October 19, 2023
On an early morning Kailua Beach walk last week, I saw a black sock lying near the shore break. I tut-tutted to myself that beach-goers shouldn’t be dropping their stuff where it can wash into the ocean. People didn’t. The sock donut turned out to be a gasping frogfish.
Several candidates could be in the running for the weirdest fish on the reef, but frogfish rank high. Sitting motionless and changing color to perfectly match their background, frogfish don’t even resemble fish. Spotting one during a dive or snorkel is a triumph.
That’s a FISH? (Courtesy Russell Gilbert)
Of the 44 species of frogfish worldwide, Hawaiʻi hosts 11. Frogfish stand on fins that look like feet and help the fish hop. Add to that oddity the fishing pole each frogfish carries on its back. Attached to the end of the pole is a piece of flesh that looks like a worm.
A frogfish fishing off Oahu’s Kahe Point. The fishing pole with lure dangles near the mouth. Courtesy Russell Gilbert
When not fishing, the frogfish’s pole lies flat on top of the head. But when an unsuspecting fish swims close to the nearly invisible frogfish, it raises the rod over its head. The unlucky fish goes for the bait, and the frogfish goes for the prey, swallowing whatever size it is in one gulp. Frogfish mouths can expand 12 times their resting size to eat prey large and small.
At a fraction of a second, a frogfish strike is too fast for fish in the vicinity to see, and therefore, they don’t get the message that a predator is lurking. This allows the frogfish to recast its lure and catch fish after fish without any visible movement.
This little yellow frogfish was easy to see when I found it. Waialua. ©Susan Scott
The above frogfish gradually began to change color as it settled on this coral patch. ©Susan Scott
When threatened, in an effort to be too big to swallow, frogfish inflate themselves with water, or when at the surface, air. Air in the belly makes them buoyant, and sometimes dooms the fish to wash ashore.
A former rescue: Some years ago, I found this puffed up frogfish alive on a North Shore beach. After a few hours in a bucket of ocean water, the fish deflated and dropped to the bottom. When I released it, the fish swam away. ©Susan Scott
The Kailua Beach black frogfish was alive and gasping when I picked it up. (Frogfish have no sharp spines and are not poisonous.) I relaunched it, but not wearing swim clothes, I was too close to shore and the fish washed back in.
A passing surfer came to the rescue. When I explained the situation, the kind man took the little frogfish in hand, waded into deep water, and let it go. That’s one lost sock with a happy ending.
Meanwhile, back on land: If, like me, you love HPR’s program Manu Minute, join us fans to meet and hear the show’s creator and voice, Patrick Hart. Fresh worms served. Tickets here
