Cardinalfish

Last one for today, the timy Cardinalfish, at home amongst the spines of a Sea Urchin. A shy species, this one ventured out long enough for a quick take, and then back to safety.

Stinger

A scorpionfish, I think it is in the same family as the stonefish, but I don't recall offhand. Sat still and smiled for me.

Being able to use a flash made things much easier for the work. Set it up and to the left, with just enough power to freeze movement, but not enough to overwhelm anything. Use a shallow DOF (4 in this case) and a reasonable ISO (I had originally set it to 800, was able to tone it down to 400) and working with fish was much more rewarding than in Emerald Isle.

I Aim to Misbehave

And misbehave she did, despite multiple shots, angles and time, she wouldn't hold still. Best shot out of dozens was this one. Not bad, but not like the lionfish.

I want to be a Lion(ish) Tamer!

This was the second easiest shot I took. The lionfish slowed down, spread his fins and waited until I took the shots.

Nice lionfish :)

Flame On!

Back when I kept reef tanks in the late 80s, early 90s, the Flame Angel was the be-all-end-all of Angelfish keeping. If you could keep one alive you knew your stuff.

No, I didn't know my stuff. But I did manage to get a good pic of one :)

Puffer

Technically a boxfish, as he can't expand his shape by filling up with water. He was curious enough to stop swimming (more or less, fish are never really still) and see what I was doing.

Taking his picture is what I was doing.

Invasion

The Baltimore Aquarium has an exhibit on the invasion of jellyfish. They had several different kinds on display, from small and fast, to large and slow moving. This little guy was zipping right along and coupled with a nutrient-rich tank, was tough to catch. Not quite fully in focus, but I'm happy enough with it.