Mesmerizing Schools of Convict Tangs

da9de17a7ff3668fe9cf46949715af7fOne of my favorite places in the entirety of the Hawaiian Islands is the Kapoho Tide Pools.  Lava flows from Kilauea often reach the ocean.  Rapid cooling of the lava can form domes.  When these domes collapse in the intertidal they become a series of tidal pools hosting a myriad of ocean life.  Snorkeling here is nothing short of amazing.

During my last visit here I managed to capture a school of convict tangs. Acanthurus triostegus was one of the species described by Linnaeus himself way back in 1758. A_film_about_Carl_Linnaeus_Natural_History_Museum

Convict tangs are abundant fish throughout the Indo-Pacific. Adults occur in seaward reefs with the young occuring in tide pools. They feed on algae that grow on rocks.

Convict_Tangs

Occasionally, and spectacularly, they form schools. The gold in combination with the black stripes making the schooling all the more dizzying.

Convict_Tangs (1)

Convict_Tangs (2)Convict_Tangs (3)Convict_Tangs (4)