Species hunting adventures on Okinawa: Part 2.

After a relaxed lunch on day three, we did a bit more exploring and wandered further up the drainage canal. About half a kilometre from the sea it opened out and two smaller drainage canals ran into this area. There were lots of small fish swimming around and before too long I’d caught a few of them. Predictably, a few of the fish were damselfish. After a while, I eventually caught something else in the shape of a crested grunter. Much easier to identify!

This is a crested grunter. Even Google Lens can positively identify them with ease!

Based on the shape and slight yellow tinge of the tail fin and dorsal fin I think this one is a brackish damselfish, which would make sense given where I caught it. 

I think this darker fish is a black damselfish. Identifying damselfish is difficult, and I wish I’d taken more photos of each one I caught. If you think I’ve got any of my identifications incorrect, please leave a comment.

After a while the action dried up and even the damselfish lost interest. We decided to walk back towards the hotel. On the way we passed a couple of spots I thought looked a bit fishy. I had a quick fish in these two areas and caught another new species at both. Different types of environment usually hold different species.

Over a shallow sandy area I caught this cylindrical seaperch. The seaperch family was a new one to me, so when I caught it I had no idea what this fish was which was pretty exciting in itself!

In a deep silty area I caught this solitary common ponyfish. They are incredibly slimy.

Walking back in the direction of the hotel again, we made one last stop before heading for some food, I fished at one of the Sunabe Seawall piers for an hour or so as light faded. It turned out to be a great decision because fishing with small hooks straight down the front of the pier, I added four new species to my tally.

Yet another damselfish species added to my growing list. The whitespotted devil, whose spots are in fact blue!?

A vagabond butterflyfish, another awesome capture

I somehow managed to catch this tiny but very colourful member of the triplefin family that has no English common name. Cousin of the black faced blenny, this one is a male and is called a ヨゴレヘビギンポ (Yogorehebiginpo) in Japanese. 

After the sun went down, I caught what I suspect is a blackstripe cardinalfish.

So, it had been a very productive day! We relaxed in the evening with burritos and beer. The next day we were catching a bus and heading north to the Busena Marine Park where we would visit its underwater observatory. As well as seeing what fish were around further out from the shore, I was hopeful that I would perhaps find a fishing spot nearby or perhaps on the way back where the water was deeper and where I could maybe fish with heavier tackle and try to catch some bigger fish. 

Tight lines, Scott.

Click here for Okinawa : Part 3.