Manzanillo's Underwater Inhabitants
By Mother Ocean

Juvenile King Angel and Red HawkfishThe striking beauty and the myriad of colorful marine life off Manzanillo's rocky shoreline make for memorable encounters--especially to new divers and snorkelers taking their first experience into the underwater world. I know. I created it all.

Spotted Sharpnose Puffer and Red HawkfishThe sides of small bays and coves, such as Playa de Audiencia, offer the novice or advanced diver or snorkeler many hours of observing sea life so remarkable it mesmerizes the observer. Here is one of my most unusual inhabitants, and each month I'll feature another species.

The Angelfish
Curious and Graceful

The angelfishes' brilliant color patterns and expressive eye movements are indeed captivating. Their stately poise, graceful movements, and unabashed curiosity make them quite memorable.

Angelfish drawingThere are a total of 74 angelfish species found in tropical waters around the world, but only two species can be found locally. Angelfish have a very distinctive appearance, quite different from other fish. Their bodies are very thin, yet tall, their profile rounded, almost disc-shaped, perhaps better described as pie plates standing on edge. Angelfish have very pretty faces. The mouth is small, the lips pronounced, and the nose upturned. They are the beauty queens of the coral reef.

The regal appearance of angelfish is punctuated by an extraordinary arrangement of fins. Large, long dorsal fins sweep backward to the end of the body. The tail has a handsome, fan-shaped design. Their eyes are positioned well forward on the body providing angelfish with binocular vision similar to that of humans. The eyes are very expressive as they rotate in their sockets, watching divers' movements.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

Adult Cortez AngelAngelfish are best known for their dazzling color patterns. The Cortez Angelfish has a gray-black mottled body with black and yellow bandJuvenile Cortez Angels on the head. Juveniles appear to be a totally different species with their bright yellow and brilliant blue stripes on a black body. The Cortez angelfish can be found along the rocky shores in depths of five to twenty feet.

A beautiful animalThe king angelfish has a yellowLots of bright color! tail and a vertical white bar on the sides just behind the origin of the pectoral fin. Juveniles have more yellow on the body and yellow pelvic fins. The white stripe is still distinctive. This species also prefers shallow areas.

Enjoy your little sightseeing trips in my ocean here in Manzanillo, but please try not to stand on the reefs or rocks. (There are lots of little tiny animals that make their homes on my rocks, and some of the coral heads are thousands of years old! For you to step on them is the equivalent of Godzilla putting his foot on your house!) For more information on my marvelous Pacific Ocean creatures, e-mail: motherocean@gomanzanillo.com or visit my friends at Underworld Scuba - Scuba Shack, the number one full service dive shop in the state of Colima.

For more information on scuba diving and snorkeling in Manzanillo, all the beaches and locations to enjoy underwater life, see the 150-page tourist guidebook "Manzanillo and the state of Colima, Facts, Tips and Day Trips," by Susan Dearing.

                  

 Go to www.gomanzanillo.com  for more information about Manzanillo
and the state of Colima.