Please help ID these corals

[Shamu]

Can you all help me ID these two types of coral? My guesses (probably wrong) would be staghorn and stovepipe, but neither is a really dead-on match for these two.

(I shot these in the BVIs, near the wreck of the RMS Rhone.)

http://strick.net/travel/images/stjohn/diving/searod.jpg

http://strick.net/travel/images/stjohn/diving/tubesponge.jpg

[drdiver]

Mike, Corals are not my forte, but I would say the first is an octocoral probably an angular sea whip or less likely a sea rod. The second is probably not a stove pipe (the central pore is too small)--it is more like a yellow tube sponge. or a convoluted barrel sponge. (Aplysina sp.)

[Dee]

Doc's right....the first one is a Sea Rod. From the length and flexibility of the 'arms' I would say a Knobby Sea rod. When the polyps are extended to feed it has a fuzzy look to it.

The second is a Branching Tube Sponge.

[Cold_H2O]

Nice Sea Rod and Sponge. Now we all know what they are.
Thanks for sharing.

Have I mentioned that I just love this board and its members?
So much information so freely shared.

[wb416]

Wow... you guys are good... I was thinking "whip thingie" and "pipe thingie" :)

[Shamu]

Here's another ID, a fish this time..... Doc?

http://strick.net/travel/images/stjohn/diving/hogfish.jpg

And I know what this one is, but just thought I'd share another photo.....

http://strick.net/travel/images/stjohn/diving/braincoral.jpg

[Dennis]

The first pic looks like a wrasse of some kind. Maybe a Spanish Hogfish?

The second, Brain Coral.

[drdiver]

Yep, extreme close up of a Spanish hogfish. See the teeth. They use them to crush little crustaceans and molluscs they find in the sand.

Nice pic of the brain coral!

[Shamu]

Doc, one more for you:

http://strick.net/travel/images/stjohn/diving/sanddiver.jpg

[Walter]

Sand Diver

[Shamu]

Thanks, Walter. One final one: are these bluestriped grunts? They look like it, but the color is so leached out from the low light that I can't be sure.....

http://strick.net/travel/images/stjohn/diving/frenchgrunts.jpg

[Dennis]

They look like Small Mouth Grunts to me. Blue Striped Grunts have a black tail. They could be French Grunts, it's hard to tell with a bunch of fish butts. :)

[Walter]

Impossible to tell from this photograph, but they are not Bluestriped Grunts, Dennis is correct, as usual, about the black coloration in the tail (and also the dorsal fin). I don't think they are small mouthed grunts, their shap is too rounded. They are shaped more like French Grunts, but I'd expect to see some color from French. I don't know what they are, just what they aren't. They aren't Jewfish.

[Dennis]

I thought they were too rounded as well, but there isn't a lot of color there. I tried to enhance the picture with photoshop to get more color, but the results didn't help much. Usually French Grunts have some diagonal stripes. these don't seem to have them, but the picture could be deceiving. There is a slight possibility they could be Pinfish, but after a closer look, I think they are more likely French Grunts.

[Shamu]

Thanks for all the attention, guys! Re. the loss of color, the photo was shot at around 60 feet without a flash, and the fish are under an outcropping of a wreck, so not only is the lower end of the color spectrum scattered, there's not a lot of light to bring out what color remains. I'll call 'em French Grunts, then. Thanks!

I'm finishing up all of my photo galleries from the recent trip, and will have everything posted by the end of the day. I'll post a link here when I'm done.

[Shamu]

One more ID, please. Last one, I promise. I admit being completely clueless when it comes to Caribbean species... ask me about SoCal marine life, though, and I know a thing or two.

I searched online quite a bit, and could not ID this guy. I thought at first it was a trumpetfish, but upon closer examination, and seeing photos of other trumpetfish, I don't think it is. I thought it might be some species of barracuda, but I'm pretty certain I'm wrong there too; the snout looks all wrong. The fish was about 18" long. Any ideas?

http://strick.net/travel/images/stjohn/snorkeling/trumpetfish.jpg

[Walter]

I can't tell from this photo.

[Dennis]

I wqould bet that it is a Hound Fish because there are no verticle bars along the body. If not for that and I don't see any black along the rear of the dorsal fin (of course, the rear of the dorsal is laying down) it could be a Flat Needlefish. Same family.

[drdiver]

Hi, Mike, I was off line all weekend playing with the sweetie and what we were doing did not involve the Internet.:D

The mystery needlefish is indeed a mystery. It is awfully fat for a houndfish--my initial thought was a balao--but the dorsal and ventral fin shapes and positions and what appears to be a dark bar on the gill cover and what may be its black keel on the tail inclines me to a houndfish as Dennis very accurately pointed out. Maybe it's pregnant!

I think the grunts are french grunts. Sometimes the diagonal yellow stripes are kind of washed out. The shape is not right for a small mouth.

Walter is spot on on the sand diver. Look for the black spot on the gill cover--that always distinguishes it from its other lizard fish kin.

[Shamu]

I compared other photos of houndfish to my photo and my memory of what I saw, and yes, it's definitely a houndfish. Thanks again, everyone -- all these ID exercises have been very educational for me (which is great, because I'll be diving Key Largo next month).