Anacapa fish?

[DivePartner1]

This weekend I was diving the Anacapa Island in the Channel Islands off Ventura and saw a fish no one I talked to could identify. It looked something like a tang or parrotfish, and was primarily black but had a large red diagonal stripe and some white patches, and was about 8 to 12 inches long.

Does anyone know what it was?

 

[Hal Iotis]

Hmm..I need to get myself a COLOR fish ID book. There's another thread going about this past weekend at Anacapa. Were you on the Spectre on Saturday?

 

[DivePartner1]

Amazing! Small world! I'll look for the thread.

 

[socaldiver]

As mentioned on the other thread it sounds like the fish in question is a male Sheephead.

 

[JustAddWater]

.........And they taste good too!

 

[Hal Iotis]

JAW - The Channel Islands are getting hammered by divers and fishermen alike. The contrast between protected and unprotected areas was astounding. The protected areas were full of life, with high species abundance and diversity with large fish, while the unprotected areas at Anacapa were mostly urchin barrens with a few juvenile fish. Sheephead eat urchins, which, when uncontrolled denude the rocks of kelp, resulting in urchin barrens.

I used to be an avid fisherman and spearfisherman, but gave up the sport when I saw the huge decline in rockfish size and abundance. Similarly, diving at the islands ain't what it used to be, either. I wonder how long it will be until the more remote sites (e.g., backside of Santa Rosa, San Miguel) will look like the unprotected areas at Anacapa.