Fish ID help

[JohnE]

Yaquina Bay (Newport, Oregon), Sunday March 25th, 20 ft depth, fish was about 5 inches long. I have seen a similar fish up in the kelp atop a submerged jetty wall last summer. Its brilliant turquoise colored eyes really stood out. There are whitespotted greenling in the area so I wonder if juveniles can have the eye coloring like that, and the dark bars.

Pic captured from GoPro video so not quite great resolution, sorry.

[eliseaboo]

Looks like a painted greenling to me.

[Tom Nic]

Quick glance says Whitespotted. Definitely not Painted.

[Dusty2]

For future reference, For ID work a screen capture isn't very good. A short video clip would have been much better. Unfortunately This photo doesn't show head detail which would have made an ID easier. But I would say that Tom is probably right though I have never seen one with turquoise eyes. Maybe it a trick of the lighting or a local anomaly.

Is this what you are seeing?

[JohnE]

Thanks guys. I'll post a video clip. I've seen the whitespotted greenlings around here a number of times. Also the painted greenlings, although usually offshore not on the jetty. This one just didn't seem to fit into either. The forward slanting bars are odd, not exactly bars either around the lateral line.

[Furnari]

Here's a similar fish I saw at Netarts- it also has kind of a forward slant to the bars, and fewer white spots than some of the ones I've seen in other areas. Two of my REEF buddies disagreed on mine- one said juvie Kelp Greenling, the other said White Spotted. I think White Spotted, and I'm hoping for confirmation so I can hassle one of 'em

[Tom Nic]

Juvie Whitespotted, both of them.

Not that I have an opinion, or anything!

I had not seen a ton of these guys except on the random night dive - all the ones in the South Sound seem to be extra shy and skittish except when sleeping. Then I dove Tuwanek in Sechelt and they were abundant there and most of them were young, and look very much like the OP's picture.

[JohnE]

Ah, looks like my clip is a little late but here it is...



http://vimeo.com/39363946

[Dusty2]

Juvie Whitespotted, both of them.

Not that I have an opinion, or anything!

I had not seen a ton of these guys except on the random night dive - all the ones in the South Sound seem to be extra shy and skittish except when sleeping. Then I dove Tuwanek in Sechelt and they were abundant there and most of them were young, and look very much like the OP's picture.

+1 Definitely white spotted. Very skittish unless they are adult males guarding eggs or hiding somewhere they feel real well hidden.

[JohnE]

I found some more matured juvenile whitespotted greenlings up in Netarts (Oregon) last weekend. At this stage it is more similar to the pics of adults I usually see. Thought I would add this little clip to the conversation here for reference.



http://vimeo.com/39951337

[Dusty2]

Definitely White spotted greenling and I would say from that behavior that he is nesting. Usually all you see is his tail as he sprints away.