Colour Evolution

One of the most iconic animals that every diver has on their must see list when visiting the Pacific Northwest in the Wolf eel. These lovable, wrinkly, old man looking fish a divers dream. They aren't aggressive, they pose for photos and will happily swim circles around you like a playful puppy.

These fish are not actually eels in the true scientific sense but just elongated fish. I have spend many hours hang out with them, not just photographing them but also showing them off to anyone when I used to lead dives.

One truly unique characteristic about these fish is there colour change as they grow. Many fish do change colours as they age but few are as drastic as the wolf eel.

Seeing a baby wolf eel is practically impossible due to them living out their young years hidden in rocks and caves on the reefs. But I visited one of the local aquariums who had some babies on display from their mated pair they have and would be releasing them into the wild once they had matured a little more.

As they grow they loose there bright orange and start to show highlights of pinks and browns but blue also start appearing.

Once they reach their teenage years the pinks are now gone and the browns, greys and blues start to shine through.

As an adult males and females have different colourations as well. Females tend to be a much darker and richer shade of blue with dark spots all along their bodies where as the males turn slate grey with darker grey spots.

This wonderful colour changes are truly amazing and seeing these fish in the wild is such a great experience.

Happy snapping everyone, and hopefully if your in this part of the world you'll get to hang out with a wold eel!

Scott

For more images and stories - http://www.scottstevensonphotography.ca/