Sarasa Frogfish (Antennarius sarasa).

BELOW: Two-Faced Toadflsh ih its crevice.

Marcia's Anthias (Pseudanthlas marcia).

expert on coral reef fish taxonomy, and dis­coverer of countless new species of excitingcoral reef fishes, was now leading an expe­dition to the desert shores of southernOman. T was accompanying him as under­water photographer. Planned for years, theexpedition's ultimate purpose (at the behestof His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said) was

The vehicle was quickly gathering speedover the stony ground.

"In crevices," he shouted, leaning out ofthe window, then he was gone in a cloud ofdesert dust. I was Oil my own.

The legendary Dr. John E. Randall, theworld's first diving ichthyologist, foremost

"\\lhlltever you do," said Dr.Randall.climbing into the waiting Toyota LandCruiser, "try to get one of those toad fish."

"OK," I replied, "I'll do my best." Thevehicle began to move. "Have a good trip:' 1shouted, then suddenly came to my senses:I knew nothing about toadfishes .

"Wait!" I cried. "What's its habitat?"

Morcio and "theTw-o-Foced TOCldfishBy John Hoover

EXPEDITION TO OMANMarcia's Anthias (Pseudanthias marc/a).Camp at AI Makhalah, southern Oman.

41

Stars-and-Strlpes Snakelet (Hsl/ophls dlsdemus).

city ofMuscat.lfI could get it, Dr. Randallhad promised to name this attractive fishafter my wife, Marcia. Muscat lies about600 miles up the coast in a completely dif­ferent faunal region, so there was no guar­antee that the new anthias would occur inour area. But I had a strong feeling it did.And if it did, I had a good idea where Imight find it.

Our boatmaster, Steve Shaw.IifelongBritish expatriate, helicopter mechanic forthe Royal Oman Air Force, champion wind­surfer, adventure diver and sometime cook,had told me of a dive site he had discoveredonly Lenminutes by boat from our camp. Itfeatured a drop-off with swim-through caveat a depth of about 80 feet that soundedperfect for anthias. He called the site "Hole­in-the-Wall."

Aruhias, for those who are not familiarwith them, arc small, colorfulplankton-eating fishes in the grouperfamily, Scrrnnidae. They inhabit drop-offs(where currcntS bring them a steady supplyof plankton) and they love crevices andcaves (which provide shelter from preda­tors). When 1described anthias to Steve heknew immediately what I was talking about."They're there aLIright, mate," hc said.HWc'1lgo first thing in the morning."

Steve easily located the site the next dayusing line-of-sight coordinates. Weanchored and went down. I was thrilled tofind the area was swarming witb anthias of

right now that his condition was not seriousand be is okay: but we didn't know that atthe time. Meanwhile, I found myselfleading the expedition.

Now I am a librarian, writer and under­water photographer, but not a scientist. 1have no training in zoology whatsoever.Luckily, having lived and dived in Oman forthree years, I knew something of the areaand what to expect. I also knew that in addi­tion to general survey work, Dr. Randallgreatly desired specimens and underwaterphotographs of a most unusual toadfish thathe and Jonathan Moe, then head of theOman Aquarium. had discovered on a verybrief exploratory trip to the area severalyears ago.

This toadfish was not only a newspecies; il represented a new genus. Its mostdistinguishing characteristic, Dr. Randallhad explained, was the presence of twoflaps on either side of the head, eachbearing a false eye spot. These false eyeflaps presumably discouraged predators bymaking the toad fish appear larger than itreally is. I had never seen the toadfish, butknew that it had been discovered about 20miles up the coast from our campsite, ncar asite we planned to visit later,

In addition to collecting the toudfish,there was another assignment: find andcollect a new species of anrhias that both ofus had glimpsed on separate occasions in1989 and 1990 on a deep reef off the capital

Golden Butterflyflsh (Chsetodon semi/srvstus).

Pinecone fish (Monocentrfs jsponfcus).

the publication of a major book on thefishes of Oman. It's immediate aim was toexplore tho almost unknown fish life ofOman's southern coast.

The shores of Oman, the second largestcountry in Ambia, are washed by threebodies of water: the Persian Gulf and theGulf of Oman in the north, and the ArabianSea in the south. Although well within thetropics. this southern coast is subject duringthe summer to massive cold upwellings,giving rise to the unlikely combination ofkelps and other cold water seaweedsgrowing side by side with corals. As mightbe expected, this unusual ecosystem ishome to unusual fishes. (Readers of FAMAmay recall my account of the discovery oftwo endemics, the Oman Buucrflyfish andthe Oman Clownfish in these same watersseveral years ago.)

Under the aegis of Mr. Ralph Daly, theSultan's Adviser for Conservation of theEnvironment, and his right hand man, Dr.Ian Mcl.eish (who has lived in southernOman for many years), a series of desertcamps had been planned for us along astretch of shore virtually untouched byichthyologists. Everything necessary hadbeen provided: vehicles, a boar.a laborato­ry, portable compressors, and 1110Stirnpor­rant, a support crew (including a team ofhighly experienced divers) .

Then bad luck hit: Dr. Randall was takenill and rushed back to the States. Let me say

Two-Faced Toadflsh (anesthetized).

We had brought quinaldine in plasticsquirt bottles, but the anthias didn't hole upas expected. Steve and I chased them up anddown the wall until we ran out of air,watched all the while by some fairly heftygroupers hanging out in the cave. Withdecent hand nets we might have been ableto capture some, but we had none. I hadcome prepared to photograph fish, not catchthem.

Back in the boat we reluctantly decidedto use the rotenone. Rotenone is a fishpoison that kills every fish in the area. Ididn't like using such an indiscriminate fishpoison in this pristine spot, and neither didSteve. But on this trip science came first. Incamp, we took a sturdy plastic bag andmixed quantities of the gray brown powderwith seawater.The finished product waslike mud. The idea was to spread therotenone in the cave where some of theanthias had to be hiding. "Take a fistful andreach as far back in the cracks and crevices

Hawaii's Fishes:A Guide for Snorkelers, Diversand Aquariststext and photographs by JOHN P. HOOVER

• 250 species, 300 underwater photos, 50,000 words of text.• " Crammed with ~seflll information." - FAMA March 1994• "The color printing is gorgeous." - Maui News

$16.95 plus $4.00 shipping & handlingSend check or tnoney order to: John P. HooverP.O. Box 75442, Honolulu, HI 96836

Orders can be autographed.JUST ASK!

as you can," Dr. Randall had advised. "Ittakes about ten minutes to work.Youwon'tbelieve all the fish that'll come out."

Returning to Hole-in-the-Wall that after­noon we followed his directions. The cavewas open at both ends, however, and theslight current sweeping through carriedaway the cloud of the rotenone before itcould take effect. Not very many fish cameout. For those that did, we had to competewith the waiting groupers, who snappedthemup far faster than we could.

That evening overa plate of Steve's fierychili prawns we pondered the situation."Maybe," I proposed, "we could just goback with the rotenone when there isn't acurrent." Steve disagreed: "There's always acurrentout there,mate,"he said.Welapsed

into silence. Stars shone brilliant in thecloudless Arabian sky.The fire crackled.Inspired, Steve gestured toward a fine meshbeach seine. "All we really need is a pieceofthat fish net over there," he said."Remember that gully next to the cave?We'll stretch it across and drive the buggersinto it."

I remembered the gully. I also remem­bered the fish net. Several days earlier Dr.Randall had sent me out with it to get someanchovies he had seen in a cove near camp.But the net snagged easily on my flipperbuckles and I had got hopelessly tangled.Luckily, I was only snorkeling in shallowwater.We cut off about six feet of nettingand the next morning set off once again forHole-in-the-Wall.

two species: the strikingly stripedTownsend'sAnthias (Pseudanthias townsendi), and thenew species. The latterwas easy torecognize, having a single pro­ longedfilament on the tip of the uppercaudal fin.Dr. Randall had said it is the onlyknown anthias with such a filament.

"They should be easy to catch," he hadtold me. "When they hole up in a crevicejust squirt in some quinaldine (a fish anes­thetic). They'll come out, then you can popthem in a jar. If that fails, run a rotenonestation."

Descending into the cave, I carriedcamera and specimen jars while Stevetook the net. I figured I’d get somephotos while he set it up. As soon as wereached the top of the drop-off anespecially beautiful male anthiasbeckoned me over the edge. I followedwith camera, breaking the cardinal rule ofdiving: never leave your buddy.

Half a roll of film later I popped back upto check on Steve. He was still fiddlingwith the net. ‘What’s taking so long?’ Iwondered, and went back to myphotography. These very active anthiaswere very difficult to keep in theviewfinder let alone keep in focus.Finishing the roll I returned to a puzzlingsight: Steve was sitting on the bottomwith all his scuba equipment removed.Luckily, the regulator (his air supply)was still in his mouth. ‘What’s goingon?’ I thought irritably. ‘Has he gonecompletely insane ?’ I could see Stevestill fiddling with the wretched net, whichfor some reason, seemed draped over hisequipment. Then it clicked: My buddyhad become hopelessly tangled. No onewas there to free him, so he was doing ithimself.

‘It’s just as well,’ I reflected, keeping mydistance. ‘Two divers caught in a net areworse than one’, and indeed, cool-headedSteve seemed to have everything undercontrol. In due course he freed himself,donned his gear, and stretched the net asplanned across the gully. I herded agroup of anthias up into the net, wepicked them off, and put them carefullyinto jars. Mission accomplished.

The mission had been accomplished, butat a price. For the rest of the trip Steve(after making sure I was within hearingrange) regaled anyone who would listenwith the shocking story of the dive buddywho wandered off to take pictures,leaving him tangled in a fishing net.

The captured anthias – pinkish orangewith tinges of lavender – looked stunningin the bright sunlight. Everyone in campcrowded about to admire. What a pity wehad no aquarium in which to keep the‘Marcia fishes’ as everyone began callingthem. Instead, we put the specimen jarsin the ice chest and closed the lid. It wasthe most humane way.

We dived in that area for another twoweeks. I had plenty to do gettingphotographs for the book and recordingspecies previously unknown from Oman.During this time my dive buddies and Isearched every crack and crevice fortoadfishes without success. One day wecame close: David Cochrane (anotherBritish expatriate diver) and I found alarge frogfish sitting on a ledge in about15 feet. Superbly camouflaged, it wasalmost invisible. Frogfishes, sometimescalled anglerfishes, are masters of theambush. To attract other fishes to theircapacious mouths they use a modifiedspine, like a fishing pole, at the end ofwhich dangles a fleshy lure. Althoughfrogfishes rarely move there is nothingsluggish about their eating habits. Withone of the fastest reflexes in the animalkingdom – far faster than the human eyecan follow – a frogfish can swallowanything up to its own size in a matter ofmilliseconds.

Gustatory acrobatics, however, could notsave this frogfish. Dr. Randall, I knew,would want the specimen, so havingtaken its picture I merely picked it up.Although frogfishes can barely swim anddo not have spines, they are immenselystrong and can inflate to the size of abasketball. Successfully wrestling thisone into the boat gave me no satisfaction:I’d much rather just take pictures.Anyway, Dr. Randall would not becontent for long with a mere frogfish; hewanted Mr Toad. The next day wemoved camp. Our new site lay in abeautiful rocky cove with sandy beach.At its back rose the 6000 foot escarpmentknown as Jebel Samhan, a wild mountainregion still inhabited by leopards andwolves. Nearby, mounds of stone rubblemarked the site of an old fishing village,abandoned several centuries ago whenslavers from Abu Dhabi (we are told) hadcarried away most of the inhabitants.Thick mats of seaweed, most unusual fora tropical location, lined the rocky shore.The continental shelf, according to ourcharts, lay close by, maximizing theinfluence of the cold upwellings. Withlots of crevices and holes, the local rockpromised to be ideal toadfish territory.

Our first several dives, along the left sideof the cove, produced some interesting

finds: two dragon morays (Enchelychorepardalis) and a golden butterflyfish(Chaetodon semilarvatus). The dragonmoray is very rare in the Indian Ocean,and this particular butterflyfish, surelyone of the most beautiful in the world, issupposed to be found only in the Red Seaand Gulf of Aden. No one had everrecorded one so far from home; it wasobviously a stray. Interestingly, other fishin the area harassed it unmercifully, as ifthey knew it didn’t belong here.

I also saw a pair of tiny yellow blenniespeering out of a hole. Each had a U-shapemark on the top of its head. Iimmediately recognized them as Omanypsilon, a species known only fromOman and never before photographedunderwater. Unfortunately, I had thewrong lens for close-ups. I took somepictures anyway, then carefullymemorizing the spot, started the longswim back to shore to change lenses.Returning, I found the blenny holeempty. ‘They have to be around heresomewhere’ I thought, peering undernearby ledges. Suddenly, a tiny snakelikefish darted out and took shelter in thespines of a sea urchin. It was unlikeanything I’d ever seen: off white withstriking black spots and lines. I managedto fire off a couple of shots at this strange‘stars-and-stripes’ creature before itwriggled out of sight. ‘I’ll bet Dr.Randall would like a specimen of that,’ Ireflected, briefly considering going backfor some quinaldine. But it was a longswim. ‘I’ll catch it the next time,’ Irationalized, and proceeded with the dive.

Of course there was no next time. Whatwith one thing and another, I never didget back to that spot. Steve, who earlierhad brought the rubber zodiac 20 milesup the coast through rough seas andagainst a strong headwind, had beenscouting for offshore sites. ‘I’ve found anice little pinnacle and wall for you,mate’, he announced. ‘I think you willlike it.’ I quickly forgot the ‘stars andstripes’ fish in my eagerness to diveSteve’s new spot.

Dropping straight to the bottom of thewall at about 40 feet we found a numberof promising ledges and caves. In one, Iwas pleased to find several pinecone

At a slightly shallower depth of about 25feet we found a layer riddled withunusual horizontal crevices three to fourinches high and many feet deep. Peeringinto one I saw a squat gray creature withthick lips and widely spaced eyes staringback at me. I took out my flashlight for acloser look. What appeared as eyes wereactually yellowish flaps on either side ofits head, each containing a single blackspot. The creature did not retreat.Holding its ground, it perched just insidethe entrance to its cave. If I got too closeit grunted a warning. Its wide, turned-down mouth wore a grumpy expression.This had to be it.

I beckoned to Steve. While he gazed atthe toadfish I explored other cracks andsaw several more. We had found amother-load of toadfishes. I tookpictures, then we surfaced and sped backto camp for nets and quinaldine.

Dr. Randall was intrigued. In the name ofscience he cautiously tasted some of thetoadfish slime, found it ‘horrible’, andduly recorded this fact in his notebook.The original specimen was eventuallypreserved and shipped back to hislaboratory at the Bishop Museum inHonolulu. Upon arrival it was found tohave been damaged in shipment. Anotherspecimen was needed.

Back in camp we spread the news of ourfind. All the divers wanted to see Mr.Toad, so we loaded the boat to themaximum and returned. Everyone peeredinto the crack to their satisfaction, then Itook the quinaldine and squirted in agenerous dose. The toadfish was soonanesthetized, and I maneuvered it outwith the handle of my net and plopped itinto a rectangular Tupperware boxbrought along for precisely that purpose.

Other anesthetized fishes of little interestwere now drifting out as well, but I paidthem no mind as I gazed at my prize inits container.

Its squat body, gray with a yellow tinge,was exuding copious slime; the dorsal,caudal, and pectoral fins were orange-yellow. Two short tentacles or feelershung from either side of its mouth.Although the toadfish looked barely ableto swim, I figured I’d better put the lid onthe container before it regainedconsciousness. Doing so, I prepared toascend when out of the corner of my eyeI glimpsed something familiar driftingout of the crevice; a slender, snake-likefish with striking black spots and lines.Gleefully, I popped the ‘stars-and –stripes’ fish into an extra plastic bag. Ithad been a good day.

After everyone admired the twospecimens we placed them on ice andcontemplated our next move.Unfortunately, there’s not enough spaceto tell of our further adventures: of thedhow trip to the remote Al HalaniyatIslands (marked on most maps as theKuria Muria Islands), the gorgeous newparrotfish found there, the singingwhales, the close encounter with a shark,and the storm that drove us back.

Upon returning to Honolulu I wasrelieved to find Dr. Randall in excellenthealth. He was equally pleased to receivethe precious specimens and immediatelybegan writing the formal description ofPseudanthias Marcia which has sincebeen published in a French aquariumjournal. When she saw a copy, the realMarcia was delighted. ‘How romantic!’sighed the women at work when I toldthem of the little surprise I had preparedfor my wife.

The frogfish turned out to be the sixthknown specimen of Antennarius sarasa,a rare species previously known onlyfrom deep water off Japan, New Zealand,and Reunion. I had picked up mine at adepth of 15 feet. Could cold upwellingsbe a connection?

The ‘stars-and-stripes’ fish, said Dr.Randall is a congrogadin, or snakelet, amember of the pseudochromis family. Ithas since been described byWinterbottom and Randall as a newspecies, Haliophis diademus, so namedbecause it was first seen hiding in thespines of a long-spine sea urchin (genusDiadema).

Mr. Toad was turned over to Dr. DavidGreenfield of the University of Hawaiiwho will describe it as a new genus andspecies of the family Batrichoididae.Although the scientific name is not yetofficial, rumor has it that roughlytranslated from the Latin or Greek it willmean ‘two-faced toadfish’ because of the

two false eyeflaps on either side of thehead.

Dr. Randall also went through all myslides and identified over 50 species notpreviously known from Oman. It hadbeen a successful trip in spite of hisabsence. If I could find this much on myown, how much more could we havefound together?

References

Hoover, John P 1991. Rare and unusualmarines: the Oman Butterflyfish, Chaetodondialeucos, Salm and Mee, Freshwater andMarine Aquarium 14(2):114-118.

Winterbottom, Richard and John Randall,1994. Two new species of congrogadins(Teieostei; Pseudochromidae) with rangeextensions for four other species. CanadianJournal of Zoology 72(4):750.

fish (Monocentris japonicus). Thisunusual Indo-Pacific species occasionallyenters the aquarium trade, but I had neverseen it in the wild. Golden yellow withlarge rough scales, they are sometimescalled pineapple fish. They are nocturnalpredators, with bioluminescent organs onthe outside of the lower jaws thatpossibly serve to attract prey. We hadobviously found their daytime restingplace.

As I mentioned earlier, Dr. Randall andJonathan Mee had already discovered andcollected this fish, actually bringing oneback to Muscat, Oman’s capital, andplacing it in an aquarium. In spite of the600 mile jeep ride over the desert it hadpromptly and greedily accepted hand-held flake food showing every sign ofbecoming an ideal aquarium fish. Itstankmates, however, disagreed: withinminutes the other fishes went into shockand died, and a starfish in the tankshowed distress. The starfish wasremoved but was found dead the nextday.

‘We’ve got to get back’, said Dr.Randall, and I agreed. We did not knowthen that within six months we wouldagain be camping on the desert shores ofsouthern Oman in search of more unusualfishes. But I’ll save that story for anothertime.

Randall, John E, and John P Hoover, 1993.Pseudanthias Marcia, a new serranid fishfrom Oman. Revue Francais d’Aquariologie20920:47-52.

Springer, Victor G, 1985. Oman ypsilon, anew genus and species of bleniid fish from theIndian Ocean, Proceedings of the BiologicalSociety of Washington 98(1):90-97.