
Time | Weather | Ocean |
7:25 AM | 67°, Clouds | 68° |
Vis. | Surf | Tide |
10-15′ | ≤ 2′ | High +1.4 @ 8:24 |
are we supposed to add Latitude and Longitude?
check the Reef.org site
Video Clips
- Video: Schooling Kelp Bass (Mating?)
- Video: Agressive Kelp Bass
Inshore Fishes Survey (Reef.org Format)
- Single • Few (2-10) • Many (11-100) • Abundant
- Solo • Pairs • Groups (3-5) • Schools (≥6)
Fish Family | Species | ID Photo Links | Numbers | Groupings |
*** | *** | *** |
Damselfish | Garibaldi (adults) | F | solo |
Damselfish | Blacksmith | – |
Wrasse | CA Sheephead (female) eating Bryozoa? |
F | pair |
Wrasse | Rock Wrasse (male) sucker lips extended (cleaners) black spot behind pectoral |
F | solo |
Wrasse | Señorita | – |
Sea Chub | Opaleye | F | small groups |
Sea Chub | Zebra Perch | F | pair |
Sea Chub | Halfmoon | – |
Surfperch | 18 CA marine species: Rainbow Perch Rubberlipped Seaperch Striped Seaperch Kelp Perch Pile Perch |
*** – – – – – |
Round Stingray | Round Ray | S^ |
Rhinobatidae | Shovelnose Guitarfish ^ (up to 5′) | – |
Rhinobatidae | Banded Guitarfish^ (up to 3′) | – |
Rhinobatidae | Bat Ray | – |
Rajidae | Thornback Ray | – |
Sea Bass | Kelp Bass congregation* Video: Schooling Kelp Bass Video: Agressive Kelp Bass |
Many! |
Sea Bass | Barred Sand Bass | – |
Grunt | Sargo ^ (note hump in back vs Zebraperch) |
S| solo |
Grunt | Salema?^| (big eye bass, striped bass) | M | school |
Silverside | Topsmelt | A | schools |
Houndshark | Soupfin Shark (aka Tope) | S |
Houndshark | Leopard Shark | – |
Bullhead Shark | Horn Shark | – |
Tube/ Kelp Blenny | Giant Kelpfish (no pic) | S |
Drum/Croaker | CA Corbina (Shortfin?) | – |
- ^Not on Reef.org primary species list
- Note: left Goby, Greenling, Sculpin, & Scorpionfish families off table since rarely seen in shallow waters of the La Jolla Underwater park (except at night, one of our divers reports)
For Gallery-Slideshow and Resources for Identifying Fishes,
* Kelp Bass (aka Calico Bass) “Rather than mating over brief periods each year, they may spawn any time from April to November. Apparently during this time they form large groups a little further from the coast. The fertilized eggs drift in the plankton for a few days before hatching into larvae. The larvae remain as temporary plankton (“meroplankton”) for about a month before they settle out over appropriate habitat. Although some scientific reports suggest that members of this species stick around their home reef or kelp forest, Dr. Love has observed large schools of them miles at sea. Some believe these groups move into suitable habitats like rocky reefs for short periods. Those that find habitats with plenty of food may exhibit “site fidelity” and stick around.”
Dr. Bill <– Probably More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Fishes of the Pacific, Milton Love
Resources for Fish Taxonomy and Idenification:
- Fishbase: e.g. Houndsharks; Quick ID; Search by Species
- CA Fish & Game: Marine Species Portal: ID Page
- Sea Grant CA (UCSD), e.g., Soupfin Sharks
- Animal Diversity Web, e.g. Houndsharks
- Monterey Bay Aquarium, e.g. Houndsharks|Soupfin
- Pier Fishing in CA: very good info on common names, keys to ID fish, natural history, e.g. Salema • e.g. Zebraperch vs Barred Surfperch vs. Sargo. Still need to ID the slides #9 and #10
- REEF.org ID: Species Gallery, California Fish; Quizlet: CA Fish and Invertebrates (sloppy: Fish grouped by Family; but Invertebrates by Phylum; and Plants?)
- Starthrower-Natural History of Catalina Marine Life: e.g. Rock Wrasse
- What’s That Fish? e.g. blacksmith juvenile
- Diver Kevin-Multiple pics of species, helps with varying coloration and markings, e.g. Rock Wrasse
- Kelp Forest Ecosystem (student blog?): good pictures of keystone and other species, food web and trophic level pyramid diagrams of kelp ecosystem
- Non- Indigenous marine fishes. Note: “Exotic” = can’t breed in local area (e.g., “California” Moray Eel) but lives here (but breeds farther south?) vs. “Invasive” means moves in, breeds, harness or displaced local spcecies in ecosystem (e.g., European green crab, e.g., Pacific oyster)
Articles on The Classification-of-Life Wars (Taxonomy)
- Visit the blog CATEGORY: Classification Debates for Articles (some many years old) on different systems
- Splitters vs Lumpers: e.g., Genetics has revealed that four “species” of bladder kelp are really one
- You need to update this with bookmarks from your iPad Safari AND from the ActiveLearningZone.com/STEM (e.g. someone’s sample SCUBA DIve Survey, from La Jolla Shores)
Best Natural History Sites (i.e. not just identification but habitat, place in ecosystem, etc) • focus on Marine Life and Marine Birds
- Cornell All About Birds: For Identification: Photos, Videos, Recordings + Life History: Habitat, Food, Nesting, Behavior, Conservation: e.g. Snowy Plover; e.g. Brown Pelican
Merge all Science and STEM websites into one!?–for Marine Biology At Least?
- Joy of Teaching: Matter-Energy-Life-on-Earth
- Joy of Teaching: Science
- K-8 STEM Success
- LJ Arts & Sciences BLOG
- Math & Science Olympics!
- Science@6thGrade
- Science@7thGrade: Energy
- STEM@8thGrade: Life-on-Earth
- STEM@Grades 3,4,5 • Zingy TargetScores
- Arts & Sciences: Curriculum (Learning Strands): Science
- Joy of Teaching: Curriculum: Science Categories