Fish Portraits

The goldentail moray eel (Gymnothorax miliaris) is often found in crevasses with its head poking out and the remainder of its snake-like body unexposed. They spend most of their day in this position, but at night they leave their holes to hunt for prey. While remaining stationary during the day, they'll open their mouth from time to time. This may look like a sign of aggression, but they're only doing it to increase the flow of water through their gills. The goldentail moray is my favorite type of moray eel because of its dazzling appearance and its colorful eyes which are reminiscent of the "Eye of Sauron" from The Lord of the Rings.

The red lionfish (Pterois volitans) is native to the waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and is invasive to the Caribbean. It is theorized that they were released as aquarium pets into the Atlantic Ocean from the East coast of the United States. From there, they were able to reproduce exponentially and wreak havoc on the environment because they have no natural predators in the Caribbean. The lionfish has 18 venomous spines that inflict extreme pain onto anyone that they sting. Although lionfish are dangerous and threaten Caribbean coral reefs, they make very good photography subjects because they're very bright and they aren't afraid of humans (they have no natural predators), so you can get very close without them swimming away.