Fort Wetherill Fish ID help needed.

[SkuaSeptember]

Hi all,
I spotted these fish at about 12 feet in the eel grass not far from the boat ramp. They were about 2 inches long and fairly abundant. The lateral stripe and spot on the dorsal fin were very distinct on most but muted on some which I assume were females. I found no matches on the REEF survey form, Andy Martinez's book or in the Audubon field guide. I hope some one out there can ID them!
Thanks

 

[Broct]

Sorry I can't help to identify the fish, but I am curious about the VIS if you dove there today?

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

 

[SkuaSeptember]

Was there on Thursday, vis was in the 5ft range.

 

[RIOceanographer]

It's actually a young black sea bass, they change color as they age. Most of the guides just show the adults which look very different.

 

[SkuaSeptember]

It's actually a young black sea bass, they change color as they age. Most of the guides just show the adults which look very different.

I figured it would be you or ScubaSaurus that would have the answer! Thank you. Now the next question is if you can recommend another reference material that would have helped for this?

 

[Tampico_ED]

This guy knows nothing....fish that change color please !

It's actually a young black sea bass, they change color as they age. Most of the guides just show the adults which look very different.

 

[CT Sean]

We saw quite a few of them Saturday - they were pretty cool, they sat there watching us as long as we'd sit there watching them unfotunately viz was no better than previously reported - 5-8 feet was my guess

 

[RIOceanographer]

I figured it would be you or ScubaSaurus that would have the answer! Thank you. Now the next question is if you can recommend another reference material that would have helped for this?

Amazon.com: Bigelow and Schroeder's Fishes of the Gulf of Maine (Third Edition) (9781560989516): Bruce B. Collette, Grace Klein-Macphee: Books

It's pricey, technical, and doesn't have all the fancy color plates of the more popular field guides but it is full of information and is easily the most comprehensive reference on fish in this region that you can buy

 

[RIOceanographer]

This guy knows nothing....fish that change color please !

Ed! I was starting to wonder if you still existed!