Damsel fish ID

[Puffer Fish]

One of my favorite fish to take pictures of are Damsel fish, but I have a heck of a time getting the correct ID...

This guy... should be a Beaugregory or a Cocoa.. but in the Panhandle of Florida, we don't seem to have any ones that look like the adults of those fish..

This one of the most common damsels there, but as adults, we have tons of these:

Also, this last weekend, I got a picture of this guy:

Looks to me like one picture of a yellowtailed reeffish, but other pictures are not even close....as in question #3.versus Fish ID Quiz 12http://fishbase.mnhn.fr/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=3643

But we have no adult fish that look like the pictures of the adult.

Lastly, we have a lot of these now (new fish over the last few years):

and while I don't have a good picture, there are now lots of little, bright blue fish that look to be their young...

Any ideas?

Note: the young are, unlike the other damsel fish, school fish, and tend to move away from divers.. so I have long distance shots of them, but nothing close up.

 

[H2Andy]

the first one is a cocoa juvenile (the spot at the base of the tail gives him away)

i think the second and third ones are adult beaugregories

i pass on the fourth one, though as you say, it could be a yellowtail reeffish. the yellow tail and neon stripe across the forehead sure look right

as for the fifth one, maybe a dusky damselfish? seems lacking any distinctive markings, and the fins don't go beyond the base of the tail ... so ... that's my guess

 

[Rick Murchison]

I think you're right on all counts Andy, including the yellowtail reeffish.

Rick

the first one is a cocoa juvenile (the spot at the base of the tail gives him away)

i think the second and third ones are adult beaugregories

i pass on the fourth one, though as you say, it could be a yellowtail reeffish. the yellow tail and neon stripe across the forehead sure look right

as for the fifth one, maybe a dusky damselfish? seems lacking any distinctive markings, and the fins don't go beyond the base of the tail ... so ... that's my guess

 

[Puffer Fish]

Humm.. well the last guy (I have lots of pictures of different ones) are blue/purple with iridescent green.. no other colors. I have not found any with that color pattern...so far.

My problem is, for example, things like this (bad pictures) of a Beau Gregery:

Beau Gregory Damselfish

notice the spot... and they are not the only ones...

And I cannot find any young Beu Gregeries... or rather, ones without the spot.. they all seem to have one.

 

[H2Andy]

I think you're right on all counts Andy, including the yellowtail reeffish.

Rick

dude!