what kind of fish/coral/sponge are these?

[s.s.seafan]

Hi,

Just came back from a trip to Jamaica, got some pictures from dives in the 30-60ft range. I'm curious to find out what kind of animals I saw -

#1. what kind of animal (sponge) is that Lionfish resting on?

#2. what kind of fish is that (parrotfish)? and what kind of coral is that (about 2-3ft tall)?

#3. what kind of coral (gorgonian) is that? (2-3ft tall)

thanks!

-Jason

 

[trigfunctions]

Forget the sponges and sea rods and parrotfish - the most interesting thing here is that you saw two lionfish in Jamaica! I didn't realize they were prevalent there. Did you see a lot of them there?

 

[s.s.seafan]

Forget the sponges and sea rods and parrotfish - the most interesting thing here is that you saw two lionfish in Jamaica! I didn't realize they were prevalent there. Did you see a lot of them there?

not a lot, but I saw at least one or two on each of the 6 dives.

 

[deborahdelamar]

Pretty sure that the sponge is Giant Barrel -- don't know which sea rod you photographed. The Parrotfish is transitioning between juvenile and intermediate phases and is most likely a Princess. It's hard to nail down the ID in a low-res picture with the fish at distance. Check your original photo to see if there are borders along the tail -- if so, it's definitely a Princess. (The Princess "wears a skirt!") The only other parrotfish species it could be is a Striped but it just doesn't look like one to me. The double lionfish photo is great.