Porcupine fish in New York waters.

[scubabr53]

I took a few days off from work to enjoy beach while it's still warm outside and the crowds are out. I live on Brighton Beach in Brooklyn approximately 200-300 feet from the water line.
This morning, while snorkeling of Brighton 14th jetties I so something that reminded me of puffer. Upon further investigation I was able to catch the fish of my interest. Surprise-surprise it blows itself under water and transformed in to the porcupine fish ball. I am a diver with a lot of years of experience but have never seen a porcupine fish the one you can usually see in Florida waters so far north.
I did read a few years ago about lion fish being cot in Long Island waters but it?s the first time I see a tropical fish at Coney Island/Brighton Beach and not at the NY Aquarium.
My first instinct was I should take it home, but then remember I have a complete stocked fish tank with life corals and the porcupine fish is a no-no. So, I played with it for another minute, call my wife and a few fiends to show the fish then I let it go.
Now I wonder if made a right call? Will it make it through the winter or will it migrate to the warm waters. Could it be that it adapted to the North Atlantic?
Does anyone on this forum have experienced similar encounters it would be interesting to hear?

 

[Zuska]

yea they have pipe fish and sea horses as well. i just ended lifeguard season. i was working on bay 12 which is west 11th by the cyclone all summer and that jetty is the best for fish and other sea stuff. started 8 years ago and over the years they had sea urchins, start fish, weird looking fish, orange sponge growing on the rocks.

 

[scubabr53]

Zuska, yes I know about the orange sponge. I use to collect it to feed my Moorish Idol. Also I tried to make this sponge grow in my tank, but it always die after a few days.

 

[smoq]

Nice, where did you snorkel exactly if I may ask?

 

[George]

If it looked like the one in this thread it's a Burrfish.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/130733-went-oak-beach-my-friend-george.html

Ravi has him living in his reef tank and doing well -- even eats pellets!

George
--

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

And all the way down rockaway beach right where they scuba dive and there seems to be a retirement home, just oposite atlantic beach , i have seen guys catching tropical fish with small nets while scuba diving , they somehow make the journey from warmer tropical waters and end up in our atlantic shores, very cool if your a sealife enthusiast

 

[scubabr53]

George, it is exactly like the one on the picture. Now i am sorry i let the little guy go, it more likly diyover the winter. I should of kept it and give it away as a free fish on Manhattanreefs.

 

[Paolissimo]

The fish cant make the journey back to the warmer water...as the water get cooler theu will die...tropical fish get swept up here from the gulf current..i know todd gardner in long island collects all kinds of tropical fish...i believe in july he posted a video of trigger fish

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[scubabr53]

Poolissimo, today is not good day for swimming and snorkeling the waters are ruff.
Tomorrow or day after I will try to rescue the little guy, i know where he live and will search under the rocks.
I think it's cool to collect fish right where you live, knowing that you are giving them a chance to live by saving them form freezing their tails off.

 

[Paolissimo]

Poolissimo, today is not good day for swimming and snorkeling the waters are ruff.
Tomorrow or day after I will try to rescue the little guy, i know where he live and will search under the rocks.
I think it's cool to collect fish right where you live, knowing that you are giving them a chance to live by saving them form freezing their tails off.

My brother lives in florida and he scubadives...i have never done it...i dont know how easy/hard it is to catch a fish, but tropical fish will not survive in our water...if you can catch it, youll most likely save his life...on a note...i have never seen divers with gears in coney island..lol
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[kidninja]

i always catch these bugger in my crab traps. they puff up too

 

[usctom]

That is a northern puffer

 

[e.muehlbauer]

The sea horses and pipefish are native. The porcupine fish is a "summer straggler", and unfortunately will die when the water cools. If you saw one, there are many. They come up with the Gulfstream as larvae. While sad for the individual fish, it's a part of their natural world, and in the long run, it is adaptive...because if global warming continues it may well be living here year 'round. the triggerfish, on the other hand, is a yearly summer visitor that will migrate further south as the water cools. They are a normal catch for the porgy and sea bass fisherman every summer and fall on the south shore. The northern puffer can do very well in a cold water tank, but they need to be fed very heavily, and nearly constantly. They are heavy duty nitrate factories...I actually kept one several years, and had to give it 50% water changes every week, and give it earthworms whenever I didn't have any fresh fish or shellfish. No matter how much it ate, it always looked skinny a few hours later. But its a really cool, fun fish.

 

[scubabr53]

I have seen the Northern Puffers as well, even here at Coney Island. However today have not seen my past day catch - the Porcupine Fish. Could be because it still waive or maybe it moved to another jetty. Tomorrow is my last day of vacation so I will try to find it again.
PS
Last summer about this time I seen a small school of Sargent Majors around same area. Have never seen them again earlier in the season 2012, guess they died over the winter.

 

[felix tesler]

iam actually a dive master with many years of experience under my belt not to many people know but there is a red sponge reef growning right off of manhatten beach i dive there all the time when the warm current comes in i have seen tropical fish there all the time everything from puffers to butterfly fish triggers and lionfish i see them all the time but they come here to die the cold water will kill them they dont migrate down i used to catch them with a sucker gun and give them to the local stores

 

[e.muehlbauer]

The baby triggers will not migrate south and will die. But the adult triggerfish do move around. While I have heard of them caught from shore, most of them are caught by boats fishing the wrecks and reefs. they are pretty big fish too, and can reach 20" or so. Good eating, but not attractive...these are not the kind of triggerfish you would want to keep on display.

 

[e.muehlbauer]

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Balistes-capriscus.html