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protected bay with a narrow entrance out to the Gulf of California.
This remote and desolate place was home to the fishing family of
seventy-year-old Papa and Mama Fernandez for many years. The Fer-
nandezes, who form a colorful part of Gonzaga Bay's local legend, were
most gracious to us as we went about our business.
DISCOVERING THE CORTEZ ANGELFISH
The next morning we decided to snorkel along the shore of the en-
trance channel to see what was there. I put a scuba tank on in case I
spotted something down deeper and needed air to check it out or to
catch it. The visibility was poor: we could see only about ten feet, so
to inspect anything deeper than that we had to dive holding our breath.
We had gone only a short way when I glimpsed a flash of blue and yel-
low dart under a ledge. Snorkeling down to investigate, I was thrilled
to see a beautiful two-inch juvenile angelfish. Using air from the scuba
tank so I could stay down, I chased it from under its ledge with my
hand and it shot right into my strategically placed hand net.
Back at the surface Dave and I got a closer look. It had a velvety
black body with four or five crescent-shaped bright yellow bars and a
touch of metallic blue on its dorsal fin. To us, who were familiar with
the generally drab colors of California fish, it was spectacular. Dave
was as excited as a kid who had just opened his first Christmas present.
He wanted more. We set o¤ again, making our way slowly out to-
ward the Gulf. Quickly Dave spotted another one, and I went down
and netted it. The water was gradually getting deeper, and I needed to
take a few breaths from the scuba tank to get down to where I might
see more angels. By the time we reached the opening to the Gulf we
had twelve angels in the bags and it was time to head back in.
Out near the point I had seen several pairs of very large grayish-colored
angelfishes marked with vertical yellow bars. I knew from my UCLA
ichthyology classes that young angelfishes are often radically di¤erent
in appearance from the adults, and I wondered if what we had caught
could be the juveniles of these adults.
In 1961 there were no identification topics on the fishes or inverte-
brates of the Sea of Cortez, but I had brought along a checklist of fishes
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