Each year the Gulf Stream current transports tropical fish larvae from Florida and the tropics northwards. These larval fish will drift in the current growing slowly until eddies in the Gulf Stream and surface winds push them inshore. These juvenile fish will settle on the first hard structure they encounter, maybe a jetty, dock or bridge, and begin their summer residency. At this point in their life they are tiny, about the size of quarter. These Tropical fish will live happily in our waters as long as the water temperature stays above 60 degrees.

The number and types of tropical fish varies greatly from year to year. Spotfin butterflyfish are by far the most numerous. However it is common to see many other types of fish including groupers, snappers, angelfish, damselfish, triggers, surgeonfish, and even Lionfish. You never know what the currents will bring in, and each year I will find one or two species I have never seen locally before.  I have personally found over two dozen different species of Caribbean fish in NY (admittedly I been less successful in photographing all of them) and the true diversity of these fish is far greater than that.

So the question is what happens to all of these tropical visitors each year? Sadly most of the tropical stray fish will die as soon as the water gets too cold, typically sometime in late October or early November. However there is speculation that a few species, like the Snowy Groupers, may actually migrate into deeper waters and south. If this is the case then NY would be an important habitat and nursery for what are otherwise thought of as tropical species. Below is a gallery of some of the Tropical Fish I have been able to find locally over the years.