frog fish @ terumbu raya 09Feb2009

frog fish @ terumbu raya 09Feb2009 from BeachBum on Vimeo.
This frog fish flipped itself into a small puddle just as we were preparing to leave Terumbu Raya. It got itself noticed and out came the cameras again.

The puddle was really small and got cloudy really fast. The edge of the camera was only about 5cm away from the fish. There are 2 kinds of frog fish seen on Singapore shores, the spotted tail and the black ones. This one videoed is most likely the spotted tailed one. It was generally brown with a slightly reddish tinge.

Note the foreground is filled with tiny fish fry and other tiny swimming creatures. Each puddle contains so much life and yet they appear to be just simple pools of water.

This fish is rarely seen and I've come across 3 in the last 2 years! Before realising that Singapore had them, I had thought that one needed to go diving in exotic places such as Bali or Borneo to see such amazing fish...but I was very wrong as Singapore's shores had them too ... and one does not need to go diving to see them!

Find out more about frogfish here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/fish/antennariidae/trisignatus.htm
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/fish/antennariidae/black.htm

nemos & giant carpet anemone @ t raya 09Feb2009

nemos & giant carpet anemone @ t raya 09Feb009 from BeachBum on Vimeo.
This medium-sized giant carpet anemone was in a shallow pool with hardly about 5cm of water. I saw a large nemo dive from below the outer folds into a corner of an adjacent rock. It was a small corner and so the nemo stuck out visibly.

On a second look, i realised there was a smaller nemo in the middle of the anemone. It was just at the surface of the water nestled in the anemone and it seemed like it was gasping for air lying on it's side. It must have been hiding in the anemone's inner folds before running out of air and causing it to be near the water surface. Easy prey for a wandering bird. After flapping around a bit, it disappeared into the inner folds safe away from sight.

Find out more about :
Nemos : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/fish/pomacentridae/ocellaris.htm
Giant Carpet Anemones : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/cnidaria/actiniaria/gigantea.htm

banded frilly phymanthus anemone @ t. raya 09Feb2009

banded frilly phymanthus anemone @ terumbu raya 09Feb2009 from BeachBum on Vimeo.
size : about 6 to 7 cm across
note the central 'volcano' mouth.
Read more about this anemone here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/cnidaria/actiniaria/phyband.htm

octopus @ terumbu raya 09Feb2009

octopus @ terumbu raya 09Feb2009 from BeachBum on Vimeo.
This small octopus shot out from below a clump of sargassum and swam towards a rock. It's colour effortlessly changed from a dark red to a pale mottled pattern to fit the rock it swam to. It quickly slid below the rock to hide.

My guess is that the one observed in the clip was a two-spot octopus.

Read more about the types of Singapore's octopus here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/mollusca/cephalopoda/twospot.htm
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/mollusca/cephalopoda/smooth.htm
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/mollusca/cephalopoda/octopusnoid.htm

chequered cardinals @ terumbu raya 09Feb2009

chequered cardinals @ terumbu raya 09Feb2009 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

At low tide, all the small fish take to hiding in the remaining shallow pools. With a dense growth of sargassum algae, the fish have a good amount of hiding places. This group of cardinals were swimming from pool to pool. Fish are difficult to video as they tend to be more sensitive to movements. However, these cardinals co-operated just fine.

Read more about the chequered cardinals here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/fish/apogonidae/margaritophorus.htm
http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/marinefish/text/275.htm

spooked halfbeak @ terumbu raya 09Feb2009

spooked halfbeak @ terumbu raya 09Feb2009 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

There was a flurry of splashing in a pool behind me and when I turned around, there was a fish jumping across the shallow pools and on to the sand. It was obviously trying to reach a deep pool with sufficient water but it was out of luck as the whole area within a few metres was all devoid of any significant water holes.

I waited for the halfbeak to quieten down before gently grabbing in the palm of my hand and carrying it to a deep pool closer where there was a rocky overhang for it to take shelter away from the passing gaze from the fish eating birds overhead.

Find out more about halfbeaks here :
http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/fish/fishfi09.htm