A tiny little critter found during a night dive in Amed, this Olivar’s Squat Lobster (Munida olivarae) is only a little over an inch long including its claws.
Category: Underwater
Yes, you read that title correctly… this is a very deadly snail in the cone snail family. While I was on my Timor Leste expedition with Blue Ventures, our hazardous marine creatures lecture included a section about cone snails… of course most people scoff at…
These photos are of two different individuals, but they are among the coolest eels I’ve seen during diving. The Napoleon Snake Eel (Ophichthus bonaparti) gets to about two and a half feet long and lives in sandy burrows (as you can see from mostly just…
This seems to be a common thread, but here is another nudibranch that I am having a hard time identifying. I think the most likely identification is for Chromodoris tennentana or Goniobranchus tennentanus which are both the same (the Chromodoris family seems to have received…
Well, at least I think it is a Signalfin Goby (Coryphopterus signipinnis) – it is hard to tell with such a tiny and cryptic fish. They only get to about 1.25 inches long, but what is funny is I distinctly remember taking this photo and…
An odd looking fish we spotted during a muck dive on my second visit to La Bila, this is a Longhorn Cowfish (Lactoria conuta)… And those eyes are just as impressive as its horns…
This small butterfly fish was one of my favorites while in Timor Leste. I am pretty sure it is a Spot Banded Butterfly Fish (Chaetodon punctatofasciatus), but there is a possibility it is another species or even a hybrid. The research I’ve done said these…
It took a little while to ID this pair of Redbarred Shrimp Gobies (Amblyeleotris sp.) because the photo of them in the ID book has much more muted colors than this pair is exhibiting. They are tough to find more specifics online because I do…
I guess sea cucumbers are not among my favorite sea critters… I’m not sure if I find them boring or ugly or what, but I don’t often photograph them. This particular one is a Spotted Worm Sea Cucumber (Synapta maculata) and I focused on its…
This nudibranch actually mimics a flatworm – particularly with the way it ruffles up the edges of its mantle as it moves…. but unlike a flatworm, you can clearly see the rhinophores and gills that flatworms lack. Discodoris boholiensis.
This shrimp is actually shown in my ID book, but it is listed as an “undetermined” species (Cuapetes sp. 5 according to the book), so I figured since it has those rather obvious orange claws, I’d give it a name…
Ok – I finally got around to making a new video from some of the clips I had from my last stay at La Bila. This one is just of a couple cuttlefish we encountered during a couple night dives. There is even a clip…
Well… sometimes even with my ID books, I just can’t manage to identify some nudibranchs. This particular one seems like it would be very unique and easy to ID, but I just simply can’t find it in any of the books, and any of the…
I’ve looked at this photo many times debating when I should share it. There is something about how perfectly clear the water was for this particular photo and the way the Yellow-tipped Phyllodesmium (Phyllodesmium briareum) has an almost plastic appearance that almost makes this photo…
I’m not 100% sure on a specific species for this Hydroid Crab, but this is another form of interesting camouflage found on the reef. Hydroids are kind of like corals in that they use stinging cells to catch their food, but unlike corals they do…
