What sea bass is this?

[archman]

This silly thing has stumped not only me, but the ichthyologist with me on the same dive. Coney, red hind, graysby... your guess is as good as mine.

Taken in around 60 feet off a reef buttress in San Salvador, Bahamas.

 

[Li'l38]

Coney, red hind, graysby... your guess is as good as mine.

My guess would be graysby. You can barely see 2 of the (3or4?) black spots that run just below the dorsal fin? Or have I been sitting in front of this computer screen too long?!

 

[knotical]

Wow! When archman asks, you know it’s not a trivial question.
The spots seem large for coney, and it lacks the distinctive black edges on the tail and rear fins of red hinds, so graysby seems reasonable.

 

[Hank49]

It's probably an invasive. You should have killed the damn thing.

Actually your ichthyologist friend should have (fixed it) because he may have had the chance to name a new species. Acanthurus archman ?

 

[archman]

So I have two votes for a graysby, and one for an undescribed species of surgeonfish (thanks Hank:lol: ). Anybody else want to take a crack?

 

[TheRedHead]

Juvenile grasby I think. It has a wash over the head and back.

 

[riguerin]

Juvenile grasby I think. It has a wash over the head and back.

ROCK HIND It's a standing joke.

 

[archman]

Juvenile grasby I think. It has a wash over the head and back.

This fish was about 10 inches long Red, so I don't think it was a juvenile. All of these benthic serranids tend to stay on the small side.

I've tried hunting for pics of a young graysby to see what the "wash" described in the Humann book actually looks like. But I have to *hallucinate* to discern any lighter shading on the dorsum of this specimen.

 

[OceanObsessed]

Its a Graysby.

- It is not a Red Hind because the spots continue onto the tail fin. That is one of the ways you would distinguish between a Rock Hind and a Red Hind.

- No saddle marking on the tail base so it can't be a Rock Hind.

- No double spots at the tail base so it can't be a Coney.

So by elimination it has to be a Graysby You can see the spots under the dorsal. Sometimes there are 3 and sometimes 4. The spots can vary in color and here they are not real pronounced but 3 of them are barely visible.

 

[TheRedHead]

I've tried hunting for pics of a young graysby to see what the "wash" described in the Humann book actually looks like. But I have to *hallucinate* to discern any lighter shading on the dorsum of this specimen.

It looks wrong for an adult graysby. Another vote for mutant.