We all know a picture of a cute baby animal is appealing; one of my favorites to shoot is the juvenile Lyretail Hogfish.

I’m not entirely sure why it is that young fish are more appealing than their older relatives.  I guess it’s the same with young mammals: features have different proportions in youngsters than they do in adults, such as: larger eyes, large legs/paws/fins and maybe a shier, more cautious behavior.

The aquarium industry knows this of course, and entirely unsuitable species of fish that are cute as youngsters, still enter the trade.  Batfish, sweetlips and certain wrasse species being some of the cutest, yet most likely to grow way too large.  Pardon my rant, and back to Hogfish.

Bodianus anthioides, as a juvenile will perform a cleaning role, but as an adult will take crustaceans and may take worms and molluscs from the substrate as well as hunting over rocks and corals.

This picture was taken whilst I was looking for other subjects in a large gorgonian and I was lucky to get a clear shot of a fish, less than an inch long.

As you can see from the picture below, B. anthoides doesn’t change too much as it ages, keeping its eponymous lyretail and the same color palette.  Adults will reach around 8 inches.