Shaws cove...Frog fish 13"...lobsters...

I saw a frog fish today thanks to Laguna Sea Sports. Its been there for a few days. Turn right at turn around rock and there is a small cave in the wall, its been living in there. Very cool creature. With the frog fish was a large octopus in the top part of the cave ...wish I had a camera... I will be getting a Go Pro2 camera to record all my dives. I also saw lots of LARGE 5lbs.+ lobster in the cracks let alone the babys in the eel grass. Suprised that MLPA is really going to happen Jan. 1 with the amount I saw:depressed:. Found one out and pinned one last one before its over.Good Diving Day Though..........

Debbie Karimoto and Roeland Papen got some shots of it.










Debbie wrote this on the O.C. News list;

While Humann & DeLoach say, “Uncommon to rare Gulf of California and Pacific Coast of Baja to Panama; also south to Peru including Cocos & Galapagos Islands”, Milton Love’s newest tome, Certainly More than You Want to Know About the Fishes of the Pacific Coast says clearly on page 190, “first specimen taken near Avalon, on Santa Catalina Island.” It says much more, too. Milton told me this morning: That is very cool. If it is Antenarius avalonis, that may be the first California mainland siting, they are occasionally seen at Catalina - that was where it was first observed and the reason it was named avalonis. I am not completely sure if it is that species, they are difficult to separate using photos, but that Identification is a reasonable supposition. And Michael Miller of The Slug Site says, “Your frogfish is probably Antennarius avalonis first described by Jordan and Starks back in 1907 from a 13.5 inch specimen takenat Avalon Harbor, Catalina. I have seen it in the Gulf of Mexico and possibly Puerto Vallarta.”

Anyone else having trouble viewing the pictures?

Hey Max, thanks for the info...and reading my mind about others getting a photo..you always come thru....I dont think the pictures got uploaded right. It shows a box where a pic shoiuld be but know pics.

Frog fish as in the really ugly, ungainly fish that have ventral fins looking like legs?

Now that this is out there on the net for all to see, I hope that if indeed this is the rare creature it seems to be, that people respect that fact and observe it cautiously. However, my expectation is that this specimen will get harassed until it leaves, or some knucklehead will decide they need a trophy and poach it. Hopefully, I am proved wrong.

Yep, that's a frogfish, alright. I'm constantly amazed at what shows up in SoCal water and what I need to go look for. First it was the sea turtles and now the frogfish.

Went back today to show my dive buddy the frog fish today. It was still there but moved up a cave. It was amazing to see it WALK around in the cave. There is also a huge tree fish that has become friends with it. They have been seen together for a week now. I also talked to diver that saw the large octopus I saw yesterday attacking the frog fish...so maybe its not the people the frog fish has to worry about. Thanks again Max for the great pics even if there not yours.

fnfalman:

Yep, that's a frogfish, alright. I'm constantly amazed at what shows up in SoCal water and what I need to go look for. First it was the sea turtles and now the frogfish.

Click to expand...

When and where did I miss the sea turtles

I wouldn't have believed this but Karim and his tech 1 crew saw one not long ago at around 170 feet deep off Catalina. He has some nice shots of it. It is a different color and type as far as I could tell by the pics he showed me. Wow. Thanks for this post and the directions and I hope he can stay put there and not be disturbed or scared away.