124/365: Sargassum fish

We found this little guy in some Sargassum weed washed up on the beach. He was very tiny, about half an inch long, and at first we thought it might be a baby lionfish, which wouldn't be good as that introduced species has no natural enemies in the Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico and is wrecking the ecosystems. After a closer look and some online checking, we figured out it was a native Sargassum fish, a small ambush predator adapted to live all its life among the floating mats of Sargassum weed in the gulf. After taking some photos, we put him back into the ocean but we didn't expect him to have a high chance of survival. The waves were washing great clumps of the weed onto the beach, and there was no way this tiny guy was going to swim against that current. In any event, we bought him a few more hours of life and gave him a fighting chance.

Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon 100mm 2.8 macro
Lisa On Location

Now Playing: Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass Lost Treasures
Chicken Ranch Central