Question Trying to figure out what the tiny Oarfish I saw was (Okinawa Japan)

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MacDuyver

Contributor
Messages
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Location
Okinawa, Japan
# of dives
50 - 99
Sorry, I don't have a picture (this fish is now on my "must get" photo list).

I was diving in Okinawa today (late morning) and saw two fish I'd never seen before. i checked the Charumi Fish Encyclopedia but don't see it anywhere.

These fish were about 20ft deep on a reef at about off the west coast of Okinawa (Chibishi Islands, Okinawa, East China Sea).

They were small swam together, and both looked the same. about 3-4" long, 3/4-1" tall, and shaped like a tiny oarfish (less ribbony though). They were greenish gray from the head until the pectoral fin (about 1/4 body-length back from the head). At that point, it faded to a metallic red for the rest of its body. On top of its head, it had a relatively long yellow hook shaped fin like an oarfish, but it was a single ribbon-like fin (about 3/4" long) instead of an array.

Anyone have any idea what this fish was?
 
Digging around, I started thinking it had to be some kind of blenny.

Found a pic of the Firefish Goby (Magnificent Dartfish) and it's pretty close to spot on. The dorsal fin was a bit more of a bold yellow color, and the body was closer to a gray than white, but the rest of the fish fits the bill.

istockphoto-627298158-612x612.jpg
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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