Fish of the Cook Islands

So as mentioned on Wednesday Drew and I did a three hour tour of the Lagoon by the Fruits of Rarotonga with snorkel gear. For those of you interested in fish here is a listing of the fish we saw and some of their characteristics if anything beyond being a beautiful fish, or very expensive should it be in a pet store, was noticed.

- Blue Fin Trevally; as I was walking into the water a school of these large fish (can be upwards to 80cm but these were probably around 60cm) swam around me. After going under the water the school continued to move with us for a good 5 or 10 minutes. Very curious and calm.
- Picasso Trigger Fish; we had learned at breakfast that these fish were very territorial and currently in breeding season so they would charge and have been known to draw blood. Of course this made me afraid of them so when one turned, made eye contact and charged towards me I screamed and flailed making Drew think I was being attacked by a shark. When he realized it hadn’t even touched me I got a cursory roll of the eyes. These fish I will forever fear.
- Scissortail Sergeant; in the shallow waters this small fish was the most common I saw. There was also one that looked just like a Gourami but doesn’t appear on one of the ‘Fish of the Cook Islands cards here at the guesthouse.
- Convict Surgeonfish and Threadfin Butterfly Fish; became the more common fish as we moved into deeper waters.
- Blue Damsel; the first really brightly coloured fish seen. They looked luminescent in the water.
- Achilles Tang; I think this was the black fish that was most common amongst the coral. The picture on the card isn’t clear. It could also have been a Coral Cod.
- Lemonpeel Angel Fish; looks like it is wearing blue eyes hadow.
- Speckled, Saddled, Raccoon, and Teardrop Butterfly fish.
- Spotted Toby; one of the odder breeds.
- Pennant Bannerfish; probably one of the largest Angelfish I had ever seen, extremely graceful and shy.
- Threespot Wrasse
- Ember Parrotfish
- Neon Fusiller
- Red Squirrel Fish; only saw one of these hiding a bit under a rock
- Yellowstripe Goatfish; looked just like a giant Cory but instead of its mouth having the fronds, it has two chin fronds that scoop up the sand to disturb its food. Very large (40cm) and neat.

So far we have seen no eels, lion fish or porcupine fish but hopefully before long we will.