Blue Tangs are common throughout the Caribbean. We have seen Blue Tangs as far north as Grand Bahama island and as far south as Bonaire. Although these fish are common, they are difficult to photograph, because they are so dark. Practice makes perfect, and I took the picture of this beauty near the reef on the west coast of San Salvador.

Blue Tangs are blue when they get old. The older they get, the darker they look. When Blue Tangs are babies, they are bright yellow! Judging from the dark color of the fish in this picture, it is a mature adult Blue Tang.

Notice the bright yellow spot near this Blue Tang's tail. Blue Tangs are members of a family of fishes known as "surgeonfishes." Surgeonfishes get their name from sharp spines that stick out on either side from their caudal peduncles. (That is, from either side of the end of their bodies near where their tails are attached. The end of a fish's body where the tail is attached is called its "caudal peduncle.")

You can see other pictures of Blue Tangs in the ReefNews photo gallery,
  Younger Blue Tang
  Blue Tang Asleep in "Striped Pajamas"
  Older Blue Tang,
although the picture on this page is probably the best picture I've ever taken of a Blue Tang.

For more spectacular photos from the island of San Salvador, check out the new ReefNews CD-ROM, "San Salvador: Jewel of the New World." San Salvador is a beautiful island in the Bahamas and is surrounded by spectacular coral reefs. San Salvador is thought by many to be the place where Christopher Columbus landed in 1492. This CD-ROM features movies, photos, and cartoon animations with information about all of these aspects of San Salvador, including 90 underwater photos from San Salvador's reefs

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