West Indian sea egg – IUCN Conservation Status: Insufficient Data Sea urchins move slowly by crawling with their tube feet or by pushing themselves with their spines I was snorkeling off the northeast coast of Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands when I took this photo of a West Indian sea egg. At the time […]
Goldring Surgeonfish – IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern This marine life conservation district did not disappoint It didn’t take long to see a lot of fish on the snorkel trip to Kealakekua Bay on the big island of Hawai’i. I was snorkeling there for my wife’s birthday. It was her first opportunity to go out […]
Banded Coral Shrimp – IUCN Conservation Status: Insufficient Data The banded coral shrimp can be found in water as deep as 690 feet This photo was taken during a dive off the southern coast of Oahu. I was actually doing my first dive ever in the Pacific Ocean. Despite the numerous times that I had […]
Black Coral Shrimp – IUCN Conservation Status: Insufficient Data This shrimp can be found all over the world I encountered this semi-transparent shrimp while diving in Little Cayman. Confusingly this black coral shrimp is not on black coral in this photo. Instead it is on a sea rod which is attached to a vertical wall. In diving, we […]
MANTIS SHRIMP – IUCN Conservation Status: Varied The mantis shrimp has one of the most complex visual systems in the animal kingdom This creature is thought to have the most complex visual system in the animal kingdom. How can we break down such a complicated biological system? Let’s start by talking about photoreceptor cells. These cells are used […]
This shrimp can be found among anemone. Believe it or not, this beautiful shrimp is less than one inch long. Spotted cleaner shrimp are found among certain species of anemone, in this case a corkscrew anemone. As the name implies, this shrimp actually “cleans” the parasites, dead tissue, and algae off of fish. If you […]