Threadsail Filefish

I was able to take a short break this morning to spend some time watching a threadsail filefish (Stephanolepis cirrhifer or カワハギ in Japanese) scrounging for food in the sand at about 15 metres depth in Futo harbour in Izu.

Note the funny little wrasse hanging around hoping to score some leftovers.

The currents have been doing odd things this year. Among other things, the Kuroshio current hit this part of Izu earlier than usual, which means the water is a bit warmer than normal.

The water today was a relatively warm 21ºC. Last year at this time, it was 19ºC at the surface, and about 17ºC at 15 metres.

As a result, the squid mating I photographed last year (here and here) isn't really happening right now. There are some squid around, but not in the same numbers and frequency as last year.