Ribbonfish sighting in Cabbage Tree Bay
Nick Pearce has snorkelled or swum in Cabbage Tree Bay most weekends for the last five years. He said, "I love seeing the creatures that are not everyday sights (no disrespect to the blue groper) such as turtles, eagle rays and grey nurse sharks so seeing a fish that I had never seen before was amazing, particularly as I did not know what it was."
Nick contacted Amanda Hay, the Fish Collection Manager at the Australian Museum (view Amanda's Australian Museum profile page), who identified the fish as a Southern Ribbonfish Trachipterus jacksonensis, and suggested that he upload his observation to the Australasian Fishes Project.
Nick stated that, "The ribbonfish did not appear bothered by my presence or that of the other snorkeler. It was fascinating to watch the fish swim as it seemed awkward being upright."
In Australia the species is known to occur in temperate marine waters. Three genera of ribbonfishes are recorded from Australian waters, Desmodema, Trachipterus and Zu. Species in all three genera have been observed swimming with the head uppermost. See more images of a Southern Ribbonfish swimming vertically on the Fishes of Australia website.
Nick said, "One of the best parts of snorkelling is that every day is different and when you see something unusual it is both a highlight and a reason to keep going back." We certainly won't argue with him on that front.
In case you were wondering, the photo of Nick, above, was taken near Campitello di Fassa in the Dolomites, Italy. Not many ribbonfishes occur there!