Description

Political correctness out the window, to me, Cockatoo Wasp Fish are the retards of ocean dwelling fish. I mean look at the photo, his eyes are rolling around in his head pointing in completely different directions, whatever drugs he took, have not done him any good. They look so very stupid, but that being said; is exactly what makes them my all time favourite fish to find & photograph.

Depending on where you may be in the world they can be quite common, or exceedingly rare. In Dumaguete, Philippines, they would be in number on a certain dive site, and completely missing on others. Guess they like certain area’s, where their camouflage helps them thrive, typically anywhere with leafy rubble & litter on the bottom with very brown sandy silty composition. Although, I do find them in Phuket from time to time, and when we do they are usually on yellow sand, in their very juvenile state, maybe about 1 – 2 cm in length.

Another reason I love these little fools, is how they move about. It’s absolutely hilarious to watch when there is current because they cling to the bottom with their pectoral fins, when they wish to move, they let go and tumble head over ass to the next spot. Swimming is not in their vocabulary, in fact, I can’t ever say I’ve seen one actually swim. Basically they are the oceans champion of Roly Poly movement and shear laziness.

In this shot I was attempting to get as much of the purple Tube Anemone behind him into the background, I wanted a kind of maze of finger tendrils going on behind him. I didn’t quite get the shot, he kept rolling around on the sand, back and forward trying to pretend he was just a leaf, making the shot I wanted rather difficult to capture. In the end I ran out of time and had to settle for this. I’ll be back you little bastard!