Lembeh Straits

[sfougarisb]

One of the most fascinating areas / micro-systems for exploration in the straights are the Rope or Whip corals. With length that will often exceed 3 meters, they offer purchase to an amazing assortment of creatures to live on.

This time of year, we had particularly thick plankton / particles in the water that made photography (especially with just one flash) particularly tricky. It had however the positive effect of offering the right conditions for an incredible number of creatures that feed on it.


White -lined whip Goby (Bryaninops amplus)


Sea whip Goby (Bryaninops yongei)


Xenocarcinus tuberculatus, the Rat-nosed crab. Notice how the spines and protrusions on its body match the outline of its host.


Unidentified species of commensal (?) shrimp.


On less than 10-15cm of whip coral, there are 4 Whip coral partner shrimps (Pontonides unciger), 2 Dasycaris zanzibarica, and one Xenocarcinus tuberculatus. I think that there must have been about 50 comemnsal species over the length of this particular whip coral specimen that was sitting on a sandy slope at about 17m.




Unidentified species of partner shrimp.




Like Geodive said: Look Ma! no hands!