Help With Identification Please

[themusicman]

Hello everyone

Just found your forums, and they look like a very valuable resource, full of lots of information. Hope it's OK to make a post asking for ID.

I have recently returned home after a fabulous holiday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh. Prior to going out there, I purchased a nice Olympus Mu8000 camera for a trial at underwater photography. It's not a bad point and shoot, but as photography is all about the light, the little camera really lacks a powerful enough flash unit, and I only managed a few decent(ish) shots.

I have yet to process many of them, but hopefully you won't mind if I post here the ones I am unable to identify.

Here's one for a starter for 10.

It was right on the edge of the reef around the corals in depth of 1m to 10m, though I am sure it was a deeper water fish. Though I went snorkeling many times, I only saw this fish once, and it sure did look an aggressive species compared to the others there. It appeared only after someone on the jetty not far from where I had entered the water started throwing bread into the water; this subsequently caused a little bit of a commotion and soon enough this rather large red thing appeared. the guy who was throwing the bread was asked not to by the guards on the jetty (about 100yds out over the corals on the edge of the reef) as he advised it would/could attract sharks - and they didn't want that with so many people, including kids, in the water snorkelng.

Anyway- here's the best shot I could manage; it was a reddy colour, and much larger than any of the other species present. The largest there were some type of Parrot fish and some Red Sea Surgeon fish - but this one dwarfed both of those. I appreciate size underwater can be deceptive, but I'd say this one was at least 1m in length, and quite possibly a fair bit more. It had razor teeth, and was quite aggressive. I didn't manage to get a better shot sorry, but can anyone help with the ID please...?

Many thanks all. More pics soon enough...

John

 

[kaivalagi]

Can you tell me what the tail was shaped like? I reckon it's some form of coral trout/snapper at first guess. Did it look more red than in the photo?

Although this below profile is somewhat smaller fully grown (80cm) maybe that fits? The finnage looks to fit well, unlike a snapper:

http/www.reef.crc.org.au/research/fishing_fisheries/CoralTrout.htm

 

[themusicman]

WOW - thanks for the fast reply, very much appreciated. I do have some more shots that I haven't processed, I'll have a look now and post back in a few mins with a new pic if I have one.

Ta matey, much appreciated.

 

[seffieuk]

Musicman to TFF and the salty side of life - we would love to see all your underwater photos pretty please

SEffie x

 

[kaivalagi]

I love diving too

It's been a while but I used to be quite good ID'ing fish in South Pacific (Fiji), not quite the red sea but these species are very wide spread I think. Normally more red and/or spotted but the pofile looks good. Could be a grouper too...generally Coral trout/groupers are very common predatory reef fish ranging down to about 20m depth most of the time

 

[kizno1]

Duno what it is but i looks great. I just got back from egypt where i went snorkeling just about every day. Its great out there i saw lionfish, scorpion fish, stone fish, huge moray eels, blue spot stingrays loads of sea snakes and loads of other fish. Must be great living out there.

 

[themusicman]

WOW again... what a smashing set of replies to my post, thanks so much everyone. Of course I am more than happy to post my pics - though the underwater ones I don't think are that good, and I obviously have a lot to learn. I do other photography, and will be happy to show you some of these as well if you're interested. I have an Egyptian friend and whilst I was there - when my wife and two kids were busy playing around the pool area - he took me out to an awesome location called Nabq Protected Area - it was quite simply, one of the best photo days I've ever had. I'd be more than happy to share some pics with you... maybe in another 'off topic' area of the site (guidance please, I don't want to post anywhere I shouldn't!!).

Anyway - I've had another look through my shots from that day, and here's another one - though very much a poor shot, it's out of focus and quite blurry, but does at least show the tail.

The fish is the same one as in the first shot, as I watched it carefully (truth be known, I was scared and wondered if it was interested in taking a nip/chunk out of me!!); and yes, it was a lot redder than it looks in either of these shots. Hopefully this might help the ID...?

 

[kaivalagi]

Gorgeous fish, love the red, blue and yellow tints in the photo

I would say that it has to be a type of coral trout/grouper for it to be that big and hanging around a reef...but I have no idea what kind though.

Maybe I am totally off the mark though...hopefully others will comment later on