Luiz Rocha

Not every interesting fish photo has to be a great photo.

I photographed this pair of hybrid butterflyfishes (likely Chaetodon tinkeri × C. burgessi), at 110 m depth in the Marshall Islands. The two species are closely related but have different geographic distributions, and where their ranges overlap, they can occasionally hybridize, producing individuals with a fascinating mixture of characteristics from both species.

Seeing one hybrid is interesting. Finding a pair together at 110 m is the kind of observation that makes exploring deep reefs so rewarding, and also the kind of encounter where documenting what you see matters more than getting the perfect photograph.

Sometimes the most interesting photos are the ones that simply record something you weren’t expecting to find. #mesophotic #ichtyology