Just got back from Cuba, found a fish that needs an ID
 

I was snorkeling just off the beach at our resort and found this guy. He was about 10 ish inches long, maybe a bit more.
Looked the same shape as a lawnmower blenny, but a lot bigger. He moved along like a mandarin, where he just kind of hovers. He had a set of fins in the front that he was brushing off rocks/digging through the sand. He also had these fins that opened up on the side and they were all connected. Any idea what it was?

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...009/010_10.jpg

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...12_12_crop.jpg

Flying Gurnard. Wicked fish. I think someone on here actually had one for awhile but I can't remember who.

Looks like a flying Gurnard (Dactyloptena orientalis). Very cool! :)

Flying Gurnard (from here post 12)

Marc (Superfudge) had one in his tank for awile. There are pictures of it in his album I believe.

Wow, that was fast :D

He was such an amazing fish to watch, I must have followed him for 10 or 15 minutes.

Thanks for the help.

Saw a bunch of other cool stuff there too, a bunch of lionfish, some sort of puffer (looked like a valentini), tons of urchins, a couple of small squid, a barracuda, angels, and lots of big tangs.

are those things available to the hobby? if they are are they considered reef safe?

I dunno about reef safe but they get pretty huge (+2ft) between their length and their fin circumference I would imagine you'd need a pretty large tank.

ok so ill just stick to lookin lol, pretty crazy lookin fish

Not really reef safe because of size, they'll eat smaller fish and inverts, but probably ok in a larger FOWLR

Hey Dan, where were you in Cuba? I was just there and saw the same stuff.

We stayed at the Blau Costa Verde.

It was a good resort, but being my first hot winter trip and nothing jumping out as super ultra mega fantastic, so I'll probably not be back there for a few years.

We shared the same beach :lol:

You were over at Playa?

Yeap, I got back last Wed.

Did you do any excursions there? We did the swim with the dolphins/snorkeling tour for $120 CUC and the short trip into guardalavaca for the flea market.

Yeah we did lots of diving and we did the dual snorkeling trip on the catamaran which wasn't that great. Weather was bad and the places we went snorkeling were pretty much the same as right of the resort beach. Then on the way back we all laid on the suspended nets and we went through some waves. We hit a really big one which sent me flying and before I landed the net broke! A friend and myself went right under the boat, others managed to grab onto tow ropes or the broken net. No one was hurt but it was pretty crazy!

Here's some pics:

The "good" net:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...a/3dd73398.jpg

The net that broke:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...a/cdb39d5d.jpg http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...a/582263f5.jpg

I leave for there on Monday, thanks for the heads up to avoid that tour.. :lol: The good net doesn't look all that good either!

:shocked!: did you PAY for the deluxe adventure??
sorry off topic..... cool fish.

Wow, what a sketchy looking boat. Ours was in immaculate condition. Ours was booked through signature vacations, so I'm assuming they have a deal with one of the local companies, sunwing has another, etc.

Parker, instead of tipping pesos, get some cheap Canadian stuff, Canada flag pins, shirts, etc, just anything with a logo on it. I took a bunch of hats and shirts from the Manitoba Moose and they loved it, went over way better than money. Also, buy your duty free from the airport, it was a lot cheaper than at the resort. The airport was $6 CUC for a 26 of Havana club rum, the resort was 11. Same with cigars, cheaper at the airport.

We booked the catamaran through sunwing, the boat was in really good shape just the nets looked sketchy. There was a couple similar boats in the marina, I guess we just lucked out and got the "good" one :lol:

Ditto on the duty free but keep in mind the cigar selection is fairly poor so if you want something specific better to buy in town or at the resort. I didn't notice a huge price difference with cigars, but yes a few bucks cheaper for the rum.

I have always heard this but I wasn't sure if it was true or not. I wasn't sure about taking stuff down out of fear that I would offend them.. It's good to know it's appreciated.

I gave the guy who filled the mini bar in our room a hat, he hugged me and was actually crying.