Biodiversity #23 – Feather stars. Like starfish – or more correctly sea stars – they are echinoderms. They are marine animals characterised by a mouth on top surrounded by feeding arms. Compare the sea star which has a mouth on the bottom surrounded by feeding arms.
Biodiversity #22 – Queensland Groper (Epinephelus lanceolatus). The largest bony fish associated with coral reefs growing to nearly 3m length. Has a large mouth and rounded tail. Diet includes sharks and young turtle.
Despite the name, the cuttlefish is not a fish, but a cephalopod (literally: ‘head-foot’) which includes close cousins squid and octopus and distant cousin: the Nautilus. Unique internal shell called a cuttlebone which, being porous it can use to regulate buoyancy. (In-built BCD!)
Lionfish are skilled hunters, preying on small fish, invertebrates and molluscs. They have excellent control of location within the water column, and can blow water jets at their prey to disorientate them before swallowing them whole. If you try to photograph a lionfish, often you’ll find that by the time you’ve set up the shot, you’re looking up its rear-end – now you know why.
Biodiversity #19 – Weedy seadragon – a fish related to the seahorse, and like the seahorse, it is the male weedy who carries the eggs in a brood patch for about a month until the young fish – perfect miniature replicas of the parents, and perfectly independent – are born.
Cleaner fish live in a cleaning symbiosis with larger, often predatory fish, grooming them and benefiting by feeding on what they remove.
Biodiversity #17 – Porcupinefish (Diodontidae). Like the pufferfish, the porcupine fish has the ability to inflate itself, thereby making it bigger and rounder and harder to eat, yet retaining its ability to swim – albeit upside-down! Second defence mechanism is provided by sharp spines which radiate outward when inflated.
Biodiversity #16 – Christmas tree worm (Spirobranchus giganteus). The bit you see is almost just like a crown which the worm extends out of its hole. It’s a pretty useful crown (despite not having a gecko on it), as it is used both to collect food – passed down its spiral structure, and to breathe – they are a form of gills! The worm itself sits inside a tube which it bores itself into a head of coral.
Biodiversity #15 – Wobbegong: the world’s most chilled – or laziest – depending on your point of view – shark. Their name possibly derived from an Australian Aboriginal word, Wobbegongs represent just 12 species of carpet sharks in the family Orectolobidae in the order Orectolobiformes which includes the whale shark and zebra shark.
Biodiversity #14 – There are over 1,100 species of hermit crab, both terrestrial and marine, which typically processes an asymmetrical soft abdomen which it conceals for protection in an empty gastropod (snail) shell. Most are referred to a ‘left-handed’ as their left claw is bigger than their right. Here’s a Hairy Red Hermit Crab I found at Uepi in the Solomon Islands.
