Just got back from Cuba, found a fish that needs an ID

[DanG]

I was snorkeling just off the beach at our resort and found this guy. He was about 10 ish inches long, maybe a bit more.
Looked the same shape as a lawnmower blenny, but a lot bigger. He moved along like a mandarin, where he just kind of hovers. He had a set of fins in the front that he was brushing off rocks/digging through the sand. He also had these fins that opened up on the side and they were all connected. Any idea what it was?

[christyf5]

Flying Gurnard. Wicked fish. I think someone on here actually had one for awhile but I can't remember who.

[Aquatic Addictions]

Looks like a flying Gurnard (Dactyloptena orientalis). Very cool!

[mark]

Flying Gurnard (from here post 12)

[Aquatic Addictions]

Marc (Superfudge) had one in his tank for awile. There are pictures of it in his album I believe.

Originally Posted by christyf5

Flying Gurnard. Wicked fish. I think someone on here actually had one for awhile but I can't remember who.

[DanG]

Wow, that was fast

He was such an amazing fish to watch, I must have followed him for 10 or 15 minutes.

Thanks for the help.

Saw a bunch of other cool stuff there too, a bunch of lionfish, some sort of puffer (looked like a valentini), tons of urchins, a couple of small squid, a barracuda, angels, and lots of big tangs.

[tgoeujon]

are those things available to the hobby? if they are are they considered reef safe?

[christyf5]

I dunno about reef safe but they get pretty huge (+2ft) between their length and their fin circumference I would imagine you'd need a pretty large tank.

[tgoeujon]

ok so ill just stick to lookin lol, pretty crazy lookin fish

[Keri]

Not really reef safe because of size, they'll eat smaller fish and inverts, but probably ok in a larger FOWLR