A popular Critter not only seen in Lembeh Strait but surely more common here than in many other places is the Ornate Ghostpipefish (Solenostomus paradoxus). And for many divers it is the first step to bring them into Critter Diving. For a good reason: The Ornate Ghostpipefish is stunningly beautiful, has a bizarre way of swimming and…
One of the Critters that really has a suiting name is the Candy Crab (Or if you want to use the more boring names you can also call it Soft Coral Crab or Holophrys oatesii) … it really looks like a colourful piece of Candy. These Crabs grow to about 2 cm in size but also…
In the creepy and ugly world of much diving and critters Coleman Shrimps (Periclimenes colemani) make a big exception. They are very attractive with nice colours, a beautiful pattern and a host that couldn’t be more colourful: The Coleman Shrimp is a commensal shrimp and lives on the Variable Fire Urchin (Asthenosoma varium). While you…
Just to start with: Yes, we’ve seen a whaleshark this morning. Yes, we’ve seen it in Lembeh Strait. And it was the 10th dive for our 16 years old guest Warwick. Congratulations! Also to Godfrey and Antoine who have seen it as well. It was on the second morning dive and it was about 4-5 meter…
Of all the different species of Frogfish to be found in the Lembeh Strait the Painted Frogfish (Antennarius pictus) is the most common one – or at least the most frequently seen. The Painted Frogfish grows to about 15cm in size and occurs in almost all colours: Black, White, Red, Orange, Pink, Yellow, Green, Cream,…
Some Lembeh Dive Stories don’t request special Critters … like this one: On their recent stay at NAD-Lembeh our repeater Guests Dom & Babette were diving two weeks with our Guide Supervisor Paulus and were – besides many other cool critter sightings – lucky enough to witness a very special moment. On a Night dive…
Critters are not easy to find – it needs a good eye and of course a lot of experience. The experience helps as critters follow typical behavior patterns. Some Frogfishes for example like to stay with sponges, Pygmy Seahorses like seafans, Emperor Shrimps hang out on sea cucumbers … and Blue Ringed Octopusses like Sandy…
As an avid hitchhiker earlier in my life, meeting loads of cool people and getting to a lot of places for free, the term hitchhiker describing an ecological interaction has immediate appeal. In contrast, the movie the hitchhiker with Rutger Hauer certainly has left no one seeing it untouched! So, what is a hitchhiker in…
In general, the numbers of individuals of different species are limited. To a degree, this is very obvious, as no species can ever grow to unlimited numbers, which if not kept in check by something, all species could. The actual regulatory mechanism is often thought to be either by competition for species capable of exhausting…
Communication in order to share information between conspecifics is very common in nature. Just think about male birds singing very loudly early in the morning with the dual purpose of telling conspecific males that this spot is taken as well as getting information through to the females what a hunk he is, or the male…