Blackeye thicklip – Hemigymnus melapterus – Slaughter Bay, Norfolk Island
In the gallery, below, are images* of the same individual (a blackeye thicklip – Hemigymnus melapterus), photographed in Slaughter Bay during April 2024, twice in November 2024, and 4 January 2025. The changes to this fish’s appearance and the pace of these changes are fascinating, particularly between the end of November and 4 January, a period of just five weeks and three days.
There are at least two further individuals of this species in different places in Emily Bay that I’ve also been following. The first time these fish – a type of wrasse – were recorded here on Norfolk Island was in April 2024. You can find the records for these on iNaturalist.
Small numbers of different species is not an unusual phenomenon on Norfolk Island’s reef, but it does demonstrate what a tiny, precious, coral reef ecosystem we have – when we can count individuals on one hand and watch each of them grow.
*Apologies for the less than brilliant photos of this species.
