DIVELOG JUNE 406

Blue Devils, Scissortails and Comets MARINE BIOLOGY WITH MIKE SCOTLAND - FISH IDENTIFICATION

The giant member of the Plesiops family, at 30 to 35 cms is the Blue Devil is one of the most beautiful fish in the sea. W hilst diving on the famous Arch at Jervis Bay, I saw a pair of Blue Devils together at 29 metres. Both fish were doing the mating dance together; a unique courtship ritual. I immediately identified the male by his behaviour. He was doing his stunning mating dance to impress the female. Whilst posing near the female, his entire body began to do the shimmer and shake in a magnificent dance of love . Quite clearly, he was stirred and shaken. In fact, you could say that he was ‘shaking all over.’

She was watching intently . The fish were focused on each other and continued to dance and pose together. I tried to capture a few photos. As usual, I had the close up lens on. How I wished that I had the wide angle to photograph both of them together. This sort of golden opportunity is extremely rare to capture and comes along once in a lifetime. In my humble opinion, Blue Devils are a very strong contender for the most beautiful fish in the world. I always celebrate the wonderful temperate marine life

around NSW. Most of the species are endemic, that is, found nowhere else in the world. To my absolute delight, we have one of the most beautiful fish of all right here in the middle of Sydney. Blue Devils live in sea caves. They like to find a small cave with several entries and exits. After mating, Blue Devils, eggs are laid on the roof of the cave and protected. Very little is known about the life history of the Paraplesiops. It a perfect reason that citizen science plays a vital role in unlocking the secrets of the sea. I have seen Blue Scissor Talis on the Great Barrier Reef thousands of times . They are a tiny 6 cm ribbon like fish that live in dark coral caves. No one notices them because they are so tiny and insignificant and many divers only want to see the biggest and the best. I like to watch Scissortails and try to see what they are doing. Careful observation reveals a similar anatomy to Blue Devils including pretty fins, similar shape and fin structure

Impressive display of the wonderful gold Scissortail.

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DIVE LOG Australasia #406 - June ‘24

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