Before I started diving I expected all the fish living in temperate waters to be silvery and those in tropical waters to be colourful.

My logic was simple, I’d only every caught silvery fish with my dad while growing up and I’d only ever seen brightly coloured fish in marine documentaries of tropical locations.

I can’t say enough how glad I was to discover my logic was just a little flawed.

This juvenile Victorian Scalyfin (Parma victoriae), of the same family as tropical butterfly fish, was one of the first I discovered to be as bright and colorful as its tropical cousins.

From there the colour kept on coming as I discovered just how colourful the fish of our temperate waters really were.

Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Aquatic Butterfly’, 1/200s f/4.5 ISO160 50mm