I have been in Lembeh quite a number of times, and diving with some of the best guides there are. Thus I believe I have seen a high percentage of the cooler animals in the strait. Obviously there are minute nudis I haven seen and other things microscopic, but new cool things that are visible through the eyes of a slightly elderly man seem to be few. However, this time I had a real first and not any first. I had very slim ideas of what a monkey-fish was, and did not recognise the weird cuboid thing when I was shown it.
It had distinct stonefishy pectoral fins, but behaved more like a grumpy sea horse, turning away as soon as I came close enough to even consider taking a picture. It took quite some time to get any kind of frontal. I of course asked Paulus what it was, and he supplied both the common name monkey-fish and the latin name Erosa erosa. This fish is found in Lembeh, but only at certain divesites, or, if I remember correctly, a single dive spot. There, in contrast, it is easy to find.
Little seems to be known about this fish. The full name is pitted stonefish from a pit on the back of its ridiculously over sized head and it occurs in the western Pacific ocean. It doesn´t have the large spines of reef or eustarine stonefish, but it is venomous and one should probably be careful around it. That is about it, I can not find much more info about the weird thing, with a shyness towards cameras similar to that of pygmy seahorses or sea moths. It really is an amazingly cool fish, and the next time you are in Lembeh, it should be on your wish list!
