Pulau Hantu walkabout ~ 22Jan2011

It was a dusky sunset evening...

dusky sunset 22Jan2011 from BeachBum on Vimeo.


List of things seen :-

Pygmy Squid : this little guy was floating away from any vegetation cover and it had a whitish attachment on its rear...not sure what that was. The pigment changes from pale to deep purple were instantaneous! Amazing!

pygmy squid 22Jan2011 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.
Read more about Pygmy squids here : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/mollusca/cephalopoda/pygmy.htm

transparent Enhalus ghost slug : this was about 0.7mm long sliding about on an Enhalus leaf. The white stuff could be ingested detritus ready to become poo. The leaf blade was clear of any sediments or encrustations. The slug was performing a vacuum cleaning service!

transparent ghost slug 22Jan2011 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.
Read more about it here : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/mollusca/slugs/anaspidae/seagrass.htm

Swimming crabs
There were quite a few swimming crabs out for dinner. These crabs are named such because their last pair of legs have been flattened to greatly facilitate moving around under water. Generally carnivorous, eating anything that comes within grabbing distance of their sharp claws, they would also scavenge from the reef floor. These seemed to be the blue-spined variety. but many of the swimming crabs look very similar with slight variations in colour tone and patterns on their carapace.

swimming reef crabs 22Jan2011 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

Further reading :
Singapore's swimming crabs : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/crustacea/crab/portunidae/portunidae.htm
How to tell our swimming crabs apart : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/crustacea/crab/portunidae/cfportunidae.htm
More pics on the blue-spined swimming crab :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/crustacea/crab/portunidae/bluespined.htm

Cuttlefish (banded 3-spot) : This little guy was about 1.5cm long and showed fantastic camouflage abilities by moving to below an Enhalus Leaf and appearing to be a decaying leaf sheath nestled at the bottom of the plant. Notice how it uses it's 'legs' to hold itself in that same position.

cuttlefish 22Jan2011 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.
Read more about it here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/mollusca/cephalopoda/threespot.htm

Sponge brittlestars
Read more about it here : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/echinodermata/ophiuroidea/tinysponge.htm

Peacock anemone
Read more about it here : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/cnidaria/others/ceriantharia/ceriantharia.htm

peacock anemone 22Jan2011 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

various hard corals

mysterious black spot on hard coral : which seemed to be oozing out a white 'poo' from within. Is this some sort of anal aperture for hard corals?

coral black spot 22Jan2011 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

snapping shrimp : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/crustacea/othercrust/shrimp/alpheidae.htm

ghostly shrimp fry : Huge patches of the shore were covered with an incredible number of tiny transparent shrimp fry. It's easy to see how so many of them will become dinner for another larger organism supporting the web of life. The fry did seem to be attracted to light and congregated towards light from a torch.

ghostly shrimp fry 22Jan2011 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

common sandstars

flatfish (Ovate sole) :

ovate solefish 22Jan2011 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.
Read more about it here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/fish/soleidae/ovata.htm

Broadnosed halfbeak : It was about 4cm long and was hiding amongst the sargassum seaweed. It does not do a very good job at it as it has a bright white spot near its dorsal fin.

broadnosed halfbeak 22Jan2011 from BeachBum on Vimeo.
Read more about it here :

http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/fish/hemiramphidae/broadnose.htm

Octopus : Came across this Octopus heading back to its lair in the seawall. The tide had gone out pretty much and it had to do some quick gymnastics over the rocks to get into its hiding place. Note how the octopus uses its arms to 'see' where it should go before it decides.  And also the amazing instantaneous colour changes!

octopus escape @ Pulau Hantu 22Jan2011 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Presumably, this was the two-spot octopus commonly seen on Singapore's Southern shores.

Read more about it here : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/mollusca/cephalopoda/twospot.htm

Other blog reports from others on the trip :-

• Kok Sheng with corals, crabs, nudis and more!
• James with fantastic closeups of corals, tiny flatworms, slugs and more!
• Russel lots of landscape photos, colourful corals and a horseshoe crab!
• Rene on facebook with aseahorse!
• Nicole with a wriggly star anemone.

octopus escape @ Hantu 22Jan2011

Octopus : Came across this Octopus heading back to its lair in the seawall. The tide had gone out pretty much and it had to do some quick gymnastics over the rocks to get into its hiding place. Note how the octopus uses its arms to 'see' where it should go before it decides.  And also the amazing instantaneous colour changes!


octopus escape @ Pulau Hantu 22Jan2011 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Presumably, this was the two-spot octopus commonly seen on Singapore's Southern shores.
Read more about it here : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/mollusca/cephalopoda/twospot.htm

Striped Eel-Tailed Catfish @ Pulau Hantu 17Apr2010

Striped Eel-Tailed Catfish from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Find out more about the Striped Eel-Tailed Catfish :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/fish/plotosidae/lineatus.htm

red crinoid @ Pulau Hantu 17Apr2010

red crinoid from BeachBum on Vimeo.

music : Touching Moments One - Pulse : Kevin Macleod- http://incompetech.com

Find out more about featherstars here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/echinodermata/crinoidea/crinoidea.htm
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/echinodermata/crinoidea/red.htm

here is a clip of a featherstar actively waving its arms in an attempt to swim :

red featherstar @ labrador from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Acropora coral @ Pulau Hantu 17Apr2010

Acropora coral @ Pulau Hantu 17Apr2010 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

This beautiful acropora was close to the far end of the intertidal zone close to where the reef fell away.

Read more about hard corals here :-
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/cnidaria/coralhard/coralhard.htm
about acropora corals here :-
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/cnidaria/coralhard/acroporidae/acropora.htm

music : Touching Moments One - Pulse : Kevin Macleod- http://incompetech.com

Sundial Snail @ Pulau Hantu 12April2009

sundial snail @ Pulau Hantu 12Apr2009 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

It's very rare to see this beautiful snail alive. Often, only the empty shells are seen.
The video clip has been speeded up by a factor of 2x. Imagine how slow this snail moves!
Interestingly, the sundial snail has an operculum which it uses to 'shut itself into it's shell.
Notice also has striped antennae.

condo sponge w brittlestars @ P Hantu 12April2009

condo sponge w brittlestars 12Apr2009 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Various types of sponge are commonly found on Singapore's intertidal reefs. This videoed sponge is ball shaped and contains numerous holes out of which can be seen the many arms of tiny brittlestars. The ball sponge was sized similar to a tennis ball....so you can imagine how small the brittlestars were!...supersmall!!!

The ball sponges can be likened to a condominium which has different apartments each with it's own resident tenant. However, you can find not only brittlestars but also other animals like barnacles. Towards the 50 second mark, you can see, at the lower left part of the frame, a fan like structure sticking out from one of the 'apartments'. This are the feeding tentacles of a barnacle!

Want to know more about sponges, brittlestars and barnacles? Have a look here! :-
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/porifera/suberites.htm
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/echinodermata/ophiuroidea/tinysponge.htm
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/crustacea/othercrust/ciriipedia/cirripedia.htm

Yellow Lipped Sea Krait @ Pulau Hantu 12Apr2009

Yellow Lipped Sea Krait @ Pulau Hantu 12Apr2009 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

Came across this yellow-lipped sea krait on Hantu's wonderful reef. It was busy looking for food in nooks and crannies and did not at all mind the human watching it. It came up for air after diving for about 2 minutes.

This snake has got a highly toxic venom but it is also non-aggressive by nature.
Note that it has a flat tail. This helps propel the snake through water much like a boat paddle.
The specimen in the video was between 40 to 50 cm long and was about 1 cm thick. Adult specimens would be about double the size.