Squid, Crabs, Shrimp and more from Tulamben, Bali

Tiny free swimming bobtail squid
  While searching for nudibranchs in the waters off Tulamben, we found a lot of other wondrous creatures to keep the camera firing. Our local dive guide Tisnu spotted a tiny swimming speck which turned out to be a baby bobtail squid. I fought for a few minutes trying to focus on and snap a picture. I will say it was a hundred times easier when the squid landed on a nearby hydroid.

Pipefish Camouflage
Crabs blended in with their surroundings and shrimp found interesting homes on the underside of sea stars and on a single piece of wire coral. While most of these methods of camouflage are for defense, the giant mantis shrimp needs no such thing.

Sea Star Shrimp
  The giant mantis shrimp looks like a medium size lobster when totally out of its hole. But usually prey won't get that chance to see that. This giant shrimp sits deep within its burrow, with only its two complex eyes poking up, stalking the possible prey nearby.

Giant Mantis Shrimp

Crinoid Shrimp
Jeweled Anemone Shrimp
  Tisnu continued to have a great eye both at night and during the day for some truly amazing macro critters. Our biggest crab find came when Tisnu found a small boxer crab, aka pom pom crab, in about 10ft of water in a rubble field. These beautiful crabs may have the wildest defensive strategy discovered yet.

Let the search begin
   Boxer crabs are well known for their mutualistic relationship with sea anemones, which they hold in their claws for defense. The anemones have stinging cells similar to jelly fish. It is not vital to the crab's survival to carry around these anemones as some have been found surviving without. However all of the boxer crabs that I have seen have had them.

Boxer, or Pom Pom crab


There is something special about this boxer crab, a bunch of eggs attached on the underside. Lots of little boxer crabs to find on future dives!

Comments

Post a Comment

Leaving a comment is a great way to provide feedback, ask further questions, and inspire more answers...so go for it.

Popular posts from this blog

Secret Maui Waterfall

Image
  No matter how quick a trip to Maui might be there will be hidden gems found and great times had. After a little snafu with my flight I made it standby to Maui, picked up my rental car, and rushed off to meet my friends on the road to Hana. We met at Frog Pond, one of our favorite swimming holes near the beginning of the road to Hana. After some rock hopping and cliff jumping here we decided to check out the hidden waterfalls at mile 11. I'm not sure what the name of these falls are but there are two of them, each with their own swimming holes. It is just off the highway but separated by lush jungle. A rope swing beckons the adventurous and rocks warmed by the sun give you more than enough reason to while away the afternoon.
Read more

Hidden Ulupalakua Lava Tube, Maui

Image
  High above the crowded beaches of South Maui lies a hidden secret adventure that only those in the know will ever experience. Hidden only a thousand yards or so off a well traveled road around 4,000ft in elevation sits a massive cave which angles slowly down the side of Haleakala volcano. The amazing formations inside and the cave itself were formed by lava, creating an underground tube to transport the lava farther down the slope of the volcano. The same thing can be seen actively happening on the Big Island currently. Luckily this lava tube is all dried up making it much safer to explore. However the loose rocks and obvious cave ins leave some cause for concern.   Part of this adventure is just finding the entrance. This included a dirt road, a jeep trail, jumping an old stone wall, then bushwhacking through dense brush for about tweny-five minutes before finding the lava tube entrance. It was surrounded by ferns, just like the famous Thurston Lava Tube in Volcanoes ...
Read more

Search for Chameleons, Maui

Image
  You never know what might be hiding in your backyard. Here on Maui there have always been tales of people finding Jackson's chameleons in their bushes. The trick is to travel a few thousand feet up Haleakala volcano to Makawao, Pukalani and Kula towns where the temperature is a little cooler and it is a bit wetter, perfect conditions for chameleons.   There are no native reptiles on Hawaii. These beautiful chameleons were released or escaped from the pet trade. Luckily they have not become invasive like many other introduced species, however they have increased in population and seem to be doing quite well in the higher elevation areas. Heidi and I went on a search the other day at our friend's house in Kula and were shocked to find a dozen different chameleons in her side yard hedge. They were mostly at eye level, and were curled up asleep for the night. We found them easily enough with flashlights since they seem to sleep near the outer edge of the hedge at night. ...
Read more