This crinoid squat lobster hiding amongst the fronds of a feather star was almost too difficult to focus owing to the multitude of debris floating around and the unbelievable current while I was trying to get a clear shot. Hence, this: a thousand apologies for the slight blurriness.
This is one big mama of a moray eel.... It was perhaps the biggest specimen I have ever seen. Maybe it was pregnant, see that bulge?
This perfectly camouflaged scorpionfish is a perfect example of nature and evolution working together to produce.... the ugliest creature on the face of the planet!
All hail the queen..... This is the Blue Queen Angelfish. I find it such a beauty with its orange body with blue stripes. Addendum: Asther insists it's a blue-ringed angelfish (Pomacanthus annularis). ;)
This baby honeycomb eel just managed to peek out for a look at a few strange aliens from outer sea staring at it with a white box that emits light..... Say cheese! Addendum: It is a Fimbriated Moray (Gymnothorax fimbriatus).
Ok.. one major complaint I had while diving here was the annoying abundance of jellyfish. They sting. It's painful and I have to resist from scratching. Luckily I wore a full suit, so I was pretty much immune to their barbed tentacles.
This was a large hernit crab that decided to hijack a murex shell as its home. Looks rather funny doesn't it? Reminds me of Marge Simpson with her large bouffant..... except that she had a blue one.
The blue-spotted sting ray is related to sharks and the only main difference is these creatures don't get John Williams' soundtrack to signal their approach. Teh... deng..... teh...deng.....
And this is my very first sighting of a bamboo shark.... not too sure why they're called that... They look more like B52 bombers to me......
Oh this was a rare find.... a white striped cleaner shrimp doing its thing on an anemone.... So cute.
This is a beautiful but deadly Lionfish, known for its venomous dorsal spine that is used to stun prey and predators alike.
The first time I saw this fish I thought it was a very large pomfret.... u know the ones restaurants use to make steamed fish..... yummy.... Unfortunately, this isn't a pomfret but a batfish. Wonder why they're called that....
This cute little fella is a juvenile shortnose boxfish... which was giving me hell as it darted back and forth, left and right, making the pictures I took of it turn out blurry and not well lit. Yeah I know.... blame the subject....
On one of our dives, we encountered a large school of batfish that, oddly enough, were attracted to us and kept following us around.
Ok, this guy has got to be one of the wierdest fish I've seen.... It's a very large Scrawled Filefish aka leatherjacket (Aluterus scriptus) that was basically just floating vertically there, not really moving or reacting to its surrounding. Maybe it was meditating.
And last but not the least, is this gigantic Star Puffer fish (Arothron stellatus), which measured at least five feet from mouth to tail. Pity it wasn't puffed up.... Now that would have been quite a sight!As always, kudos and thanks to Asther for helping with the nomenclature and corrections. I really appreciate it.
1 comment:
Photo 1:
It's a crinoid squat lobster, dear. (Allogalathea elegans) A great shot, nevertheless, cos it's not easy to shoot them little critters.
Photo 4:
In my reference book (Reef Fish ID by Gerald Allen & co.), it's called a blue-ringed angelfish (Pomacanthus annularis)
Photo 5:
This is a Fimbriated Moray (Gymnothorax fimbriatus)
Photo 12:
It's called a batfish cos of its juvenile. The juveniles have long-black dorsal fins which made them look like bats underwater.
Photo 13:
It's a juvenile Shortnose Boxfish (Rhynchostracian nasus)
Photo 15:
Your cowfish is actually a Scrawled Filefish aka leatherjacket (Aluterus scriptus)
Final Photo:
A Star Puffer (Arothron stellatus). I've never seen this species puffed up yet in my 2000+ dives.
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