Here’s a small (about 1.5 cm) camouflaged fish that I spotted in a lava tide pool along the beach south of Captain Cook. Can you spot it? It may be “pretty easy,” but the camouflage, I thought, was remarkable. If you spot it and can identify the species, let me know (but please don’t reveal the location) in the comments below.
Photo by Nilou. Reveal will go up at noon Chicago time.
I see it, but pretty well camouflaged!
Found it! Interesting stripes. Isn’t nature amazing?
To make these trickier the photographer should make sure to not target the critter so directly.
Amazing camo.
Yeah, I wanted to put it off to the side by cropping, but that made it less sharp.
Found it – pretty well camouflaged indeed.
I have to say, though, that the size of the critter alone doesn’t help much here, without having a sense of scale of what’s covered in the picture and what the camera orientation is with respect to the ground.
In a sense, it is interesting that photos like this, i.e., lacking terrestrial foliage which would normally convey scale, could just as easily be “read” as a mountain scene taken from lower earth orbit.
One needs enlargement to find it (well, I did need it), hence it cannot be really classified as ‘easy’. Still rated easy to medium. Remarkable little fish camouflage though.
Like with most of these ‘spot the X’, once seen it is glaring.
It’s a tide pool gobie of the genus Bathygobius. It’s most likely B. coalitus but there are three Hawaiian species in the genus that are very close lookalikes…
Thanks!
Found it, but I had to blow it up on the screen to maximum size to see it. Amazing camouflage.
Wonder, how a camouflage builds up ? Eyes can see colors in environment, but skin/scales cannot – so is it the brain that creates desired pigmentation ? That’s mystique !
I would think in the usual way, starting with genetic variation in color traits.
Surely, it is genes determining colour of the fauna but how does the gene know the colour of its environment and matching them for camouflage ! Perhaps it was trial and error with all types of fauna colours and finally non-survival of the unfit by Darwinism causing remainder of only camouflaged ones surviving today.
The gene doesn’t “know” anything. There are mutations to various colors, and the ones creating a better match to the background are the ones that were preserved. Thus does cryptic coloration evolve–through the usual preservation of the most adaptive variants created by random mutation.
If there are “eyes” involved in this process, it is the eyes of the predator, which eliminate those mutations in the prey that don’t match the background.
This is natural selection, and I suggest that if you’re still puzzled, have a look at Why Evolution is True or, barring that, email me.
On the subject of camouflage. It used to be thought that Zebra’s stripes provided some camouflage effect (counter intuitively). There’s been other theories for the stripes as well. Nothing conclusive yet.
I heard yesterday that Zebras kill more keepers in zoos than any other animal. Their kick can be deadly, and they have a fierce bite. Could it be they are advertising to predators that they should not be messed with? The bumblebee approach. I’m sure predators will sometimes prey on zebras but perhaps only when there’s no easier prey around.
In case you haven’t seen the studies on deterrence of biting flies, do read this:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/zebra-stripes-keep-flies-at-bay/
I’ve written quite a few posts about the adaptive value of zebra stripes (put “zebra” in the search box), and the best theory to date suggests that they repel biting flies that could carry diseases.
Found the lovely little fishy only by embiggening it.
Found it! 10 seconds flat!