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At left is a boulder star coral just after all
the egg packets have been released by the polyps
in the area. |
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| Here is a baby Blue Tang in his "pyjamas"
- found in just three feet of water. |
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Here is the same species as the baby directly above,
but as an adult. |
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| Arrow crab taking a stroll |
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As I was finishing my dive in the shallows (2-3
feet depth, just a few feet from shore) I came across
what appeared to be a leaf, but something wasn't
quite right. It turned out to be a fish letting the
surge wash it back and forth just above the bottom.
I had never seen this fish before, but located it
in my reference books as a Black Fin Cardinal Fish. |
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| Brittle Star waiting for the coral to spawn so
he can participate in a spawn smorgasbord |
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A different species of Brittle Star out for some
food as well. |
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| At night, many fish change their colors. This Cardinalfish
(sub-species unknown) is no exception. |
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Coral Banded Shrimp come out at night too. |
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| A Creole Wrasse takes a nap under a coral head. |
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A Goat Fish in his jammies |
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| Look carefully. Can you see the Peppermint goby
in his see-through jammies on this brain coral (which
appeared ready to spawn too, but I didn't see it
happen)? |
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Squirrel fish are light shy, so during the day
they are in the dark spaces under coral heads, and
at night they venture forth into the open. |
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| At night, parrotfish (I believe this is a Stoplight
Parrot) change colors and "spit" out a
sticky cocoon to stay safe while they sleep. They
also change their colors to better blend into the
scenary (keeping in mind that predator fish are somewhat
color blind, and are attracted more to high contrast
and motion). |
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While you may never see these by day, at night
Teardrop crabs are more prevalent as they forage
for food. |
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| At one point during the dive I came across a school
(or herd?) of over a dozen Trumpetfish, almost all
(except for this one) hanging head down in amongst
the software corals as a form of camouflage. |
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