I've been here several times and it never ceases to amaze me. This trip was no exception.
The weather was once again good to start with, and the wind was not as strong as yesterday's. The boat ride was somehow particularly relaxing for me.
And we reach in no time - just when a bunch of folks were getting ready to leave the island.
Not sunny but was good enough for me.
This looks like Acropora sp..
Bubble coral (Euphyllia sp.).
There're no common sea star on Sisters' but sure they are plenty on P. Hantu.
Found this bivalve. No idea what it is. No idea what made me snap it too...
Walking along the breakwater and I found this top shell (Trochus sp.).
And these Nerites (Nerita sp.). Their shell colour pattern is quite variable even within a species.
There were quite some sponges lying around, including this one.
Found these, but have no idea what are they. Close to about 1cm in diameter.
Sand collar. Looks slightly different from those found on CJ. These are much longer, hence twirled into a spiral (right).
Tape seagrass (Enhalus acorides) were plentiful, and so were these ascidians that grew on them. It seems like this particular species is somehow associated with seagrass.
Soft corals are everywhere. This was a mine field of soft corals, and huge ones.
See the size comparison?
And here's some of them. Leathery soft coral in this case.
This another type of soft coral.
Dead men's fingers. Don't ask me why...
A nice view of the lagoon's mouth.
And the view from the end I was standing. Full of Fiddler crabs...
With much patience (and I meant alot...), they got used to my presence and I snapped this little fellow (actually one of the largest I can find - the pincer was about 3cm or so) foraging.
And I found this one. A green Fiddler? At first I though it was algae, but realised it was tinted green almost everywhere - mouth part, limbs etc. Interesting...
Swimming crab. And I caught this in the process of moulting. Sometimes you see 'dead' crabs on the shores. In fact they could be moults, as they do so in order to grow bigger. Upon moulting, they are most vulnerable as their shells are soft. That is probably where your Japanese soft shell crabs come from.
A leaf-porter crab. Named so as it carries a leaf (usually) on its back and moves around. Supposedly for camouflage. This is its underside and that's the leaf it was carrying. Can you spot its tiny pincer claws?
Notice the 2 pairs of limbs that are situated on the top part of the body and the other 2 pairs are below. The 2 top pairs are used to hold the leaf.
Nudibranchs again!! Yay. Discodoris boholensis.
Jorunna funebris.
Gymnodoris rubropapulosa.
Dendrodoris tuberculosa. Can be identified through the white spots underneath. This is one of the contenders for the largest nudibranch. This one was easily the size of your palm. The Gymnodoris rubropapulosa above is only about 4cm.
After seeing one feather star yesterday, they just keep on coming today. Found a couple of these lovely red crinoids.
A pale yellow one.
And lastly quite a large and beautiful one.
Saw this flatworm (Acanthozoon sp.) at Sisters' yesterday too.
Unknown flatworm. It has a greenish central lining underneath thou.
As the night falls deeper, more critters emerges.
A synaptic sea cucumber.
The usual octopus.
This jellyfish was spotted wash ashore when we were on our way back. It was so transparent that you hardly see it once you put it in the water.
And just before we head back to the shore, a small group of us were 'hunting' nemos among the magnificent sea anemone (Heteractis magnifica). There were quite a number of these anemones. I don't remember seeing so many during my last trip here. Perhaps I'm just blind or my memory is failing me...
All in all, another great day once again! Can't wait for day 3!! Tune in for more!
2 comments:
haha can send me the photo of me with the leathery soft coral?
Sure no problem. In fact, your photo has been sent to your email sassy email. Hehe.
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