Frogfish Report
Posted on Dec 12, 2009 by bruce_moore
As I had far too many pictures to post in any single Critter Post, I have split off reports on odd octopus as well as frogfish. As is obvious from the selected photos, I will deal with our froggie friends in this posting.
Frogfish are commonly seen in great numbers throughout the year and there is no "best time" for these lumpen attractions, just as odd species or juveniles can noticeably increase during any month.
Giant frogfish, painted frogfish and clown frogfish are easily found throughout the year, but the species that most visitors request an audience with is the fabled hairy frogfish (A. striatus / striated frogfish). The lembeh frogfish (not yet officially described) usually passes as a "hairy", though we refer to them as "shaggy". In 2008, we came across a respectable amount of Lembeh frogfish, but scant few legitimate striated frogfish. This year started out in the same vein. Was a stable water temperature to blame ? Perhaps. Too many divers? I doubt it. Something cyclical? Perhaps. But the reality was clear: substantially fewer A. striatus than in years past.
Traditionally, August through October is the prime time for these species. Last year an increase in numbers just didn't happen. This year was an improvement, though I would still rate numbers lower than six or more years ago. There was a brown A. striatus at Joleha (Air Bajo 2) on a few dives - disappearing and re-appearing over a few weeks in August. Then it was in mid-October that we started having improved luck. We had a Swiss group asking after them and I patiently explained how we weren't seeing them recently. But to prove the power of positive visualization, the very next day they went to TK3 and saw two. Then they went the next day and saw two again, though one was a different individual they had not seen before. I was along that dive and saw them - a large, very pregnant tan-coloured female, attended by a "bald" white one, all a'quiver in excitement, signaling that the Big Event was certainly to transpire that evening or at the latest, the next. A few days later I heard that the female had been dragged up in a net, but the fishermen released her. We saw her only once after that, but it is normal for the female to head back to the depths soon after releasing her eggs. A smaller one we did not see again. The white one was seen regularly for a few weeks, but was gone by the end of November. These three pictures show the white one eating a fish, them with only the tip of the tail showing outside the mouth (a close-up from the photo at the top) and then showing the expanded tummy as it just ate a fish only a bit smaller than he is.
In late October we had a lovely, very hairy specimen show up at Jari Jari, but for a few days only. Hengki had seen it last April or so on two dives at neighboring Makawide 2 and we look forward to where it will pop up next.
With Lembeh frogfish, for a while there has been two at Hairball (light and dark brown) and one at Jai Jari (orange). Also at Hairball is a pleasant surprise - a hispid frogfish (A. hispidus), which is often mistakenly called a "hairy". It is regularly seen at a site called Madidir at the south end of the strait (I've seen two there myself in years past and heard of others there in the last two years, though it's too far for us to reach), but this is the first one I've heard of up at this end of the strait. It is much larger in size than A. striatus, which in turn is larger than the Lembeh species. It also has a distinct esca ("fishing lure"): a stringy pom-pom as opposed to the wormy lure of the hairy and the moustache of the shaggy. The hispid also has a distinct face that I describe as "sad".
In August we saw two occelated frogfish at Air Prang, which is a small species found only in Lembeh. Also we were finding high numbers of scarlet (A. mummifer) and spotfin frogfish (A. coccineus) on night dives. It is worth noting that overall numbers of giant and painted frogfish were down since August, but there were still plenty to be seen.
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