Diving along....

What's he doing?













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Nearby, I spot two fish, a shrimp, and an anenome.  The fish are Gobies, umm, the book says, hmm, maybe Bridled Gobies, as in a horse'd bridle?  Because they often have a white line running from the mouth back across the gill cover.  OK.  Get too close and they zip away.  They mostly just sit still on the sand.  Here they look like a couple of taxis lined up waiting for a fare.




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A closer look at the shrimp.  A Pederson Shrimp.  Pretty blue, the arms, claws are to the top, and his round white eyes are under his back-turned white antennae.   This photo can't show the little side-to-side swaying dance he's doing to attract a fish.  This shrimp is a cleaner, meaning a fish could stop by, hold still, and the shrimp would climb onto the fish and go all over looking for parasites, fishie fleas? to eat.  You can hold your hand flat, close by, and sometimes they will come clean it!  And if they get in a good pinch, it can hurt!  Just microscopically, but you know you've been pinched.
.  The roundie-curly thing is a Corkscrew Anenome.  These shrimp often live in association with an anenome, finding safety amongst the stinging arms of the Anenome.
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Ah, a sandy area.  I enjoy puttering around in open sand just about as much as on a crowded coral.










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.A piece of dead Gorgonian, the bushy looking coral, that's encrusted with fire coral, and there's a sea star, starfish...










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Looking closely, the starfish is a Brittle Star.  Very thin 'arms' with lots of spines.  They must be very tasty, because they are usually hiding under rocks, or down in the coral formations, or sitting on stinging things like Do Not Touch Me sponges or on Fire Coral like this.  They can move really fast if you drag them off onto your hand.
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On the left side of this picture, you can see the stinging hairs, or actually the polyps of the Fire Coral that are extended out of their pin-hole sized pores.  It's these "hairs' that sting bare human skin like fire, sometimes an intense burning sting and a short lived rash, if you bump against them.  Best to just keep to yourself, they don't have legs, they can't chase you.
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And a hole in the sand!  A Sand Belly Button??  Someone's home burough probably, but alas, I am still following my leader, and cannot settle down for five minutes to observe who might come out of the hole.  Owell!  An unsolved mystery!  One of so many in the Sea.






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Ok, have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by!
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