Titan Triggerfish

The Titan Triggerfish is well named, dwarfing the angelfish behind. The female of this species can be quite agressive to divers when she is guarding her nest. The large upper and lower fins in front of the tail are used for propulsion and they can move surprisingly fast.This shot was taken at Sipadan Island off the NE coast of Sabah.

Orange Basslet

This was my first ever shot at Sipadan Island off the NE coast of Borneo. The larger fish nearer the top, with the elongated dorsal spine, is an Orange Basslet - a common sight around here. There are many varieties in this shot and some are very well hidden!

Ringtail Unicornfish

This shot was taken at Sipadan Island off the NE coast of Sabah, formerly Borneo. The Unicornfish is rather strange with the elongated nose looking like a horn. This guy was at a cleaning station having it gills cleaned out.

Christmas Tree Worm - Spirobranchus giganteus

These cone shaped tube-dwelling worms (two here) live on coral and most of their bodies are in a hole bored into a live calcareous coral. The colourful spirals are their tentacles, which are used for feeding and respiration. The coloured part is only about 3-4 centimetres in size and they are retracted into the burrow at the slightest movement near them.

Western Red Scorpioncod

The Western Red Scorpioncod has extremely venomous spines and contact should be avoided. The shot is the final posting from my dive last Thursday at Robbs Jetty just south of Fremantle in Western Australia. This variety varies in colour depending on the depth of water it is living in - the deeper the water the more red coloured. This one was only around 8 metres deep and is more brown.

Senator Wrasse

This Senator Wrasse was sitting, nicely camouglaged, among the soft corals on one of the remaining posts of Robbs Jetty, which is just south of Fremantle in Western Australia. This fish is very common and is found all along the southern half of the coast of Australia.

Mosaic & Fan-Bellied Leatherjacket

A third instalment from my dive at Robbs Jetty last Thursday. There were quite a variety of Leatherjackets on the site and they all seemed quite relaxed in our presence. The first shot is a Mosaic Leatherjacket and the second is a Fan-Bellied Leatherjacket, both quite common in this part of the world.

Teira or Longfin Batfish

Another shot from yesterday's dive at Robbs Jetty, a few kilometers south of Fremantle in Western Australia. The Teira Batfish is extremely rare in this area as they are normally only seen in the northern half of Australia and up in to the tropical waters around SE Asia. This one is a juvenile as the upper and lower fins get shorter as they mature.

Prickly Leatherjacket

                                                     Tasseled Filefish

These shots were taken this afternoon on a dive at Robbs Jetty, which is a demolished old jetty with only stumps left in the sand underwater. The dive site is just south of Fremantle and is a shore dive with entry directly from the beach. Visibility was reasonable for this site, around 5 metres, and the jetty stumps are all covered in soft corals and weed.  The first shot is the Prickly Leatherjacket and it is fairly uncommon. I have only seen them on this site. The second shot is a Tasseled Filefish and is more common, however I have now discovered that they are both varieties of the same fish and both names are inter-changeable. It was interesting to observe the fish as they both seemed to change colour as we watched.

Lunartail Bigeye

This shot was taken at Sipadan Island off the NE coast of Sabah, formerly Borneo. I only saw a couple of these fish, but have read that they are fairly common around south east Asia.