Q4_Fall_2016_AlertDiver

T H R E E - S P O T F R O G F I S H

“Masters of camouflage, frogfish play the waiting game, ultimately prevailing as

ambush predators par excellence. Their ventral fins are modified for grasping

like hands, and they’re content to sit motionless for long periods of time. They

use another modified fin that they manipulate to move and wiggle like live bait

on a fishing rod, luring a feckless fish within swallowing distance of a cavernous

mouth. This three-spot frogfish, photographed in the Philippines, has coloration

that blends with the reef and is augmented by algal growth, making detection of

the frogfish quite difficult, even for seasoned spotters.”

S N A P P E R

A G G R E G A T I O N

“French Polynesia is one of my favorite places in the

world, and my best dives there have consistently been

in the Tuamotu Islands. Normally when one thinks of

the Tuamotus, one thinks of sharks. Sharks there are

(aplenty), but there is so much more. Visiting Rangiroa

at different times of the year will reveal different

phenomena. In October, the outside reef and Tiputa

Pass are filled with a spawning aggregation of humpback

snappers (

Lutjanus gibbus

). The number of fish must

reach into the hundreds of thousands if not millions. The

reef is barely visible through the mass of fish.”