LONGFIN ANTHIAS: (preudanthias ventralis
The Longfin Anthias is unique and it is my favorite fish to photograph.
The Longfin Anthias adult has a very long pelvic and anal fins (especially on the males). The species here in Hawaii are small and very beautiful at 3 in. The males have a yellow head and reddish orange body which become violet toward the tail. The females, smaller and are mostly yellow on the head and back, with lavender sides.
The Longfin Anthias prefer depths of 100 feet plus. This photo of the male and female was taking in Kailua-Kona Bay on a coral plate mound in the middle of a sand patch at 98 feet.
Shot taken by Jim Robinson with a Nikon N90 with 105 macro in Anthis Nexus housing using Fuji 100 Provia film and Nikon SB-104 strobe. Camera settings: f8 at 125 TTL
Garden Eel Cove (North of Honokohau Harbor at 4.9 miles, 20 min.)
The landscape has an otherworldly look: coral-crowded boulders surrounded by black sand stretching as far as the eye can see. Garden eels dwell in burrows and colonize the areas where there is a current. They live by the hundreds along the step sandy slopes, stretching up out of their holes, facing into the current to feed on the drifting plankton.
When approached, they quickly disappear, unless one hovers quiet and still, then they will reappear; farthest eel first, then closer and closer. If the diver is cautious, there may be eel heads and bodies popping out of the sand, undulating and looking like question marks waving in the current. The depth is about 50 feet. On one recent dive at this site, I spotted a dinner-plate size nudibranch, white against the black sand, with tan markings- breathtaking! And I was out of film!
The Longfin Anthias is unique and it is my favorite fish to photograph.
The Longfin Anthias adult has a very long pelvic and anal fins (especially on the males). The species here in Hawaii are small and very beautiful at 3 in. The males have a yellow head and reddish orange body which become violet toward the tail. The females, smaller and are mostly yellow on the head and back, with lavender sides.