This month I have chosen this macro shot of a juvenile flatfish. It is only the second time I have ever seen one and it’s the first time I have got a shot of one. Like many juvenile marine species it spends its larval stage in open water often only found at night time. These flat fish go through a big change during their life. They start out swimming upright and looking like a pretty normal fish. As they age their bodies start to round off and swim tilting to one side. Once they reach the adult stage they will lay down on the sand always sticking to the same side. The strangest thing about them is that when they go from juvenile to adult stage the eye on the bottom side will migrate around their head so that both eyes are on the same side. Similar to how humans are already left or right handed while in the womb these fish are born set to go to the left or the right and wont change. To get this shot I had to use a style of diving called black water diving. To find out more about this style of underwater photography and diving check out my blog next week.
Leave a Reply