Welcome to Day 25 of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. My theme is:
Wildlife Encounters
When it comes to the underwater world I have some favourite creatures which I’m always thrilled to see. An animal might be elevated to ‘favourite’
status because of its beauty, but more often it’s because it’s unusual, weird, super-ugly or full of character. (see my U for Unicornfish post)
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| Grey Reef Shark, Fiji |
There are certain creatures that my husband and I always
point out to each other. In addition to the obvious stars like mantas, sharks or turtles, we have a raft of smaller denizens which we love to see.
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| Spotted Boxfish, Thailand |
In what has become a large repertoire of favourite reef fish
one of my all time favourites is the Boxfish, so named due to their shape.
The
first time I saw a Boxfish I was diving in Thailand. I was highly amused. A living,
breathing, swimming box? How mad! How wonderful!
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Young Adult Yellow Boxfish
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There are several species of Boxfish. It took me a while to
learn how to identify the different species, not least because these fish look quite
different in each stage of their development.
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Intermediate Yellow Boxfish
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| Juvenile Yellow Boxfish, Thailand |
When I saw my first
baby Yellow Boxfish I was delighted. It was no bigger than my thumb and
one of the cutest little fish I have ever seen.
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| Juvenile Yellow Boxfish, Thailand |
These tiny juveniles can be challenging to photograph
because as soon as you approach they do their best to hide from you. I have
seen many now over the years, yet I still experience a thrill every time I see one.
See you tomorrow – I’m heading west. Can you guess where and what the last animal will be?
If you want to blog-hop to the next A-Z Challenge blog, please click HERE
I'm a land mammal so I don't have much success with guessing your fishy friends!!
ReplyDeleteI'll be boring... you're heading back to Africa to visit the zebras!! ;-)
AJ at Ouch My Back Hurts
I understand - you can't be expected to guess obscure fish. Will I return to Africa where I started this A-Z journey? Maybe!
DeleteOh, I so love it! I had the last laugh!! Thanks for humouring me!! ;-)
DeleteYou're welcome, AJ. :)
DeleteHow very strange to have evolved with angled sides!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it? There's no clear logic to the evolution of some of our underwater animals, Liz, but then I'm no marine biologist and maybe someone knows why this little fish developed this shape! :)
ReplyDeleteBox fishes are really cute! Have never heard about them. Its really amazing to see fishes in the shape of a box :)
ReplyDeleteSrivi, The Piscean Me
They are cute - I was amazed when I saw one for the first time, Srivi!
DeleteThe baby is darling! We have at least two varieties in the Virgin Island. The trunkfish and cowfish. Both are very triangular. The cowfish has a pair little horns coming out of the top of its head. They're good to eat too. Here's a link to a nice video showing them.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.divingstthomas.com/cowfish-trunkfish.htm
That's a great video, Bish. I've seen Longhorn Cowfish in Indonesia - there's a photo of one in my Q is for Queer Underwater Creatures post. I wouldn't want to eat one though.
DeleteYou have had so many lovely adventures. Thank you for sharing them.
ReplyDelete@Kathleen01930
Meet My Imaginary Friends
#AtoZchallenge
Thanks, Kathleen - I'm only too happy to share my experiences.
DeleteI envy you your lovely adventures in Nature. As Kathleen said, thanks for sharing them. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome, Roland. I'm glad you've been enjoying my posts.
DeleteA thumb-sized fish! That was a beautiful discovery! You take some fascinating pictures.
ReplyDeleteWell, it was the juvenile that was thumb-sized - and a delight to find. :)
DeleteSo colourful. I'm so going to miss this series of posts
ReplyDeleteThat's kind of you, Keith. But - in my normal weekly blogging I try to write interesting, colourful posts, so hopefully you'll look in occasionally after the challenge is over. :)
DeleteQuite striking!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI like boxfish too. I wish I could dive, but I think my sinus problems would interfere too much. I agree with you about ugly and odd animals often becoming favorites too.
ReplyDeleteThe only way to find out if your sinuses can cope with pressure is to try it. My husband often has sinus issues, but he's learnt how to minimise the problem.
DeleteThe yellow boxfish is lovely...my mom had a saree of the same color and design :)
ReplyDeleteNow, there's an idea, Jahnavi!
DeleteInteresting fish. I would love to see one up close. I think it is so cool you are up close to so many of these animals. I'm somewhat jealous. As for tomorrow, I'm going to guess Zebra.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jeffrey. I've always been a bit of wildlife nut and ever since I've been in a position to seek them out in their natural habitats I have done so.
ReplyDelete(Nice guess - but are you going to be right? I haven't written tomorrow's post yet!)
Aren't those little Boxfish the cutest fish every?
ReplyDeleteYes, the juveniles are very sweet and amusing to watch as they bimble around.
DeleteI've never heard of a boxfish. They are pretty amazing looking especially the little guy.
ReplyDelete@WeekendsinMaine
Weekends in Maine
Yes, they are strangely shaped for fish, Karen.
DeleteThey certainly are cute little swimmers! I don't think that I've ever seen one in person, but I never really knew most of the names of fish when I was snorkling. Although, maybe you have to dive deeper before you can see them?
ReplyDeleteTracy (Black Boots, Long Legs)
Boxfish tend to be shy, Tracy - even the adults - so if they were around when you were snorkelling, they would have hidden themselves.
DeleteThey look like they shouldn't be able to swim but they do and such great colours!
ReplyDeleteExactly, Birgit - they look a bit clumsy and wobbly - yet they can zip along very quickly. Their colours are gorgeous - so diverse!
ReplyDeleteI realize that I've learned the most about the underwater animals :) Great photos!
ReplyDeleteZeljka - the underwater world is still full of unknowns... so much to learn, but I find it utterly compelling. :)
ReplyDelete