Tangs in Florida

[ronj]

i went snorkeling all day yesterday...i never knew we had some of the fish that we do...i guess i just never knew what they were before when i was snorkeling...if you know me, you can imagine how happy i was when i saw a couple schools of tangs yesterday ..i'm not sure what kind, but i am going to look it up...they were the only fish that were very skiddish...they were tearing up some algae.....i also saw some yellowtail blue damsels...they were slightloy different from the ones i have seen in stores..they had a black circle in the yellow part of their body by the tail..i think i also saw some sort of angelfish..i am not very familiar w/ these, so i am going to have to look at some pics first

 

[Krish]

So you're back in Florida Ron or did you just go down to visit? When I check out reefs here, you mostly see Atlantic Blue tangs that are yellow as juveniles like this http://images.google.bs/imgres?imgu...?q=atlantic+blue+tang&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&sa=G and when they get older, they look like this http://www.thepetstop.com/adminpics/21654.jpg and then I always see what we call surgeon fish which look similar to this dude http://www2.hawaii.edu/~tissot/fishes/ABLOCHI.gif Nothing like seeing the real thing in the wild huh!

 

[ronj]

these tangs had kind of dark bodies and i think i saw stripes on some of the smaller ones...they had a light colored line that ran all along their dorsal fins..also, they had a whitish ring around their body right where their tails start.i think i might have seen another kind of tang also.. ..they were very hard to see from the side..every time i came over a school, they would dart around the rocks...i only ended up seeing two or threesmall schools of tangs.i had to leave the area for a minute or be still for them to come out from hiding. i can't seem to find pics that are close to them...i think the angel that i saw was a dwarf coral beuty..if it wasn't, it was almost identical to the pic of one that i found

 

[ronj]

oh, i was flippin out when i spotted the tangs...i had to clear my mask and go back under to make sure they were tangs ..it was neat to see them in the wild..the funny thing is, i used to go snorkeling several times a week and i probably saw them and just didn't have any idea what i was looking at...we also saw alot of sergeant damsels, but i knew we had those here...i put them in one of my tanks before...also, i am just at home visiting..we come back one a month or so..just for 4-5 days...it was storming when i woke up yesterday..it cleared up within 2 hours and there was not a cloud in the sky..i love how the weather is here..it can look like a hurricane is coming and then end up being a sunny day...

 

[Krish]

Ahh...Aren't you supposed to move back to Florida though??? If you did, you'd have more crap in your tank every week Just how you notice things now in the water, I do for the first time where corals are concerned. Never payed any attention to them before except an anemone. It's amazing how differently things look when you actually pay attention

 

[ronj]

yeah, hopefully i will be back here soon...yeah, i will have alot of tangs when i move back here.. i am not sure how to catch them..they are very fast and they dart around rocks and hide

 

[Krish]

LOL...If I go out in the boat tomorrow (since it is a holiday), I'll catch one and take a pic for ya!

 

[ronj]

what do you catch them with??? also, how can you catch them around rocks????

 

[ronj]

if the water is clear today, i may try to buy a disposable underwater camera and get some shots...it was very clear yesterday...normally after it rains, it is pretty nasty looking though..

 

[Krish]

what do you catch them with??? also, how can you catch them around rocks????

I just use 2 regular nets you would use in a fish tank (the bigger ones). It is extremely easy to catch fish in shallow water that you don't have to dive down and hold your breath to catch them so that you can take your time and set them up to trap them. It is even easier when you are chasing them in an area with a lot of loose rocks because you can chase them into them and scoop the whole rock. This of course only works for the juvenile tangs, angels or small fish. The big ones you need to use traps

 

[ronj]

the rocks i am talking about are about half the size of a VW bug or a very small car.. they make up the jetties where the mouth of the ocean meets the harbor here.as soon as you get near the fish, they dart under these huge boulders...you have to hide for a minute and let them come back out..i just hovered over them and they didn't dart off..if you make a sudden movement they would swim away..i went out again today and saw them again..i got a little better look at them..also, i saw a new tang that was almost solid orange or orangish-yellow..all of the large tangs i have seen have the body shape of the powder blue...the darker tangs have a line that looks light blue ...does anyone know which one this is???? i also saw tons of blennies( i think) they were everywhere..they are camoflauge, so they are hard to spot, but once you look closely, you see them all over the rocks

 

[ronj]

i just looked at some pics on liveaquaria..the orange tang resembles the orange shoulder and the lemon tang..i couldn't tell if it was orange or yellow..i have trouble distinguishing some colors..i didn't get a good look at this one..i saw it for a minute and it swam under some rocks..i came across it again a few minutes later, but i couldn't get a good look at it..i also saw the biggest tang i have ever seen.. it was the same darker species that i saw yesterday, but it was HUGE i can't tell if the dark ones are really that dark because of the lighting at the bottom..they were anywhere from3 ft- 7ft underwater

 

[Krish]

Just make a trap and you'll get um! I put Kentucky chicken in my net one day and look what I caught! You can even see the bone in the bucket!

 

[ronj]

i don't know if chicken will catch a tang or not...i will try something crazy next time i go..i want to see if i can get a coral beauty angelfish or tang!!!especially a tang

 

[Krish]

LOL...Ever looked at my Bahamian Photo Album that I have a link to in my signature? If not, click on it and check out some of the pics. I just put a picture on there last weekend of a juvenile french angel I caught that was smaller than a quarter! I had to put him back because I was afraid he would be eaten!

 

[ronj]

it weird.. the jetties where i snorkel have different fish on each side of it...i only see the damsels and angelfish one the east side..i have seen one species of tangs on the east side also...the west side has no damsels or angels, but several species of tangs(2-3) so far..i am not sure if one was a juvenile of the same species or not..i think it has something to do with the current..it is very ,very strong on the west side.i have cuts all over my hands and back from being thrown into the rocks..two teens were screaming for help yesterday when i was out..they got pulled out by the current..a scuba instructor swam out and pulled them in..

 

[Krish]

Could be that or the fact that damsels can be territorial and the tangs don't want any part of it(LOL) Also, it could also depend on what foods are found on either side. One may have tons of in algae for the tangs to graze on and the other side may only have Kentucky

 

[ronj]

no.. i don't think that is it..the rocks are covered w/ small plants and algae on both sides of the jetties..we always hear rumors of lots of sharks on the west side...i am always looking behind me while snorkeling on that side..the east side and west are only seperated by like 30ft?? maybe..the jetties are just a huge rock mass to keep the ocean waves and strong currents from entering the harbor and bay..they are like 15ft tall out of the water

 

[Krish]

LOL! I don't mess with swimming around jetties or in the harbor. The only time I've ever been in the harbor was when I went to put a stereo on a boat and my mind was somewhere else and I jump to get on the boat without looking and the boat wasn't there I looked like a total $%#$! Whole sail in the water with my cell, keys, wallet, and some tools! I had a good laugh, but still felt like an idiot, but that's the closest I ever got to swimming in the harbor(LOL) Too nasty for me!

 

[ronj]

harbor water is nasty..it has boat fuel in it..the sand is also gross looking in the harbor and some parts of the bay...i go right where the ocean meets the bay.. i went to our new scuba shop here today.. i am going to take scuba lessons when we are back here permenantly... they have a book w/ all the best dive and snorkel locations..the place where i snorkel is the best..the tourists go to the scuba shops and pay a bunch of money to go on snorkel trips.. they take them about 5 min away from the scuba shops, which are across from the water ..you can walk to it..it's like a 10 min walk for free..there is some neat stuff there..open water is not good for snorkeling here..just "junk fish" , as i call them.. the neat ones are around underwater structures