Approx 3mm long, in about 2.5m of water
Mimic Shiner, similar to ghost shiner. Distinguishable by the lateral line that the ghost shiner doesn't have. Fairly thick debris in the water at this location. Mimic shiner is less transparent than the ghost shiner.
Fish, post larval but possibly not juvenile, only about 4 cm. Long. It was collected when harvesting Ecklonia radiata kelp in Tasmania.
Taken and dropped by heron near roosting site. Submitted to iNaturalist with permission of photographer, Russ Capper.
Grass clingfish,one of the two more common sorts at this 'hotspot' shallow shore dive site in the past,seasonally and erratically depending on local catchment status and mean rainfall pa etc.Via scuba.Poor focus,not a good photo at all.But these little green fish of seagrass outliers have been harder to find in each warm season,both when I took this pic and later, following the wettest year on record in Southern Oz for many decades,which occurred in 2015-6,and extended in many coastal areas of SA into early 2017.Of course,much of Oz is now dry,with below average rainfall.Should be a better dive season locally come spring summer autumn than it was for past 2 years or so,which were the worst for bad inshore water clarity,nutrient excess and 'sudden freshwater dump' decimation of sea-grass meadows, and denuding of rock reef algal canopies ,that I can recall in my local SA diving lifetime. The local reefs beaches and meadows had not fully recovered from several almost as unseasonally wet weather phases within the previous 1-2 decades,which bodes ill for next generation of SA divers.And all local beaches have less sand than in anyone's living memory(excepting nearer metro Adelaide where active replenishment via truck and slurry pipes is occurring,at some considerable but necessary expense to taxpayers).
Grass clingfish,one of the two more common sorts at this 'hotspot' shallow shore dive site in the past,seasonally and erratically depending on local catchment status and mean rainfall pa etc.Via scuba.Poor focus,not a good photo at all.But these little green fish of seagrass outliers have been harder to find in each warm season,both when I took this pic and later, following the wettest year on record in Southern Oz for many decades,which occurred in 2015-6,and extended in many coastal areas of SA into early 2017.Of course,much of Oz is now dry,with below average rainfall.Should be a better dive season locally come spring summer autumn than it was for past 2 years or so,which were the worst for bad inshore water clarity,nutrient excess and 'sudden freshwater dump' decimation of sea-grass meadows, and denuding of rock reef algal canopies ,that I can recall in my local SA diving lifetime. The local reefs beaches and meadows had not fully recovered from several almost as unseasonally wet weather phases within the previous 1-2 decades,which bodes ill for next generation of SA divers.And all local beaches have less sand than in anyone's living memory(excepting nearer metro Adelaide where active replenishment via truck and slurry pipes is occurring,at some considerable but necessary expense to taxpayers).
Another of these cute greenish clingfish, with the bright reflective eyes that make me strongly suspect they are cleaner hosts although I've still no proof.But FWIW I've seen them very close to the pipefish that often co-habit in these Posidonia seagrass outlier clumps, particularly Stigmatopora genus and Histiogamphelus genus members. It gets more confusing too, because I've also long suspected that Slender Weed Whiting are part-time hosts, and they're also often found co-habiting in the same outliers of Posidonia. How would I know if the weed whiting are not merely awaiting a clean by these clingfish (even though the slender weed whiting have overt host herald features e.g. caudal fin ocelli)?
I won't know, till I get photos or video footage showing direct contact between any 2 fish species as above.
But, lately "Syngnathid Hotspot" has been so degraded, and so lacking in pipefish and grass clingfish, I'm not so keen to dive that desert:)
This is a scanned image from film taken in 1978 at Queencliff Pier with a 120 roll film camera. 3 metres of water and obviously on the sea grass beds.
Small clingfish which investigated me quite brazenly but was still very hard to image properly. Base color dark brown, with blotches speckles and faint bands visible caudally. TL ~30mm. Plump tummy noted, perhaps gravid?
Tide had almost finished ebbing, but a brisk NNW wind heralding an approaching front meant that water clarity was already poor beyond the very shallow tide pools near the shore.
So I waded around sticking my head into pools, channels and meadows, looking for any macro subjects!
Slough darter.
Mottling on sides (female), uninterrupted infraorbital canal, incomplete lateral line.
Moderate debris, fairly deep, fairly shaded.
Redfin Shiner. These were pretty rare, we only found one in our collections. Many specimens do not actually have red fins. Found at our second site which was fairly rugged with very little bank making collection difficult.
We did a wetlands class.
Thought it was an oystertoadfish however the toadfish has no sucking disk. Thought it was an invasive pleco but the mouth was not on the bottom side.
The place was Armand Bayou Nature Center siening site in the bayou which is brackish water.
Sunny with a temp of 88f
Water temp 77f
Ph 7.5
Nitrates 0 ppm
Dissolved oxygen 1 part per million
Phosphates .5 ppm
Found the species on http://txmarspecies.tamug.edu/fishdetails.cfm?scinameID=Gobiesox%20strumosis
Common under rocks and also on the underside of dead paua (Haliotis iris) shells lying in rock pools from mid tide to low tide mark