Bonaire Dive and Adventure

On Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, mid October is height of neo-tropical migration. This week Y-billed Cuckoos arrived in good numbers. I saw 15 on a bike trip through Wash./Slagbaai National Park along a 24 km road. Next day, on another bike trip I found 5 dead cuckoo along 13 km highway and 5 others flying across road. They arrive here in very poor physical condition. Pre-migratory weights as much as 70 gms in Michigan compared with cuckoo weight of as little as 29 gms in Curacao. This may be the largest weight loss documented for a migrating species.
Jerry

The preceding was a post that I submitted to BirdChat in October of 2005 about the hazards that migrants go through when leaving their breeding grounds and spent the winter in warmer climates, usually undergoing a journey of thousands of miles. In particular, I am keenly aware of Yellow-billed Cuckoo when they arrive on Bonaire, an island 60 miles off the coast of Venezuela. The following photos were taken on 23 October, 2007, when I spotted a Yellow-billed Cuckoo land within 10 feet of the ocean. It literally dropped out of the air. It was obviously fatigued and was breathing very rapidly and its wings were hanging limp and it was not particularly disturbed by my standing within 10 feet from it on the ground. After 15 minutes it seemed to recover then flew to a nearby shrub, still holding its wings loose from its fatigue. It then become very alert as I took several photographs and then realized what it had spotted as it dropped 2 feet and grabbed a lizard and swallowed it. It was one of our arboreal endemic anoles, Anolis bonairensis. It is apparent that it is critical for the survival of migrants to find food within a very short time after landing on dry land from such a long, non-stop flight across the Caribbean. This one was quite lucky and no more than 16 minutes elapsed before this newly arrived migrant found what it took to survive and then flew off to a more protected shrub.

These photos of a rare eel, Shorttail Snake Eel (Callechelys guineensis) were photographed in the southern part of Bonaire. The photo on the left was photographed by a friend of Linda Baker on Tori’s Reef and the one on the right was photographed by Jim Platz, on the dive site Invisibles, which is adjacent to Tori’s Reef. Both eels were photographed within the last 6 months. They show the individual variation that occurs within this species, or the ability of the individuals to vary their colors and we do not know which is involved in the apparent variation. The species as seen on Bonaire, through the data base maintained by REEF, has a sighting frequency of .04%, which is interpreted as only 4 surveys out of 10,000. On a dive on Invisibles, when I first saw and recognized it as a species that I had not seen before, I instantly noticed that it was breathing with very rapid motion, even a description of hyperventilation would fit. Also, it was very shy and difficult for Jim Platz to get close enough to photo. Jim, one who accepts photographic challenges with relish, and one whom I depend on for photos for my articles, went back during the week and, somehow got his photo that you see on the right.

The species is not in the Humann/DeLoach’s Reef Fish Identification field guide that most of us use to identify species while diving on Bonaire, but is described in ReefNet CD on fish. Wilk describes the species as attaining a length of 3.5 feet and although rarely seen is found in sandy habitats usually in fairly shallow water.

To add to this snake eel’s mystery, during the last week of October, 2007, Michael Lafortune, photo pro at FishEye Photo, videoed a strange eel and showed the video to me, and …bingo, I knew what it was. But, this was the first documentation of Shorttail Snake Eel for Bari Reef, showing the potential of acquiring good photographic or video images of all the strangeness that we come across while diving on Bonaire. A Google search reveals that not much is know about the habits of this species.

August 2007: Photos of Unbelievable Wee Ones on Bari (all images in this article can be clicked to enlarge, please do so to enjoy the full beauty of them!)

« Yellow-faced Pikeblenny photo showing the talents of Jim Platz. This species was initially found by the lady that I’ve written about before in this forum- Marge Lawson, the lady with the Surplus Attention Disorder- because she lets nothing get past her on a dive. So, what does one expect when you combine a tiny pikeblenny, a lady with all-seeing eyes, and a photographer with immaculate skills? The pikeblenny belongs in the same family as the tube blennies, like Secretary Blenny, but the relationship is not often apparent. I think I know what ambitions the pikeblenny has-it wants to grow up and become a real DRAGON. Watching them jostle, and bite and push their neighbors leaves one with little doubt as to their intent. Perhaps if they could get their hands on a supple of growth enhancing drugs from Balco, like Barry Bonds has been accused of doing. . . You can find them between the mooring blocks for the Samur and the Reef Balls, in about 10 feet of depth, but you must be an excellent and experienced naturalist with exceptional eyesight in order for these 3 inch long creatures to show themselves.

Dusky Cardinal hides in the coral recesses during the daytime and comes out at night, but does not go very far from their daytime hiding places as they are prey for many nighttime predators. In cardinalfish, the males incubate the fertilized eggs in their mouths and some of the more easily found species the males can be seen to have a distended mouth. »

« Harlequin Pipefish is infrequently seen on Boniare dives, but we know where one is likely to be found right here on Bari. Go to Marge’s Sponge and search diligently with a flash light. There are things which I must be content with in not knowing-like how in the world did Jim get this outstanding photo?

Long-finned Damselfish juvenile, are actually found almost everywhere in the shallow coral just a bit deeper than the rubble field. Their shyness shows the price one must pay when you are so obvious in bright yellow and streaks of electric blue, and living on a predator endowed habitat. Yellow, in fact, is one of the last wave lengths of light that disappears as sunlight filters through the water column. Yellow is the color of most of the active cleaners, because almost all cleaners must attract attention in order to get clients to see them and then approach for a cleaning. I have actually seen fish in a “cleaning frenzy” approach this shy juvenile damsel and open their mouths which is supposed to be taken as non threatening and meaning that the client fish is wanting to be cleaned. However, the hapless juvenile Longfin has no idea what this behavior means and immediately ducks for cover. »

« This is another species of pipefish, which we think is a Banded Pipefish, and again can be found in Marge’s Sponge. All pipefish belong to the same family as Seahorses and like their relatives, the pipefish also reproduce rather strangely considering other modes of reproduction in the animal world. The males actually incubate the young ones until they hatch in an incubation pouch associated with their abdomen. In fact, when the young are born, the males in this particular family are the only males in the entire animal world which do not loose sleep over the age-old question- “Are these really my own?” It is 100% assured.

An amazing photo of a Fairy Basslet by Jim which leaves you with no question as to what other fish are the basslets related. The predatory groupers. Just a glance at the tiny teeth reveals that they are very grouper-like. »

« This one I must take a little credit for. It is Bari Reefs newest species that I discovered, again in Marge’s sponge. It is a Smootheye Blenny and I first found it in January of 2007, but I had to wait until Jim and Candace returned to Bonaire from their home in Maine before I could be assured of the identity through Jim’s photo and Candace’s sharp eye. Sure enough, it was a Smootheye. They had been seen and recorded on other fish surveys on Bonaire, but not before my sighting on Bari.

An amazing study was recently completed and written in a scientific journal that indicates that two species of fish actually cooperate in their hunting efforts. Cooperative hunting has never been observed in fish before. The study was done in the Red Sea among groupers and moray eels. What makes this study so interesting is that we have been relying on finding moray eels on our dives by watching for a specific group of fish that swim very close to the reef and in a predictive manner that we readily recognize and swim toward this group and can almost always find an eel moving into and out of crevices and under coral rubble. What this Red Sea study shows to be different, thus far, is that the hunting groupers usually miss catching small fish near the reef who then dart into a nearby crevice where the grouper is unable to pursue. The grouper then finds a nearby eel, usually resting under a coral head with just its head protruding. The grouper wags its head back and forth in front of the eel and then, amazingly, the eel follows the grouper to where the small fish escaped. The eel is ideally suited to go into small openings and create a panic in any small fish who try to dart out of the eels range, going out into the open water where the grouper is waiting. Often the pay-back is for the eel who captures the escaping fish, and often it is the grouper who benefits. Any way, someone gets food and the behavior is established for the benefit of each.

What we need to watch for here on Bari and on Bonaire is the initiation of the cooperation. We have not been aware, until now, to try to watch for the initial reaction of the grouper and the eel. We catch the cooperation after it has been started, and have never seen the beginning. That is now uppermost in a lot of my students minds when diving-too try to establish if this behavior is more than just coincidental hunting here in Bonaire as it definitely is in on other reefs in the world.

Marge Lawson, a lady I described in an earlier "Bubbles" article as having Attention Surplus Disorder because of the attention to detail that she possess which allows her to find such rare creatures on Bari as Coral Scorpionfish, several members of the pipefish family, and yellow-faced pikeblenny, has struck again. This time by finding a nudibranch that is still puzzling the experts as to exactly what species it belongs. She spends part of the year with her husband on Bonaire and owns a condo at Sand Dollar. In her own words is the following narration describing her most recent manifestation.

In early October I was coming in from a dive when something beneath the sand caught my eye. There was a fair amount of surge that day, and as the surge washed sand back and forth I caught a glimpse of black and whitish-yellow stripes. I took a few pictures, and then gently dug my hand into the sand beneath the nudibranch and lifted it to the top of the sand where I quickly took a couple more pictures before it dug back down into the sand. I found it in the same general vicinity (80 to 90 yards north of the Sand Dollar dock at 10 foot depth) for the next two days, and showed it to several friends. It was always mostly buried in the sand with just the little pink sensors and a little of the back visible. At first I thought it might be a Smiling Armina nudibranch, but after thinking about it for a while I decided that it lacked two identifying characteristics of a Smiling Armina: the stripes didn’t go all the way down the back (it had a smooth pink spot in the middle of the back), and it lacked a “smile”, although it had a few small black spots in the smile area.

A few weeks later I found another Armina about 100 yards south of the first Armina. It didn’t look very healthy, and was completely exposed. The stripes were less distinct, and it had some symmetrical bald spots on either side of the stripes that went all the way down the middle of the back. A couple days later I found it with the tail buried in the sand and the rest of the body flopping back and forth with the surge. I could tell it was still alive since it moved a little every once in a while. It didn’t surprise me when I found it upside down on the sand the next day, very obviously dead, with small bites taken out of the sides.

A couple weeks after that, I found a third Armina approximately half way between the other two Arminas. All I saw was the tip of the tail as it was digging down under the sand. It disappeared completely before I could show it to a friend. I kept looking in that area for a few days, and finally found it again. I watched it for about 1 ½ hours and saw it come completely out of the sand three times, change direction slightly, then after a minute or two, disappear under the sand again. During the next few days I was able to find it most of the time, although all that was usually visible was the very tip of the tail and the little pink sensors. It also had some symmetrical bald spots down its’ back, but appeared to be healthy.

Shortly before leaving Bonaire, I found a fourth Armina that was obviously not healthy. It was lying on top of the sand and didn’t move much, even when the surge flopped it upside down. The stripes went all the way down the back (unlike the others, which had bald spots), and instead of black spots in the smile area, it actually had a solid black smile.

All of the Arminas were about the same size (about 1¼ inches long) and were found in the 10 to 12 foot depth, but some of the markings differed. The stripe down the front of the “face” varied from a solid “V’ shape, to a broken stripe, to a solid stripe, and the “smile” varied from a few small dots to some large spots to a fairly solid “smile”. Also, the stripes down the back varied not only in how distinct they appeared, but also whether they were broken with bald spots.

After finding the second Armina I did some research on the internet and found a website called Sea Slug Forum, which is hosted by Dr. Bill Rudman of the Australian Museum in Sydney, Australia. If you’d like to see my posting and additional pictures and his reply, click on http://www.seaslugforum.net/find.cfm?id=18388 and http://www.seaslugforum.net/find.cfm?id=18566.

He thinks the Arminas might be Armina Wattlas, but said it is difficult to tell for sure since so little research has been done on nudibranchs and many of the descriptions are based on preserved specimens. He said Arminas are nocturnal creatures and are not usually seen during the day, and thinks the lack of stripes down the back were caused by bites, which were likely caused by the Arminas not being buried under the sand during the day. Dr. Rudman said I was probably finding them during the day because they had been bitten and were not exhibiting their normal behavior. That would explain the first three Arminas, but the fourth Armina didn’t have any bite marks, and yet was obviously dying. That makes me wonder if the Arminas were at the end of their life cycle or suffering from a disease, which caused them to not bury themselves in the sand during the day. Being exposed, some of them were bitten.

It is very interesting that I’ve done hundreds of dives on Bari Reef (plus many other dives elsewhere on Bonaire) during the past 3 years and had never seen an Armina before, and yet found four of them within a 6 or 7 week span. I’ve talked to other divers, including Jerry Ligon, the Bonaire Dive and Adventure Naturalist, and none of them had ever seen an Armina before. Perhaps the currents brought a number of Arminas to Bari Reef this year so they were fairly abundant, or perhaps they’ve always been there, but until I saw the first Armina I didn’t know what to look for and possibly passed by them without noticing them. It’s also interesting that their normal food, Seapens, is not available on Bari Reef, although a related food, Sea Pansies, is fairly abundant in the area where I found the Arminas.

On Bari Reef, there is a creature that spends most of its time under the sand for it is a perilous world full of predators. Its common name is Flame Box Crab. Scientifically it is known as Calappa flammea, and can be 4.5 to 5 inches across its carapace. When we do happen to see it, it is usually scurrying across the sand and, upon approaching it, it usually digs into the sand with only its two small eyes protruding above the surface.

A much better name for this creature is “Shameface Crab”. Looking at one in the face reveals that it folds its enlarged claws in front of its face appearing to be found guilty of some reef infraction and is so embarrassed that it does not want to reveal its guilt. These enlarged and flattened claws equip the Shameface Crab to excel in feeding on the many mollusks (shellfish) that bury themselves in the sand, and it has another secret that is hidden from view. Up next to its face when the claws are folded are a pair of blunt tipped structures that fit on a moveable joint, something like an opposable thumb. The crab can use these structures as tools when grasping a small clam, for example, which quickly closes its opposing shells and sits snugly inside waiting for the crab to lose interest. However, the crab, with its tool kit uses the opposable structures just like a can opener, and grasps the shellfish with one claw and uses the other as a cutting tool to cut into the closed shell along the closed margin.

The Shameface Crab can also use these enlarged and flattened claws as a digging tool whenever it needs to get under the sand. It pushes the sand away from its body which leaves an enlarged space that it can sink into. So it is well equipped with a handy tool-kit.

I am often alerted to the crab’s presence by watching a particular species of flounder, the Eyed Flounder, Bothus ocellatus, which is only about 6 inches long, as it follows the crab around, or simply awaits near the buried crab for it to come out and feed. Then, the flounder is able to snag any small fish that is attracted to the feeding crab when it cracks open a shellfish which releases nutritious liquids. Often, if I take time and I quietly approach an Eyed Flounder that is sitting quietly on the sand, I can search the bottom around the resting flounder and find the two almost white eyes peering out of the sand.

Naturalists use short-cuts anytime a clue presents itself which lets us know of the presence of another more secretive and more difficult to find species. My short-cut clue for finding the Shameface Crab is the Eyed Flounder and I gratefully accept all the help that I can get.

Most of the time, one will find the remains of the Shameface Crab in the midden of a voraciously feeding octopus. Often this is a female octopus that has found a den in which she will deposit her eggs, at which time she ceases to feed, encloses her den and nursery with coral rubble, awaits the incubation of the eggs and soon will die. But while the eggs are maturing and before they are deposited, the female is consuming enough food so that it will last her during the time she will withdraw into her secure chamber. When an octopus feeds, it is usually within the safety of their den where they retreat into after foraging for shellfish and crabs. The remains of their meals begin to pile up on the outside of their dens and these are known as middens, or trash pile. Very frequently, I encounter an active den with the remains of many shells and the carapace of the Shameface Crab. It appears to be one of the octopus’s favorite meals, and with a careful search, I found an eye watching me from inside their den. Again, I use a clue, a short-cut, in order to find another creature that is secretive. The remains of a Shameface Crab alert me to an active octopus den.

WELCOME TO BARI REEF. IT IS THE NUMBER ONE DIVE SITE FOR TOTAL NUMBER OF FISH SPECIES FROM OVER 80,000 FISH SURVEYS THROUGHOUT THE CARIBBEAN THAT HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED THROUGH R.E.E.F.

FISH IDENTIFICATION CLASSES HERE AT Bonaire Dive and Adventure ARE TAUGHT BY STAFF NATURALIST, JERRY LIGON

THE FOLLOWING ARE MEMBERS OF BARI REEF’S CENTURY CLUB, COMPOSED OF THOSE FISH IDENTIFIERS WHO ARE ABLE TO IDENTIFY AT LEAST 100 SPECIES OF FISH ON A SINGLE DIVE HERE AT BARI REEF.

There are those among us who are fascinated and get down-right excited with the prospects of a new unknown species of animal, and take the challenge to study it, perhaps photograph it, search all the relevant field guides, consort with others who are knowledgeable, and hopefully learn its name. Others, who do not understand this habit, call us "eccentric" or "odd". It can occur among bird watchers, and among fish watchers, and in every field of natural history. They pay attention to detail when confronting a rare species, so much so that I like to term this behavior "attention surplus disorder". It is not a pejorative term, meant to demean, but is a compliment of the highest order. A person with such a trait is Marge Lawson, who owns and lives parttime here at Sand Dollar Condos with her husband Jim. Not too long ago she found and photographed a new species for Bari Reef, a Coral Scorpionfish, on a rubble pile near our dive ladder on the south side of our pier. Others of us saw it at the time, but it has not been seen since her initial discovery. Her diving style is slow, meticulous and thorough. This just might be a good lesson for the rest of us. She also discovered a sponge colony that is now known as "Marge's Sponge" where lived a whole series of members of another fascinating family of rarely observed fish--the Seahorse, Pipehorse and Pipefish Family. There she discovered and showed them to the rest of us, a Harlequin Pipefish, a very rare Pipehorse, and multiple unidentified pipehorses. (The Harlequin Pipefish is still present as of the date of this article, late July, 2006)

During the last of July, 2006, Marge came to me in a mild state of excitement, which now immediately gets my attention, stating that she had found some type of pikeblenny in the shallows near the artificial reef balls. She got some photographs on her next dive and showed them to me. One was especially interesting because it showed a male with its dorsal fin expanded, more easily showing characteristics that hopefully would make identification more possible. I determined it as a Yellowface Pikeblenny, a member of the blenny family in the fish book REEF FISH IDENTIFICATION by Humann and Deloach. I also had to consult the CD by ReefNet to see a more complete set of photos and video which just about made identification definite.

On REEF's website which lists the frequency of sighting for all fish surveyed, the Yellowface Pikeblenny on Bari Reef is listed as .1%, meaning that in surveying fish on dives, odds are that of around 1000 dives, one would expect to see this species once.

You must be literally crawling along the bottom only touching with fingertips, meaning perfect buoyancy in order not to destroy the sand and algae bottom, and looking intently about 3 feet in front of you and, if you are lucky, you will see a tiny, 3 inch long, elongated fish sticking up out of the sand and algae. They have a very snake-like body with a very long and pointed snout. Males have a black spot on the front part of their dorsal fins with a prominent white spot on top of the black spot and then an orange or yellowish spot on top of these two spots.

If you get too close to them, they will quickly disappear in their holes in the sand. Here is where one can learn the "flight distance" of a species. That is, learn the distance in which the species will let you approach without ducking out of site. This distance should now not be breeched in your approach. How often do I see divers not paying attention to this "flight distance" and literally stumble too close to a species that they are studying and, time after time, cause it to duck out of sight. They are not learning! You get one chance–learn this distance on the first encounter. Then, on the next encounter, this distance is set in your mind as this particular species' standard flight distance. This is a characteristic that is part of the species, and any good naturalist will save this bit of information that becomes as important as are the species' field marks, habitat, depth, sun or shade preference,etc. This is something I tell my students becomes part of the "package" that a species is wrapped up in–everything that we can ascertain about the species in the brief time that we have to study it.

The field guides lists this species as being found deeper, from 15 to 60 feet, than another pikeblenny, the Bluethroat Pikeblenny, which indicates that fish seldom read the field guides. While the Yellowface species is found on Bari at around 10 feet, where I found them after getting the specific directions from Marge, they are also found in colonies, in this case of around 6 or more. This characteristic also separates the two similar species in that the Bluethroat is usually found living solitary.

February 2006: Biological phenomenon occurring on Bonaire that makes this island number one in fish diversity...

There is a biological phenomenon occurring here on Bonaire that makes this island number one in fish diversity in the entire Atlantic and Caribbean and it involves the prevailing winds and currents. One is always aware of the winds on Bonaire and the direction that it constantly blows from—SOUTHEAST. This creates a conveyor belt for larvae from the reefs on the coast of Venezuela that transport these larvae literally hundreds of miles from where their natal grounds are located. This not only transports fish larvae, but every creature that depends upon the coral reefs: coral, sponges, shellfish, lobsters, shrimp, etc.,—almost every reef creature. Also, the reefs of Bonaire are also having their recently born larvae transported NORTHWEST to potentially settle on other islands that are upwind from their natal grounds here on Bonaire. Only problem is that there are no islands until you encounter Jamaica, which is too distant from Bonaire for this transportation system to work going in the upwind direction. So, unless a weather system happens to spin the right direction and bring these larvae back to Bonaire for settlement, this transportation system works most efficiently only to bring new reef creatures to Bonaire from continental reefs. Bonaire, therefore is known as a sink and not a source for these planktonic larvae.

Having new-born that are able to get away from the same reef that has given their parents all the living essentials that they needed to survive and reproduce, allows the newly born, fragile creatures to get away from the many hungry mouths that exist on the reef that can easily consume and eliminate them, which obviously would cause each species to become extinct. Probably no other single factor distinguishes marine creatures from their terrestrial, freshwater counterparts.
World wide, of the approximately 100 families of bony fishes associated with coral reefs, only four plus a single species in a fifth family are known to lack a pelagic early life stage. Of those bony fish which we find in the Caribbean without pelagic life stages are the toadfish and brotula. Cozumel’s Splendid Toadfish is endemic to only that island, something you would expect if a fish does not have a pelagic, dispersal life stage when they are newly born.

Recent studies have indicated that this pelagic larval stage can last from 9 to well over 100 days, depending upon the species of fish, and obviously has a tremendous effect on geographical ranges of these fish. Also, coral reef fishes are highly fecund, particularly by terrestrial vertebrate standards and most estimates of annual egg production range from 10,000 to over 1,000,000 per female. However, this is coupled with mortality approaching 100%, the majority of which take place during the critical new-born stage, so any adaptation that favors, even slightly this life stage means a lot to survival of the species. Remember, this is applied to ALL reef creatures, not just reef fish. Almost all reef creatures wind up in the plankton stream or on the surface and are blown to new settlement sites primarily by the prevailing winds.

It is not surprising for those of use who dive on Bari to know the reasons why it is such a special place, and that it is so special that it has held the title of “Fish Capitol” of the Atlantic for most of the ten years that REEF has been conducting fish identification classes and analyzing the survey data that comes into to its headquarters in Key Largo, Florida. But even I got quite a surprise lately when REEF asked me if I knew who Jennifer Lefler or Marsha Sorg are. Now that the fish survey project has recorded 90,000 surveys since 1993, it is amazing that Jennifer was the first surveyor to submit a survey, and it was on December 10, 1993, and the destination was “Somewhere on Bonaire.” The very first survey that was conducted and listed a specific dive site happens to have been conducted on Bari Reef, by Marsha Sorg, on April 30, 1994. Both of these fish eccentric divers are to be congratulated and perhaps even given a token of appreciation for their effort, if we knew who they are and where to locate them. I guess I could do a “Google Search” for these two, but I then would have to check each possibility out by e-mailing each contact with those two names and then await for the correct people who did such surveys to answer, and this might take time away from me doing fish surveys. I prefer fish surveys over people surveys, anytime.

It is nice to be sitting onsite on the best reef dive site, and again something new has just taken place on our site. Individuals with the enthusiasm and foresight to see that we humans can make a difference, have just completed the installation of artificial reef structures called “Bay Balls” that were constructed during January and installed on Bari, on 25 January, 2006. I was pleased to be involved in helping chose the specific sites where these fifteen structures would be placed. On the 25th, when the giant crane was lowering the 600lb concrete structures over the wall and placing them on the shallow bottom, I was conducting an Underwater Naturalist course and could not wait until the return part of our dive to visit the site. I guess I should have not expected the reef inhabitants to be going ballistic over these potential new homes within one hour after installation, but the expectations will be there after an unknown period of time that it will take for them to “season” and begin to get inhabitants. I will do dives in order to monitor this progression of inhabitants that is known as ecological succession, much like a decimated forest begins to show life within a short time after destruction. The destruction that decimated the shallow water elkhorn and staghorn corals was, of course, the swell that we received from Hurricane Lenny that hit in November, 1999. Surprisingly, the shoreline on Klein Bonaire that is aimed right at Bari is along the north shore line, when Lenny hit this shoreline, it picked up massive amounts of sand off of No Name Beach, carried this load over the channel between Bonaire and Klein, and deposited it on our doorstep. What was not destroyed by the force of the 25 foot waves that bashed Bari, was buried in 3 to 4 feet of fine sand from No Name Beach. Anything trying to make a comeback in this fine sand in the shallows, has an almost impossible task, so the addition of anything that rises above the sand bottom will kindly be taken over by the regrowth process which we who visit Bari will be able to witness.

In August, 2005, I rediscovered two species that were present on Bari back in the days before the surge from hurricane Lenny took out our dive pier, dive shop and the adjoining Green Parrot restaurant. This happened in November of 1999.
The two species, Tesselated Blenny and Molly Miller, lived along the huge pipes (pilings) that served as support for our dive pier and they occupied the abandoned barnacles and other small holes along the metal pipe in very shallow water usually less than 4 feet.
Bonaire Dive and Adventure's new pier was officially opened in August of 2003, and like the old pier, it also had large metal pilings that supported the pier where barnacles could grow. The blennies will not occupy a barnacle shell as long as the original owner is still alive and at home. They are patient and show good manners. They obviously waited until the barnacles grew old and died, which took a few years. Then, with their shelters abandoned, a "vacancy" sign was apparent for the small blennies.
Tesselated Blenny, 2.5 inches in length, is seen on fish surveys on Bonaire at a sighting frequency of .04 % and Molly Miller, around 3 to 4 inches long, has a sighting frequency of 1.7 % meaning that both of these are quite uncommon on Bonaire, so the discovery on Bari is a significant finding.
Almost all members of the blenny family of small, elongated bottom dwellers must wait for the maturation and death of the tunnel makers on the reef so they will have a protective shelter. For example, Christmas Tree Worms create a shelter from which to extend their feeding arms that we recognize as the characteristic "Christmas tree" shape. As corals grow they extend their surface over the tubes of the worms and cover everything except the opening from which the feeding arms can extend to capture food floating by over the reef. Neighboring Secretary Blennies will fight over a newly deserted Christmas Tree tunnel, usually after the death of the resident and often change their shelter sites for better ones as they become available.
Another source of blenny shelters also depends upon the death of individual coral polyps of a species of coral known as Giant Boulder Coral. These individual coral polyps are the largest of all the corals and are the perfect size for a blenny looking for a nice protective tube in which to live. There is a colony of Medusa Blenny on Bari that I have also found this summer and that are also quite rare and it so happens that they are occupying an old coral head of Giant Boulder Coral in about 3 feet of water.
This information, if used properly, leads to a naturalist being able to depend on finding an uncommon species in the exact place where it was first discovered because blennies are not adventure-some nor do they have an exploratory nature away from the protection of their recycled tunnels, thus assuring a good species list on a fish survey after a few dives discovering where individual species live.

Coral spawning is a spectacular event rarely viewed by divers who hope they have seen everything. It occurs during the night, usually one or two nights a year and one has to be in the right place on the reef and be on time. It does not wait for any human intervention to proceed. For September, 2005, full moon is on 18 Sept. Within 5 to 8 days after full moon a particular coral head will release its gametes and with very little preview of its intent. Within a short minute or two the coral polyps will show some swelling and the individual gamete packet can be seen protruding. This packed is primarily a mass of eggs that looks like the end of a pencil's erasure. Surrounding the egg packet are thousands of invisible sperm. All derived from the same identical coral head which doesn't seem proper if fertilization occurs within the same pairing of gametes from the same genetic parents then it would be impossible for the embryos to be other than identical.

Nature abhors self fertilization and goes to any extreme to ensure that it does not happen. For corals the packet of eggs, surrounded by sperm cells, float to the surface and the wave action there begins to separate the individual sex cells. Also, the egg cells will not be ready for fertilization until a period of time, perhaps 20 or 30 minutes has passed. By this time, many coral have spawned and thousands of egg packets are mixing with tens of thousands of sperm cells, all from a variety of genetic parents, so that variety of offspring can develop showing diverse characteristics which will lead to better adaptations to their environment, especially if it is changing.

Fertilization occurs and the young embryos float on the surface and begin to develop into a feeding larvae polyp which will eventually settle to the bottom and it will try to find a particular species of algae that only grows on the undersides of reef formations upon which to settle. Chemical recognition occurs and the polyp will settle and begin to grow into a coral head that, after 150 to 200 years can be the kind that are the signature coral heads that divers love to see here on their dives, those that are pyramidal in shape and with a base that could be 20 feet across. They resemble pagodas and, as I point out on my dives, they are hollow in their centers. Corals began to die and they die where the oldest cells are, and that is in the very center. Corals grow radially, in all directions. But on the outside, a layer of beautiful, vigorous coral is growing, all derived from that one tiny polyp by a process of budding, one vigorous-growing cell splitting to form two, add infinitum.

Following are some photos of coral spawning (photo credits: Sipke Stapert). By clicking on one of the thumbnails, the photo will be enlarged (opens in new window).

Welcome to Bari Reef. It is the number one dive site for total number of fish species from over 70,000 fish surveys throughout the Caribbean that have been conducted through R.E.E.F. Fish Identification Classes here at Bonaire Dive and Adventure are taught by staff naturalist, Jerry Ligon.

THE FOLLOWING ARE MEMBERS OF BARI REEF'S CENTURY CLUB, COMPOSED OF THOSE FISH IDENTIFIERS WHO ARE ABLE TO IDENTIFY AT LEAST 100 SPECIES OF FISH ON A SINGLE DIVE HERE AT BARI REEF.

Bold indicates staff member at the time of survey.
· JERRY LIGON (SANDDOLLAR NATURALIST- 1/98)
· DITTE PREKER (SANDDOLLAR NATURALIST, 53 CUBIC TANK- 4/98)
· JOHN LANIER (SANDDOLLAR NATURALIST- 4/98)
· DARREL SINGH (FIRST GUEST, ENGLAND-4/98)
· KAREN STILES (IOWA- 6/98 ON HER VERY FIRST ATTEMPT)
· BROOKS MARTIN (CALIFORNIA- 6/98)
· DEENA WELLS FEELEY ( DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, REEF, FLORIDA, 6/98)
· LADDIE AKINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, REEF, FLORIDA-6/98)
· LESLIE WHAYLEN (MARINE BIOLOGIST, TEXAS, REEF MEMBER-6/98)
· CINDY HELM (REEF MEMBER- 6/98)
· KEN DEAVER (REEF MEMBER, MONTANA-6/98)
· DOUG ROREX (140 species)- 6/98
· KATHRYN D. HART (UTAH, 111 SPECIES-3/99)
· IRENE DA CUNDA ( SANDDOLLAR STAFF 4/99)
· SIPKE STAPERT (STAFF, 119 SPECIES, 4/99)
· Christy Semmens (REEF Science Coordinator), California, 1st Attempt, 6/99
· Brice Semmens (REEF Member), Caifornia, 1st Attempt, 6/99
· Linda Schillinger, NY, (120 species), 6/99
· Will, Doug Rankin (REEF members), North Carolina, 6/99
· Robert, Barbara Levine, Connecticut, 6/99
· Lynn Simons, 6/99
· Nick Simons, 6/99
· Shari Jacobson, 10/99, New York
· Art, Anna Kleiner, Colorado, 6/00
· Caren Echrich, Sea & Discover, 6/00
· Mike/Liz Finlay, England (South Africa), 8/00
· Candace Platz, Maine, 7/01 (177 species during vacation)
· Jon Grotz, Oregon, 7/01 (165 species during vacation)
· Ed/Lenor Johnson New Jersey, 7/19/2002( got frogie)
· Gwen WilDeboer, Holland, 7/2002 (first member from Holland)
· Neil Ericsson & Karen Florini (REEF Board Member) 4/03
· Marie (Vanden Bosche) Kellet, Cathy Vanden Bosche from Pa. 9/03
· Donald Evans, California, July 2004
· Jim and Mary Jane Bellay, Maryland, 102 on the 4th dive in the Fish Watching Course, August, 2004
· Suzanne Zebedee; -California December, 2004-106 on count and 142 for entire vacation
· Linda S Johnson, Green River Wyoming, Feb., 2005- 103 species.
· Deborah H Johnson, Green River Wyoming, Feb., 2005
· Roland Noordermeer, second member from Netherlands, Feb., 2005

Bubbles from the Naturalist Jerry's tank - by Jerry Ligon

April 2005: Shortnose Batfish- Fish with celebrity status on Bari.

In February, 2004, one of Bonaire Dive and Adventure's instructors, Ilse, while conducting a student on a training dive in shallow water just to the south of our pier, came across a weird fish that she noticed moving along the bottom on legs that made it look more like a "duck" than anything else. Asking questions about what it might be with naturalist, Jerry Ligon, it was determined, by her description that it could be nothing other than a Shortnose Batfish. Since that initial sighting, it has become a mainstay for local divers and even many outsiders who have heard about it who are staying at other dive centers, and come to our pier asking questions about where it could be found. It is very difficult to find in the coral rubble and open sandy bottom, and one must be patient in looking for it. It is

about 4-5 inches in length and from the surface its dorsal surface looks exactly like a piece of coral rubble. Adults can be as large as 15 inches, and keeping up with this juvenile is quite a chore, and a frequent question after divers have come in from a dive, is "Did you see the batfish?" We have gone through as long as one week without anyone finding it, then it appears off to one side of its normal site, and we all sigh a sigh of relief that it is still present.

It feeds by using a lure, not unlike another Bari specialty, the Longlure Frogfish, and like the frogfish, it has no gill openings on the cheek that would scare small fish away as it is luring whenever it has to breathe. Instead, and also like frogfish, it has a small muscular chamber tucked, out-of-sight on the rear of the fish near the back fins, thus allowing these two species to continue normal breathing while luring. A close inspection will reveal the opening and closing of this breathing tube.

The batfish has rear legs that makes it look like the feet of a duck and the front legs are tucked up under its head and reminds one of legs of a tripod upon which it uses to move in a strange motion along the bottom. It has ruby-red lips and a short nose with many tiny ciri on the tip. The lips are curved downward, giving it a "woebegone" or look of perpetual sadness.

It's chimeric characteristics makes it quite unique, but more unique is its rarity on Bonaire. REEF surveyors report seeing it at a frequency of .01 % which means approximately 1 survey in 10,000 surveys. It has the distinction of being the rarest fish that has been a visitor to Bari. Bari Reef is known as the # 1 dive site in fish diversity in the entire Atlantic-Caribbean area, and rare fish are expected to drop in and excite all of us who are interested in keeping data on the fish life in this special place.

Smallest fish on Bonaire is also smallest in the Atlantic - by Jerry Ligon

Photo by:
Les Wilk

Another distinction for Bonaire's reef fish was documented with photographs in July, 2001 by the Wilk Family. It was the first photographs ever taken of the Pygmy Goby, Lythrypnus minimus, and after receiving their 3rd Edition CD in March of this year, I have been trying to find this rare and difficult to see species. It is not found, or mentioned in Paul Humann/Ned DeLoach's ever popular fish identification field guides for the Caribbean. In fact the only photos are in Wilks' CD. Even a Google search turns up another fish by the same common name, but the species name indicates that they are not the same species, and the other Pygmy Goby is found in the Pacific. Guinness World Record lists a category for the world's smallest species of fish as one found in the fresh water streams of Luzon, in the Pacific and it measures 9.5 mm in length in the adult stage. In trying to visualize the size of Bonaire's Pygmy Goby with something in our everyday world, consider that it is almost exactly the length of one-and-a-half grains of rice.

Today, on a dive with my excellent friend and excellent fish documenter, Candace Platz, I found one and actually was able to show it to her with the aid of my ever handy magnifying glass. This one measures only 11 mm in length and even though the fresh water species tops this one for the Guiness record, it is still known as the smallest fish in the entire Atlantic. On today's documentation, I returned to the site, at 46 feet depth, repeatedly in order to see it out on the open coral head after first disappearing into a tiny hole near a small patch of black encrusting sponge. It was an early morning dive, around 9:30am and the site was along Bonaire's north shoreline, Barcadera, that was still in shadow, a habitat, and time of the day, that I prefer to look for those tiny species that prefer the darker, shadowy, places. Diminutive size means that a fish must use this type of shadowy habitat as an aid in its defense considering that the hungry predators are all bigger than they. With the aid of Candace's flashlight, and my magnifying glass, we were able to see it for 5 or 6 minutes and it appeared quite active during the period of observation.

Description: reddish or brown with tiny white stripes across the back and down each side. These stripes are tiny, about the width of a human hair and appear to be broken, not solid and conspicuous, and impossible to see without magnification. The ReefNet CD describes the stripes as 10 in number behind the pectoral fins and 2 in front, but this only fits the adult male, and not the immatures or the female.

Nothing is known about their ecology: what they eat, how they reproduce or how frequently, and the photos taken by the Wilk family were confirmed to be the first ever taken of this species in its natural habitat. This is to say that museum specimens exist but up until July of 2001, no authentic photos had ever been taken in its natural habitat. For me this makes this species even more of a treasure hunt than ever especially since Les Wilk told me that the photos were taken on Bonaire and I was determined to find it, in the process passing over more common and tiny species, orange-sided goby, Gobiosoma dilepsis, flagfin blenny, Emblemariopsis signifera (Spikefin Blenny in Humanns ID book) and even others that I could not identify. But these species are very common and are 2 to 3 times larger than the Pygmy Goby measuring usually over 1 inch to 1.5 inch. The Pygmy Goby measures .4 inch.

I obviously wish everyone a lot of luck in finding these lilliputians, but what really helps is to study the ReefNet CD (for details see www.reefnet.ca), which has not been distributed to dealers and to dive shops on Bonaire that I am aware of. By the way, the ReefNet CD, especially now that the 3rd Edition is out, is my preferred medium for teaching my FishWatching courses at Bonaire Dive and Adventure. Oh, and start diving with a magnifying glass as standard equipment.

Birds

April Turnstone

Arenaria interpres
Photo by Jerry Ligon

This shorebird, in April, is showing the bright colors of breeding season but it is a long way from its breeding grounds, Arctic Circle of Northern U.S. Almost all turnstones will leave Bonaire during May and will return from their breeding in August and September.

Bananaquit

Coereba flaveola
Photo by Scott Kacos

This is the common "sugar thief" and is easily lured in by placing a container with sugar out in the open. Do not put water with the sugar because they will bathe in the sticky mixture. Place another container with plain water and you will have a complete package for this popular bird to come in to your patio.

Yellow-shouldered Parrot

Amazona barbadensis rothschildi
Photo by Jerry Ligon

This is a remarkable photo of the rare genetic mutation in this species that turns all greenish feathers to a blue color and yellow to a white color. The species is endangered and the Bonaire population is around 400. Do not confuse with the more common Caribbean Parakeet, which appears to be the case with most tourists.

Caribbean Parakeet

Aratinga pertinax xanthogenius
Photo by Jerry Ligon

Notice the elongated tail feathers and the head which is entirely yellow. It is also smaller than the Yellow-shouldered Parrot and makes a squeaky call versus a deep squawk made by the parrot. Nests in termite mounds.

Common Emerald Hummingbird

Chlorostilbon melisugus
Photo by Scott Kacos

One of two species of hummingbirds on Bonaire, this photo shows a male sipping nectar from aloe flowers which bloom in the early months of the year on Bonaire.

	Common Emerald Hummingbird Chlorostilbon melisugus Photo by Jerry Ligon Female
	Brown Booby Sula leucogaster Photo by Jerry Ligon This photo shows an adult. Juveniles are all brown. They have a peculiar habit of landing on the surface of the ocean and stick their heads underwater looking for fish. They are able to focus only because their nictitating membrane allows all birds to cover the eye during times when abrasions might be possible in their environment. This allows seabirds to be able to focus underwater, like humans with our snorkel mask.
	Brown-crested Flycatcher Myiarchus tyrannulus Photo by Jerry Ligon This is very similar to the Great Crested Flycatcher of the eastern U.S. and is also similar in voice. In the U.S. this species can be seen along the Rio Grande River in sw Texas and in the sw desert of the U.S. Rufous coloration in forked tail and in wing feathers.
	Northern Scrub Flycatcher Sublegatus modestus Photo by Jerry Ligon Similar to previous species, but smaller and without the rufous colors in tail and wings. A species that is usually added to a birder's "life list" while enjoying Bonaire's avafauna.
	Common Tern Sterna hirundo Photo by Jerry Ligon Photo is of two birds in winter plumage which is characterized by the conspicuous carpal bar on the wings. They nest on Bonaire in the summer, but are almost entirely absent during the remainder of the year.
	Reddish Egret Egretta rufescens Photo by Scott Kacos This photo shows both color morphs and the species has the characteristic of dancing around with wings flapping when chasing small fish which no other egret does.
	Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca and Tringa flavipes Photo by Jerry Ligon These two shorebirds are often difficult to tell apart unless they are standing together as in this photo. They are nesters in Northern Canada and Alaska, and winter here in the tropics.
	Green Heron Butorides virescens Photo by Jerry Ligon This species is common on Bonaire and can be seen almost anywhere along the coast.
	Osprey Pandion halliactus Photo by Jerry Ligon This species is considered cosmopolitan but is becoming rarer in England with only a few nesting records lately. One can usually find one as they drive around the coast of Bonaire.
	Piping Plover Charadrius melodus Photo by Jerry Ligon This species comes through Bonaire on migration to and from South America to its limited and decreasing nesting grounds in just a few states along the Canada-U.S border and is considered endangered in the U.S.
	Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus Photo by Jerry Ligon This species is seen on Bonaire in passage and winters in South America and nests in the far north of Alaska and the Arctic Circle.
	Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus Photo by Jerry Ligon Most common dowitcher on Bonaire and very difficult to tell apart from Long-billed Dowitcher (and not by the bill length). Look for the barring under the tail and posterior abdomen and long straight bill.
	White-tailed Nightjar Caprimulgus carolinensis Photo by Jerry Ligon Difficult to add to one's life list unless guided to a particular site by the author and then guaranteed to see it after dark. Permanent resident on Bonaire.
	Sandwich Tern and Royal Tern Sterna sandvicensis and S. maxima Photo by Chris Powell The tern in the foreground is the Sandwich Tern and is only seen during the summer breeding season and the larger tern with the reddish-orange bill is the very common Royal Tern.