Archive for the ‘Underwater’ Category

Nudibranch The Jewels of the Sea

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 by Kelly Walkotten

 

  

Nudibranch Laying Eggs
Chromodoris tritos Nudibranch mating pair

Nudibranchs are such beautiful little creatures with fantastic coloration and color patterns that they do not deserve to be called a sea slug. I think they look more like jewels of gems of the sea. Soft bodied and slow moving, these mollusks lack an external shell, so their external gills are exposed, which gives them their name. Nudibranch literally means naked gills. As Nudibranchs evolved, they lost their shell while developing other defense mechanisms. Their bodies may resemble the texture and color of their surroundings giving them the need camouflage. Others, such as the Chromodiris family of Nudibranchs, have bright vivid coloring warning of their distasteful or poisonous skin. Most Nudibranchs are small, an inch or less, with the largest being about twelve inches. I have seen striped, poka dot, bright blue to bright pink, and a stunning variety of colors, patterns, and shapes. There are over 1, 000 described species of Nudibranchs and new ones are being found continually. 

 

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Frogfish

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 by Kelly Walkotten

Orange Frogfish

  

Clown Frogfish

Frogfish, or known as Anglerfish to my Aussie friends, are a diver’s delight. Small frogfish prefer shallow water, hiding in crevices, between corals, and among the rubble. Their expert camouflage makes them very difficult to spot. In my group of diver friends, an alcohol beverage of choice (after diving is done for the day of course) is a common reward for being the lucky spotter. I have heard grown men squeal out loud underwater and bang endlessly on their tanks in excitement, to call the other divers to the find. Oh how such a small ugly fish can excite us all.     

Painted Frogfish

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Swimming with Ghosts

Thursday, February 25th, 2010 by Kelly Walkotten

Diving is full of surprises, especially the Indo Pacific. New species of fish and marine life are being discovered on a regular basis in this underwater paradise. Even though divers come prepared to look for the many fish known to be in this area, finding them can sometimes be a difficult task. One of the most difficult fish to spot is the Ghost Pipe Fish. They are masters at camouflage, hiding among crinoids, plant life or mimicking sticks, sea grass, and other underwater vegetation, depending on the species. This ability to camouflage themselves in their underwater habitat, puts them on the list of creatures for whom divers search.

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Mandarin Fish

Thursday, January 28th, 2010 by Kelly Walkotten

Mandarin Fish, (Synchiropus splendidus), are found in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Australia. I found these colorful jewels of the sea in the Northern Sulawesi diver’s paradise of Bunaken and the Lembeh Strait. These small fish (1 to 2 inches) are strikingly beautiful with their body designs of squiggles, swirls, dots, and stripes in bright colors of orange, green, blue, and yellow. Their name comes from the resemblance to the robes of Imperial Chinese officers known as mandarin. These beautiful fish are members of the dragonete family. Mandarin fish are dimorphic, which means they can accomplish the sexual and reproductive traits of either, if they lack mates of the opposite sex. The males typically have more orange color on their faces, and larger bodies, while the females have smaller dorsal fins. Even with their distinctive markings, mandarin fish are very difficult to locate in their native habitat.

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