Luiz Rocha

William B. Ludt, PhD @planet-of-fishes.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 27, 2024 at 22:49 UTC

This is a great position for any of you ichthyologists out there on the job market! jobs.oregonstate.edu/postings/150...

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 26, 2024 at 15:32 UTC

Big review on #mesophotic coral ecosystems out today in Trends in Ecology and Evolution: Function and stability of mesophotic coral reefs www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 25, 2024 at 16:01 UTC

Speaking of fish that are big in the eastern Pacific, the Giant Hawkfish (Cirrhitus rivulatus) is the biggest hawkfish in the world, the size of a small grouper! This one was about 50cm (20in) long, while most other species of hawkfish don't get larger than 15-20cm. A beast!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 22, 2024 at 18:21 UTC

The Fin-spot Triplefin (Lepidonectes corallicola) is a beautiful Galapagos endemic. It's in the family Trypterygiidae (three dorsal fins) and fish in this family are usually very small, but this species from the Galapagos grows a lot! This adult female was about 10cm (4in) long!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 19, 2024 at 16:15 UTC

The Rainbow Scorpionfish (Scorpaenodes xyris) is small and hard to find (cryptic), but once you know where to find them, you will see they are quite common. It's widely distributed in the tropical eastern Pacific, found both along the coast and oceanic islands. #ichthyology

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 17, 2024 at 16:01 UTC

Staying on the small side but now moving into blennies, meet the Dendritic Blenny (Gobioclinus dendriticus). It's found in the Galapagos and Malpelo, and nuptial males have an distinctive white coloration. I spent the whole trip looking for one and found it on the last day!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 13, 2024 at 18:03 UTC

From big and flashy, to small and nasty, meet the Galapagos endemic Blue Banded Goby (Lythrypnus gilberti). Don't let its good looks fool you, it's very small and hard to photograph, hiding between rocks and hanging upside down in caves, a true #NastyGoby!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 12, 2024 at 17:27 UTC

Happy Darwin Day!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 11, 2024 at 16:07 UTC

Still on groupers, the Sailfin Grouper (Mycteroperca olfax) is another interesting one. It's found in several oceanic islands in the tropical eastern Pacific, and in upwelling areas of the Galapagos about 5% of them were yellow like this!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Feb 10, 2024 at 16:27 UTC

In the Atlantic, Coney (Cephalopholis fulva) has a yellow color morph, but the closely related Creolefish (Cephalopholis furcifer) doesn't. In the tropical eastern Pacific, the Pacific Creolefish (C. colonus) does! Very interesting!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 30, 2024 at 13:44 UTC

I saw this fish for the first time in the Galapagos, and it's an odd one! The Coquito Sergeant (Nexilosus latifrons) is the only species in its genus, we call this a monotypic genus. It's found in rocky reefs of cold upwelling areas of the Galapagos, Peru and Chile. #ichthyology

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 28, 2024 at 09:00 UTC

King Angelfish (Holacanthus passer) were super common in the Galapagos, so I spent quite a bit of time looking for and photographing babies and teenagers. And I did find some stunners! Aren't they amazing? #ichthyology

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 24, 2024 at 21:31 UTC

Something different today. There are few places on earth where evolution is as obvious as it is in the Galapagos, and one of the sights that stunned me the most was seeing Marine Iguanas feed underwater. A clear example of how the Galapagos inspired Darwin. #explore

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 22, 2024 at 16:41 UTC

Prognathodes carlhubbsi is a beauty. Like other members of its genus, it's a relatively deeper water fish, preferring #mesophotic (50+m) depths, but it can be seen in very shallow waters in upwelling areas of the Galapagos. I photographed this one at 12m depth off Isabela.

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 12, 2024 at 15:42 UTC

Couldn't come to the Galapagos and not photograph some of the birds that are part of the radiation that inspired Darwin! This one is the small ground finch (Geospiza fuliginosa). Sadly, I won't have internet on the boat, so you will have to wait a little longer for fish photos!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 11, 2024 at 14:53 UTC

Even though the Blue-Footed Booby (Sula nebouxii) is found in other regions of the tropical eastern Pacific, it's another symbol of the Galapagos. The common name "booby" comes from the Spanish "bobo" meaning silly, haha!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 10, 2024 at 14:54 UTC

Godzilla!!!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 09, 2024 at 23:13 UTC

If you didn’t figure out where I was going, you definitely will now! I finally made it after multiple flight delays (took me 50 hours)!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 08, 2024 at 18:20 UTC

I know I said I was going to post from my destination today, but sadly a long flight delay yesterday made me miss a connection. So I will be a day late! Here is another clue, the Leather Grouper (Dermatolepis dermatolepis), which is very common there!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 04, 2024 at 16:40 UTC

Many of you have already guessed it right, but here is another pretty clue anyways! The big reveal of my next destination will be when I get there on Monday, stay tuned!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Jan 02, 2024 at 17:55 UTC

I will be starting 2024 with a very exciting trip to a place I've never been before! I will be there next week, and in the meantime will post clues to where it is. So let's see if you can guess!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Dec 31, 2023 at 17:07 UTC

Happy New Year everyone! Best Fishes!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Dec 27, 2023 at 16:52 UTC

There is no better time than now to come together. Happy 2024 everyone!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Dec 24, 2023 at 20:06 UTC

Happy holidays! Boas festas!

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Luiz Rocha @coralreeffish.bsky.social [ View ] Dec 16, 2023 at 16:07 UTC

Because of its isolation, many species are only found in the Red Sea (endemics). The same process causes some populations to be different, and the population of Regal Angelfish (Pygoplites diacanthus) is more brightly colored in the Red Sea than anywhere else I have seen it!

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