Perhaps because there are lots of little nooks and crannies in which to hide, Lembeh Strait is home to a plethora of juvenile animals…like this baby fingered dragonet (Dactylopus dactylopus) I came across the other day:
The colouring of this fish matches the substrate so well that it’s difficult to tell that the fish is there, even when you’re staring directly at it!
It’s been a busy day.
I managed to squeeze in three dives before the Scubacam/ FiNS Magazine group arrived.
Everyone’s here now. Kasawari’s camera room is filled with photo and video equipment. And everyone’s ready to get some serious diving done.
We’re heading out for a normal schedule of day dives tomorrow…to give everyone a chance to get wet and also make sure all their gear is in good working order.
Then, from the day after tomorrow, we’ll shift to a night schedule, to explore the activity in Lembeh Strait after the sun goes down. The full moon is coming up on Monday, so hopefully there will be lots of exciting stuff happening.
Before I go to bed to rest and get ready for the upcoming week, here’s a photo I took today of a teeny-weeny little shrimp (less than a centimetre long) on a whip coral:
I came across this Ambon scorpionfish (Pteroidichthys amboinensis) yesterday:
They’re fairly common in Lembeh and other places in Indonesia…if you actually manage to find them of course (given their excellent camouflage).
Oddly enough though, I’ve haven’t actually come across this type of fish in Ambon, despite the fish’s common name…sort of a head-scratching “hmmmm” kind of thing.
Anyway, finding critters like this is what muck diving is all about. Making them look cool is what muck photography is all about.
Incidentally, I’ll be heading to Ambon in November, where I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for this fish!
Banggai cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni) are pretty fish, abundant in the Lembeh Strait.
Although there are many of them here now, this wasn’t always the case.
These cardinalfish are named for their original home, Banggai Island. Somehow, a few ended up here (and other places in Indonesia), and they’ve proliferated. In fact, over the years, I’ve watched as they’ve become ever more plentiful…to the point that they now seem to overwhelm other fish in certain places and habitats.
On the one hand, I’m happy to photograph them, as they’re beautiful fish, but artificial introduction of fauna (and flora for that matter) by people into new places is generally not a good thing.
There are some really strange things in Lembeh. Take Mike for example.
Mike is the manager at NAD-Lembeh Dive Resort. He’s been kind enough to invite me over to NAD several times, but I’ve never actually made it over there until tonight (actually, I’ve totally been avoiding him, on the advice of mutual acquaintances).
Mike is from Canada. As if that weren’t sufficient reason to give him wide berth, Mike has been alone for a long time, stuck on a small island in Indonesia.
He is, let’s say, desperate for companionship.
…which is why I was quite happy that Hergen (who is the manager at Lembeh Resort) was also present for the evening.
Hergen is cuter than I am (at least in Mike’s eyes), so he bore the brunt of Mike’s misguided affections.
Not long after I took this photo, Hergen wisely rushed back to his wife at Lembeh Resort, and I fled returned to Kasawari Lembeh Resort, leaving Mike…once again…frustrated and alone.
Note to Mike: This is what you get for inviting me over!
Does anyone have insight into what’s going on with this shrimp?
The first thing I thought was: “Eggs”, but upon reflection, I realised that every shrimp egg I’ve ever seen has been round, not oblong.
Also, the oblong things seem to be sticking out from the shrimp’s head as well as its abdominal area…again, not something generally associated with eggs.
But I’m at a loss as to what the oblong things might be if they’re not eggs.
Help?
While I’m on the topic of nudibranchs, here are a few more from the past day or so.
Hypselodoris infucata:
Gymnodoris rubropapulosa (Just received a note letting me know that this nudibranch is known as Gymnodoris impudica now. Thanks Jeff!):
Hypselodoris zephyra:
Like how I wield Latin names as if I know what I’m talking about? (I’m sure someone who’s actually knowledgeable will correct me if I’ve mis-identified again!)
Sometimes, it’s necessary to resort to the most descriptive means possible to explain to fellow divers what you’ve seen.
With a couple of nudibranchs yesterday, the best I could come up with was strawberry shortcake…
…with cappuccino:
Yes, I was hungry at the time.
After my last post, I received a few emails suggesting Lysiosquilla maculata as a possible ID.
It’s difficult to assess the animal’s size from the photos I put up, but the mystery mantis was much smaller than Lysiosquilla maculata tends to be.
Based on the emails and comments I received, the consensus for the mystery mantis ID is Lysiosquilla tredecimdentata.
I just realised, however, that I have a photo of a Lysiosquilla maculata from yesterday…just for you mantis shrimp lovers out there:
Correction: I received a note letting me know I mis-identified this mantis shrimp. It looks to be Lysiosquillina lisa, so the photo below is Lysiosquillina lisa in a burrow. Thank you Perezoso!
Critters are just so cool.
My guide Nonsix stumbled across this mantis shrimp early on during our afternoon dive. I have no clue what kind of mantis shrimp it is (can anyone help?), but how much more alien can a critter look?
I started with a few profile shots to make sure I had some photos of the entire animal for ID purposes:
Then I did my usual head-scratching to consider how I could express the “coolness” of this cryptic crustacean. Here’s what I came up with…a head-on shot of the animal crouched back on its haunches just before it set its many pairs of legs into motion to zip off at high speed:
It’s bright and early Sunday morning, and it’s time to head out for my second day of diving.
It always takes me a day or two to get accustomed to the excess nitrogen in my system, so this sums up how I feel right now:
Off to search for more critters…(insert big stretch and yawn).
Here’s one of the highlights from my first day of diving in the Lembeh Strait…an image of a very happy flamboyant cuttlefish (Metasepia pfefferi).
The cuttlefish is happy because it just snagged a fish for breakfast. Look hard and you can see the smile (on the cuttlefish, not the fish).
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