How to Identify a Indigo Hamlet Fish

Video Transcript

"The marine organism we are going to identify now, is the Indigo Hamlet. The Indigo Hamlet is one of the smaller members of the seabass family of fish. But, it is also one of the more recognizable and identifiable fish that you'll see exploring the coral reef. Some references describe them as having broad bright blue vertical bars over their white body. But since they are mostly bright blue colored, I prefer to describe them as a bright blue fish with narrow blue to blueish white irregular vertical bars over their body. Their face is almost always completely blue as are the ventral fins. The tail, dorsal, pectoral and anal fins are usually clear. But the challenge is finding this fish. They are common only in a few areas around the Caribbean. These areas include the Cayman Islands, the Bay Islands, Honduras, and Jamaica. They are occasionally seen around the Bahamas and Belize and rarely seen elsewhere in the Caribbean. They range in size from three to four inches and reach a maximum length of five and a half inches. When you find one, it will generally be alone, as they tend to be solitary animals that range over a limited, territorial area. They are also a relatively deep dwelling fish, usually found between thirty and a hundred and thirty feet. Although there are reports of them on reefs as shallow as ten feet. Indigo Hamlets spend most of their time cruising along the reef, staying relatively close to the bottom. If it feel threatened, it will quickly retreat into a hole in the reef. Some Indigo Hamlets, however, are curious, and will retreat a short distance and then turn to watch a diver. So, close approaches are possible if one moves cautiously. Indigo Hamlets feed primarily on zoo plankton and other tiny marine organisms. They will also occasionally munch on small bony fishes. Most of their diet consists of small crabs, isopods, mysids and shrimps. Indigo Hamlets are synchronous hermaphrodites. This means they possessed both male and female sex organs at the same time, and both are fully functional. This does not mean however, that they fertilize their own eggs. It simply means that when two Indigo Hamlets mate, they take turns fertilizing each others eggs to ensure genetic variety continues in the species. Spawning occurs when a pair of Indigo Hamlets swim together towards the surface, releasing their gametes at the apogee of their rise, and quickly returning to the safety of the bottom. That's the Indigo Hamlet."