Kole tang with yellow tail?

[manfish]

I found this odd looking kole tang out on my dive yesterday. Never seen one like it with a yellow tail and lighter coloring on its face.
Anyone seen one like this before?

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Did you collect this guy yourself?

 

[manfish]

Did you collect this guy yourself?

Yep.

 

[manfish]

Yep.

Was swimming in a shoal of other koles. Definitely something different about this one.

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Was swimming in a shoal of other koles. Definitely something different about this one.

May be you can see if biota would be interested in aquaculturing this guy. (Or whoever breeds tangs. )

 

[Potatohead]

Here is an article on a similar fish. I wonder if it is a crossed with a white tail?

Is This Weird Kole Tang A Hybrid?

The Kole Tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus) is an especially abundant species in the waters of Hawaii and among the most popular surgeonfishes within the aquarium tr

reefs.com

 

[Salty2021]

Where did you get this guy? How much

 

[manfish]

May be you can see if biota would be interested in aquaculturing this guy. (Or whoever breeds tangs.

Where did you get this guy? How much

Caught him myself here in Hawaii.

 

[manfish]

Here is an article on a similar fish. I wonder if it is a crossed with a white tail?

Is This Weird Kole Tang A Hybrid?

The Kole Tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus) is an especially abundant species in the waters of Hawaii and among the most popular surgeonfishes within the aquarium tr

reefs.com

I saw that article and was wondering if it was something similar. Much yellower tail on this one.

 

[manfish]

Where did you get this guy? How much

Caught him myself here in Hawaii.

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

Neat fish. How did you catch it?

 

[manfish]

Freediving with a hand net. Took about an hour to finally corner him!
Those tangs arent easy to catch in open water.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Its a hybrid as there are many Hybrid tangs now out there and cool to see the variety

 

[nereefpat]

I found this odd looking kole tang out on my dive yesterday. Never seen one like it with a yellow tail and lighter coloring on its face.
Anyone seen one like this before?

Kole tangs are all yellow as juveniles. And tails are later to change. It's likely just still getting its adult coloration.

How big is it?

 

[manfish]

Kole tangs are all yellow as juveniles. And tails are later to change. It's likely just still getting its adult coloration.

How big is it?

Yeah ive read that the juveniles are completely yellow, so that was my initial thought, but this one was swimming with others the same size that were regular in color. I dive here almost every day and see thousands of koles , but never seen one quite like this.
Might just be a late bloomer!
Its about 2 inches in length.

 

[nereefpat]

Yeah ive read that the juveniles are completely yellow, so that was my initial thought, but this one was swimming with others the same size that were regular in color. I dive here almost every day and see thousands of koles , but never seen one quite like this.
Might just be a late bloomer!
Its about 2 inches in length.

Keep us updated.

He are a couple pics of juvies from Randall's book

 

[manfish]

Keep us updated.

He are a couple pics of juvies from Randall's book

Thanks for the pics. That lower one definitely looks like it could be in same phase.
Of all my years diving out here ive never seen a really small , yellow juvenile kole. They usually have their regular coloring even at around an inch in length.
Thanks again for the info.
Aloha.

 

[nereefpat]

Thanks for the pics. That lower one definitely looks like it could be in same phase.
Of all my years diving out here ive never seen a really small , yellow juvenile kole. They usually have their regular coloring even at around an inch in length.
Thanks again for the info.
Aloha.

You're a lucky guy, that you get to do that. Please update us after it grows a bit.

 

[i cant think]

+1 on a juvenile maturing. Fish can vary on when they mature completely, it’s not unusual to see one in the mature phase whilst everyone else is mature.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Can I come to Hawaii and go fishing with you some time? lol