The water at Labrador has been amazing lately. At low tide, just a bit higher up from the choppy waves near the corals, it's so nice and clear, even walking around chasing a pack of camera-shy catfish doesn't seem to muck it up much.
Juvenile striped eel-tailed catfish (Plotosus lineatus) - if you look closely you might even be able to see the barbels!
Near the rocks, an octopus was spotted trying to eat a swimming crab. When we found him, the poor crab was still moving. The octopus was mostly inside his hole, except for tentacles sticking out, but for a moment his eyes and siphon were clearly visible as he tried to consume the crab, which proved to be a bit big to drag into the hole. Unfortunately he spotted us peering at him and decided to retreat behind his half eaten meal.
Octopus hiding under breakfast. Can you spot the sucker discs of the octopus?
Another crab, this time alive. The red egg crabs are quite common on Labrador, found around the corals where the water is a bit deeper and usually quite choppy.
Red Egg Crab (Atergatis integerrimus)
The colonial anemones have been back since my last few visits. They are of all colours and cover certain areas of the beach. Really beautiful to look at. But not to touch. Anemones are stuck in the same group as jellyfish and coral. They are called cnidarians because they have stinging cells which can leave a painful sting! I'm surprised there haven't been photos of these amazing creatures around.
Pretty brown ones. Quite hard to photograph due to moving water surface.
And the solitary anemones which seem to be quite commonly found on Labrador as well. This one looks a bit different from the usual ones spotted..
Quite strange. No one seems to know what they are..so for the moment, unknown anemone.
Hey Wai,
ReplyDeleteThink it is a Phymanthus, or flower anemone, with its elaborate branching tentacles and the polyp column totally embedded in the substrate. Anyone has answers???