The fish was on the bottom, and its behavior was odd -- it would fin rapidly with its pectoral fins for a few seconds, move forward just a little, and then stop.

The fish was about 2" wide and about 6" long, uniform medium grey, and flattened in shape like a toadfish or clingfish. The most striking characteristic was that it had little beady eyes. I looked up plainfin midshipman, which was my first thought, but they appear to have prominent, sculpin-like eyes, and this fish definitely did not. The head looked more like the pictures I found of clingfish, but this critter was out in the open on the silt bottom.

Any ideas of what we might have seen? It was something new to me.

nwscubamom · Post by **nwscubamom** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:39 pm

How about a Snailfish? I have yet to see one, but others have and have sighted them at Redondo. There are several types that are possibilities - like Showy Snailfish, Lobefin Snailfish and Marbled Snailfish.

Another possibility would be a Northern Clingfish.

Unfortunately I have no shots that I've personally taken, so I can't post any photos for you, but how about this link to one type of snailfish on Keith Clement's website:
http://www.seaotter.com/marine/research ... l.jpg.html

And another type of snailfish on our newest member, Outlaw Dave's website:
http://www.outlawdave.com/ScubaPics/200 ... 100076.jpg

Maybe someone can post a picture of a Northern Clingfish here so you can see what it looks like?

Hope this helps narrow it down a little for you!

- Janna

dwashbur · Post by **dwashbur** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:51 pm

Here's a Northern Clingfish we found at Cove 2 back on 12/26 along the NDZ line during a night dive...

gcbryan · Post by **gcbryan** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 1:40 pm

LCF wrote:Last night in Cove 2, we found a fish I didn't recognize. We were in about 25 feet of water. The fish was on the bottom, and its behavior was odd -- it would fin rapidly with its pectoral fins for a few seconds, move forward just a little, and then stop.

The fish was about 2" wide and about 6" long, uniform medium grey, and flattened in shape like a toadfish or clingfish. The most striking characteristic was that it had little beady eyes. I looked up plainfin midshipman, which was my first thought, but they appear to have prominent, sculpin-like eyes, and this fish definitely did not. The head looked more like the pictures I found of clingfish, but this critter was out in the open on the silt bottom.

Any ideas of what we might have seen? It was something new to me.

It's sounds like a Northern Clingfish to me. Your description is too long for any Snailfish that I have seen. A Plainfin Midshipman is silver and is frequently partially buried in the silt.

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:30 pm

I was talking to Laurel LeFever this morning and ran this by him, and he thought it was probably a clingfish, too, until I told him about the rapid flapping of the small pectoral fins. He said clingfish don't have them. This guy definitely did, although they were small, and he was using them to fan in the silt -- I wonder if it could have been a midshipman, working on burying himself.

Well, maybe next time I find one, I'll have a buddy with a camera!

Joshua Smith · Post by **Joshua Smith** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:59 pm

LCF wrote:
Well, maybe next time I find one, I'll have a buddy with a camera!

That's my whole philosophy about underwater photography in a nutshell, too.

nwscubamom · Post by **nwscubamom** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 5:36 pm

LCF wrote:I was talking to Laurel LeFever this morning and ran this by him, and he thought it was probably a clingfish, too, until I told him about the rapid flapping of the small pectoral fins. He said clingfish don't have them.

Ummmmm....Northern Clingfish most definitely do have pectoral fins!

You can even see the one in the photo above, although it's blurry. I have some other photos by other photographers which show the pectorals very clearly. And Hart's book (pg 210 in my edition) show them and describe how many rays they have (21). So yeah, they do have pectorals, and that could be what you saw

- Janna

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 5:41 pm

I have to agree with Janna on this one too... Northern Clingfish do have pectoral fins. The fins are further behind the "head" structure than we would normally think about them being, but they've certainly got them.

Now, as for it being a Plainfin Midshipman, that was my first thought when I heard your description. The ones I have seen were a deep purple/brown, ugly as sin, and not arfaid of divers whatsoever. They like to bury themselves in the mud & rocks, but are sometimes out in the open.

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 6:16 pm

I love this site! Where else could you get ID help without a picture?!?

Pez7378 · Post by **Pez7378** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:18 pm

Fishstiq wrote: Pez spotted this little guy at the bottom of a small piling, about 25 fsw cove 2 on the boundary line. He (pez) didn't have his camera, and neither of us knew what it was, so I snapped a couple pics. Anyone?

<IMG SRC="http://usera.imagecave.com/Fishstiq/Div ... ain008.jpg">

<IMG SRC="http://usera.imagecave.com/Fishstiq/Div ... ain009.jpg">

Is this it? Turns out this is also a Northern Clingfish

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:18 pm

No, this guy didn't have any markings; he was a uniform, medium to light grey.

nwscubamom · Post by **nwscubamom** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:40 pm

Well here's a Plainfin Midshipman - do the eyes look like this at all? They do appear very beady and widely spaced when looking at one head on. Sometimes they can be silvery with shades of dark bands, but they can also appear grayish all over.

Snailfish CAN be large - the Showy Snailfish that we see around here every so often can be up to 10 inches long. Their eyes are smaller and beady. Other snailfish can be up to about 12 inches long, like the Lobefin snailfish.

Did the face generally look like the link I provided a few posts back?

Another thought I had for you was the Pacific Staghorn Sculpin. Generally they take off and swim a bit, before resting down in the sand again. They also bury themselves in the sand sometimes, and perhaps if it was guarding eggs or something, that might explain the strange behavior.

Did it look anything like this?

Those are just some more thoughts to help you narrow it down.

- Janna

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:51 pm

I think the closest so far is the snailfish on Outlaw Dave's website.

The eyes definitely did not protrude from the face, which is why I discarded the plainfin midshipman after I had a look in the books. The snailfish faces are right.

nwscubamom · Post by **nwscubamom** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 8:35 am

Then that is a VERY COOL sighting, LCF!!

- Janna

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:52 am

Good old Cove 2 . . . You just never know WHAT is going to show up there. That's where we found the hagfish, too.

sparky · Post by **sparky** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:31 am

Don't suppose it could have been the dreaded narcoses-diver fish do ya?

I hear there is a few fof them running around these waters

I agree with Tom I love this site where else could you get your fish sighting ided by some of the best critter watchers in the North West with out a picture

Sparky

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 2:42 pm

Oh, if we'd been down at the I-beams on any other day, I'd say the fish was a figment of a nitrogen-addled brain! (That day, though, we were on mix.) But I think even my narcosis-susceptible thinking is decent in 25 feet of water

sparky · Post by **sparky** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 3:04 am

well it was just a thought ](*,)

I am no good at id most of the critters any how even with the books

I am only right about half the time

Sparky

Northwest Dive Club

Fish ID help -- Sorry, no pictures

Fish ID help -- Sorry, no pictures

Re: Fish ID help -- Sorry, no pictures