rare blenny found

[dcfreediver]

hey, i found this on my first ever freedive off the coast of northwest donegal (ireland) , on a rocky shore, a boat ramp, and many many many fish. a very nice surprise when i checked in the field guide and found it was a montagu's blenny, which only reaches the very southern tip of ireland, and there were no recorded sightings farther north. mine was like this but had a bright orange crest, meaning it was a male. does anyone know where i can report this? i think im gonna stick with this freediving spot, my first dive gave me a bait ball of sandeels, 2 gurnards, 1 mullet, and a flounder the size of my torso. not bad for chest deep water, at most 1 inch over my head. sorry about the picture, i tried to edit it, or get a better one. its the fish on the right.

[Shadowkiller]

Firstly: Dont believe the fish ID books.
Ive photographed species that were 500km south of their normal range. With the ocean temps going up, you'll find species far to the north (or in my case south) of their "historic" ranges.

But do contact the English Natural History Museum.

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/zoology/fish/

There are contacts at the bottom of the page.

Natural History Museums are a great resource, and often you can help them out by providing specimens and such. But ask first!

Also: Nice shots, good portrait framing! Just a little tip, if I may, if you shoot ID shots, make sure you include all the fish. Some species can only be differentiated by tail shape or dorsal/anal fin positioning.

[tecdave]

I also found this on a fishing site, the form that they talk about can be found at

http://www.nwsa.ukf.net/

then click on conservation and its the 4th topic down

Hope it helps

Dave



Unusual Catches & Sightings

If you have seen or caught a specie that is unusual or caught in a location that is unusual for that specie, the National Maritimes Aquarium Records would like to hear about it. The species most high on the interest list are trigger fish, sunfish, sea breams, scorpionfish, shad, wreckfish and comber, but also ANY specie that you consider unusual or in an unexpected place.

In the event of catching or seeing an unusual specie, just click below for the necessary form. You can then either;

a/ Print off the form, fill it in, and post to Info Officer, NMA, Rope Wlk, Coxside, Plymouth PL4 OLF.

b/ Save to file and use your image editor to fill in the form and e-mail as attached file to douglas.herdson@national-aquarium.co.uk