shrimp eel from St. Vincent

[reefnet 0]

Hi all!

 

I just returned from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent where I spent 2 weeks looking for and photographing unusual marine creatures. I found plenty. One of them was Ophichthus gomesii, the "shrimp eel". It's the first record of this species from St. Vincent and only the second from the Lesser Antilles (the previous one was from Trinidad over 20 years ago). We encountered 2 of them, both found by my dive buddy Ray Haberman, who called me over to take photos. As far as I know, the accompanying images are the first ever of a live shrimp eel in its natural habitat.

 

 

 

 

Les

[Scubamoose 0]

Hi Les!

Congratulations for takeing these excellenmt shots and thank's for shareing them!

Cheers

Scubamoose

[Maarten_NL 0]

Nice pics... there is still much to uncover under water

[tubino 1]

Thanks for sharing this, Les! How big was this feller?

 

With so much to learn about what lives where, I sometimes fear we lack the baseline data against to measure rapid change (global warming, water acidity, etc.) Could there be a case where it is not possible to determine if the existence of a new-to-the-area species is 1) merely an expansion of KNOWN habitat, or 2) invasion of species new to the area due to changing conditions?

[laz217 0]

Hmmm... I wonder if this is a similar species. I found it in West Palm Beach (guess where?!?!). I'm not sure, but I believe its got some kind of growth on its nose as I remember the first time I saw it, a couple of days before I photographed it, it didn't have the bulbous looking nose. I still see it from time to time although I've never seen it come out of its burrow. It certainly has the same shrimp eel behavior of sticking out at 90 degrees from the sand. I haven't noticed a shrimp on its nose, though (it could probably use one considering).

 

[reefnet 0]

Thanks for sharing this, Les! How big was this feller?

 

It was about 2.5 feet long, which is as big as they get.

 

With so much to learn about what lives where, I sometimes fear we lack the baseline data against to measure rapid change (global warming, water acidity, etc.) Could there be a case where it is not possible to determine if the existence of a new-to-the-area species is 1) merely an expansion of KNOWN habitat, or 2) invasion of species new to the area due to changing conditions?

 

If conditions change slowly then I think you'd have a hard time distinguishing normal random dispersion from migration. It's also difficult to know if a species is new to an area or if it simply has not been observed before. For example, this shrimp eel has likely been there all along but has been overlooked because of it's secretive nature and it's preference for an ugly-looking habitat that most divers shun. There are numerous examples of species that have been recorded at locations hundreds of miles apart but not in-between. Chances are it's also "in-between". Underwater photographers are well-positioned to prove it by sharing their photos, as we do in forums like this one.

 

Les

[reefnet 0]

Hmmm... I wonder if this is a similar species. I found it in West Palm Beach (guess where?!?!). I'm not sure, but I believe its got some kind of growth on its nose as I remember the first time I saw it, a couple of days before I photographed it, it didn't have the bulbous looking nose. I still see it from time to time although I've never seen it come out of its burrow. It certainly has the same shrimp eel behavior of sticking out at 90 degrees from the sand. I haven't noticed a shrimp on its nose, though (it could probably use one considering).

 

 

It's really tough to ID a snake eel when you can't see either its body or its snout. Sometimes the pore configuration on the head can clinch it, but not in this case. I've heard a lot of good things about "guess where". I'll have to check it out one day.

 

Poor eel. But then, how about this cowfish?

 

 

Or this pearly razorfish?

 

 

Life can be cruel.

 

Les

[BrianM 2]

The shrimp eel is a great find Les. Free swimming too.

 

While we are on the subject of life being cruel, here's one also from St Vincent. I'm not sure what is or what's problem is.

[Annediver 0]

Hey Laz,

 

Your eel is:

 

Bascanichthys sp. (Whip eel)

 

Great shot of it. Anne

[Leslie 0]

Brian - It's a fish. (Sorry, couldn't resist.....) The spines are from a fireworm that Mr. Fish unwisely chose to nibble on. They'll drop off in time. As long as the fish didn't get any spines deep into it's eyes it should be fine.

 

Tubino - For small species it is extremely hard to distinguish between introductions, range extensions, and undiscovered natives, particularly for the tropics or any other region where the fauna is poorly known. Even here on the US west coast - one of the best studied faunas anywhere - we are constantly finding new species & having difficulty determining their status. Good taxonomy is the basis for all biological sciences but the number of taxonomists just keeps declining as does the support for fundamental biodiversity surveys.

[BrianM 2]

Leslie - Wow! you even know about non worm things ;-)

 

You can't see it too clearly because of the depth of field in the image, but the spines are sticking out of the fish right down the length of it's body to it's tail. Also where the spines are sticking in, the colouration of the skin around is darkened for a large area around it, perhaps indicating infection. So I assume that worm must have wrapped itself around the fish to cause so many spines to wound over such a large area.

[Leslie 0]

You can't see it too clearly because of the depth of field in the image, but the spines are sticking out of the fish right down the length of it's body to it's tail. Also where the spines are sticking in, the colouration of the skin around is darkened for a large area around it, perhaps indicating infection. So I assume that worm must have wrapped itself around the fish to cause so many spines to wound over such a large area.

 

I would opt for a different scenario: the fish bit the worm, got a mouth/face full of spines with the worm still attached, and while struggling to break free of the worm's spines the fish kept hitting the worm only to get more & more spines. Someone who really knows what species the fish is will have to tell us if the color is normal or not. Infection from the spines is certainly a possibility - there's a mild toxin carried inside the spines & associated bacteria/marine viruses on the surface. Some people have gotten skin lesions after handling fireworms.