Dart Goby from TT

Ahhh. Feels Good

It feels soooo good to be back in the water with my camera! On Sunday, Diane and I spotted four rhynopias, but I could only find two today. However, this cute little estuary seahorse made up for it. Viz at Tasi Tolu is not great, but the diving is excellent!

Laying Low

I've been laying low for a bit, but intend to get back in the water soon. And hopefully, I'll have some new photos soon.

Beauties from Bob's Rock

Rob, Sara, and I had a couple of nice dives at Bob's Rock on Saturday and found this adult ribbon eel at 8 meters near the entry. I posted a photo in June of a juvenile ribbon eel which was all black.















Risbecia tryoni are almost always found in pairs "trailing" together.
















Chromodoris verrieri, 3-4 mm. Check out the beautiful brown and yellow margin on the mantle.

Not a Spanish Dancer

Thank you very much to Denis Riek, an incredibly knowledgable naturalist and nudibranch enthusiast living in Byron Bay, for correcting my identification of this slug from last week. It's Dendrodoris carbunculosa, not Hexabranchus sanguineus.

Denis is a regular contributor to the Sea Slug Forum, Nudi Pixel, and nudibranchs.com.au. Check out Denis' website at www.roboastra.com.

Weedy Scorpionfish

Thanks to Joel Gaunt for joining me this afternoon for a rough but rewarding dive at Tasi Tolu. This was Joel's first dive in Timor...and I dare say it's going to be tough to beat! Conditions were terrible, but it was creature feature, including the new discovery of this weedy scorpionfish hanging out about 30 meters west of the patch.

Pregnant Lacy Scorpionfish 2

Pregnant Lacy Scorpionfish

Rhinopias aphanes

I was exploring the edge of the top shelf of Tasi Tolu yesterday, just before the slope at about 8 meters. I was thinking about the various sponges, algae, and corals that form habitats for all the great creatures we find at TT. To my delight, I found a pregnant Lacy Scorpionfish! This indivudual is usually much deeper, at 17 meters in the weedy patch. After a bit of research, I learned that scorpionfishes lay an eggsack on the surface. And my guess is that this guy was making his way to the surface to deposit his brood. And yes, it's male: Adult males are smaller than females and according to the research, they carry the eggs.

I realize it's difficult to see, but the Lacy Scorpionfish is on the bottom left of the coral in the first photo. You can click on the photo to enlarge it a bit.

Striped Eel Catfish

Plotosus lineatus

Dendrodoris carbunculosa at Dili Rock

Dili Rock was a bit cloudy today...perfect condition for some of the more reclusive creatures to come out and enjoy the day. This Dendrodoris carbunculosa was foraging on the coral rubble at 9 meters. By the way, I just had to touch this guy. He was not slimy and actually harder than I expected.

Napoleon Wrasse

Not the world's greatest photo, but proof of the Napoleon Wrasse at Dili Rock

Red Fire Goby

A few shots from last week

Juvenile Lionfish (~15mm) and the eye of a sand goby (~1mm)

Barred-fin Moray Eel

Gymnothorax zonipectis

Today at Tasi Tolu

The first photo is of a Bent Stick Pipefish, the king of all pipefishes. I'd say this guy was around 30cm, or 12 inches.

Ghost Pipefish

Back in the Saddle

Thanks to Jonathan, Sven, and Paulo for a fantastic dawn dive at Tasi Tolu this morning. Here are a few of the highlights.

Sunday Night Dive

Here are a few shots from the night dive on Sunday at, of course, Tasi Tolu. Flathead, Frogfish, and Demon Stinger

Still Catching Up

Here are a few more photos from recent dives at Dili Rock and Tasi Tolu.

Catching Up

The only excuse I have for not posting these earlier is that we've been too busy diving. We've found so many amazing creatures lately, including a pregnant seahorse. All of these are from Tasi Tolu on Saturday and Sunday night.