Phyllidia ocellata, a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Phyllidiidae.

When the tropical storm blew across the island on Saturday night, divers laid in their beds, quietly contemplating the conditions that we’d face out at sea on Sunday morning. The rain had stopped by the morning, and the sun had returned with a mean vengeance, and as we moved out from the docks the water appeared to be in not-to-bad conditions. In fact, I thought it looked good. As it turns out, looks can be rather deceiving.

Another tiny Phyllidia sea slug. Common on tropical reefs throughout the Indo-West Pacific Ocean.

The water was freezing. If you dive outside of the equatorial region, you’re wondering what I’m talking about, well, it was freezing enough for us tropical people. We’re used diving in waters that can be likened to a nice, comfortable bath – say, 27 deg C. Today, it was something like 24. It is was slightly bordering on the, this-is-not-so-fun-anymore, side. But because we love Pulau Hantu’s reef so much, we sucked in our whines and descended shivering.

A pair of blue dragon nudibranchs (Pteraeolidia ianthina). These nudibranches have the ability to capture zooxanthellae and store them within its body. Here, the zooxanthellae get protection and in turn provides the nudibranch with much of the nutrients produced through photosynthesis. In addition, this nudibranch also eats hydroids.

The Ocean then decided to take us on a little party, flushing the reef with a series of conflicting currents. Again, not fun if you’re a new diver. But we persisted with our dive plans, and I led my two divers to see this awesome sponge structure. Cedric Sehetapy, one of our regular divers, really liked it and wanted to take a video, but was unable to keep his camera steady in the surging current, so we moved on. Sophie Martin, a first-timer in Singapore waters really managed to keep her steady in her first experience of low-visibility waters, unfortunately coupled with unfavorable currents. She was a real sport and even made a joke about it being the first time she’s swam through seaweed (we had to sick close to the shallow, where the sargassum seaweed grows, as the current was less challenging than in the deep, but still a workout). She thought it was kind of funny. Since we were in the shallow anyway, we started looking at the different type of snails, barnacles, Purple climber crabs, and oysters that inhibit the intertidal area. Both of them oohed and ahhed, much to my relief.

A pair of bullocki nudibranches were spotted near a ribbon of eggs - see link below for more photos.

The second dive was as cold as the first, but thankfully, the currents had quelled. We have many beautiful nudibranches at Pulau Hantu but none are quite as mesmerizing as the bullocki. We received a New Year bonus! A pair of bullockis and a ribbon of brightly-coloured yellow eggs!

Porcelain crab in Acropora coral

It was a real treat to find this colony of Acropora coral with a handful of Porcelain crabs. Porcelain crabs  aren’t crabs at all and are actually related to hermit crabs and squat lobsters, and more distantly, true crabs. They are so-called because they are quite fragile animals, and will often shed their limbs to escape predators. Their large claws are used for territorial struggles, not for catching food. There was also an Acropora goby in the midst but as fast and skittish as they are, I was not able to get a picture.

Coral bleaching

I also encountered a Serpent coral and this branching coral that appear to be bleaching.

Small reef octopus

To wrap it all up, and to reward us for our tenacity, this octopus was spotted with its eyes sticking out of a crevice. I quickly called Sophie over and she wasn’t quite sure what she was looking at, as you can tell from this picture, octopi are very good at camouflage! I brought my pointer close to it as I’ve learned from experience that they are extremely curious creatures. Keeping most of its body safe inside the crevice, it reached out one of its tentacles, then another, and another, and wrapped it around my pointer and gave a little tug! It’s quite strong for such a little creature. I waved my pointer in front of it again, and for the second time, it “shook” my pointer. I didn’t get to photograph this though as each time I put my camera forward while it had its tentacles out, it would retreat into its hole. So it was still quite cautious, and rightfully so! There are many larger carnivores on the reef that would like to make a meal out of a curious and bite-sized octopus. We haven’t seen an octopus at Hantu for a few months, so this first dive of 2012 as like catching up with an old friend for me. Other divers also saw winged-pipefish, cuttlefish and a juvenile seahorse, the latter has also not been sighted for several months!

The octopus contemplates shaking my metal pointer

Visit our gallery to see more photos from this trip, and join our Facebook Page to see more amazing photos and videos of Singapore’s sea life first!

Seagrass meadows are one of the most productive ecosystems on earth but ask around and chances are, no one knows what they are! Are they algae? Are they seaweed? Can it be eaten? Is it true you can find mermaids frolicking in seagrass meadows? Dive in and learn more about these underwater forests, what makes them tick and why their disappearance is a big problem for us. Join us and we guarantee that you’ll wanna hug a seagrass today!

About the Speaker: Siti read marine biology as an undergraduate at James Cook University where she dabbled in various aspects of the marine sciences from geology to genetics. Her first encounter with seagrasses started in a marine botany class in second year and when she went back to Singapore during her semester break, she started surveying seagrasses in Singapore just for giggles. Little did she realise that brief dalliances turn into lifelong obsessions – seagrass continued to be a feature when she worked as a Senior Biodiversity Officer with NParks and now as a graduate student at the National University of Singapore. She has since accepted her fate as a seagrass-nerd-extrodinaire and strongly advocates that everyone should hug a seagrass today.

See more amazing photos and videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!

See more amazing photos and videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!

Feared to be globally extinct, the discovery of this fabulous sponge is featured in the latest issue of My Green Space published by NParks.

Karenne Tun and Eugene Tay share that ” the Neptune’s Cup sponge was first seen in Singapore waters in 1822. According to historical records, the Neptune’s Cup sponge was common during the time of Sir Stamford Raffles, An account by a British official in 1830 said “those gigantic sponges” were brought to them “in great numbers.” However, the Neptune’s Cup sponge population declined rapidly in our waters, and was last sighted in the 1870s. It seemed to also have disappeared from other coastal waters too – it was last collected off Bantam in West Java, Indonesia, in 1908. This led many scientists to believe that sponge had become extinct globally.”

How exciting then, that “in March 2011, during a routine survey dive, marine biologists from DHI Water & Environment (S) Pte Ltd encountered a unique-looking sponge off Singapore’s southern islands. It was later identified by Singapore’s sponge expert, Mr Lim Swee Cheng, as a young Neptune’s Cup sponge.”

Above: One of the old photos of the awesome sponge that fires the imagination and search for it in our waters!

Read more about this sponge in the latest issue of My Green Space!

This post was first published in Wild Shore of Singapore.

See more amazing photos and videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!

When we ran into this huge squat lobster hiding at the base of a huge crinoid, we all knew we were in for a good day out at Pulau Hantu. Squat lobsters can be found worldwide in the oceans, and occur from near the water’s surface to deep sea hydrothermal vents. Contrary to their name, these are not lobsters at all, but are more closely related to porcelain crabs, hermit crabs and then, more distantly, true crabs. [1]

I also encountered a fantastic little cuttlefish that was trying very hard to blend in with the brown algae. Even though it was about the size of 5 cent coin, it was already very fast and feisty, building up its reputation to be one of the top predators of the reef. At the moment though, its got to be sure it stay out of reach of other, larger predators!

I spent a really long time today camping out at the burrows of gobies as I was in search of a goby I saw last weekend that I’d never seen before and didn’t manage to get a picture of. This weekend, like the last, I saw that goby once again but still didn’t manage a picture because it proved to be extremely elusive and ceaselessly patient (well, considering it’s got gills it can afford to be more patient!). So I gave up waiting for it to come out of its burrow and instead got these pictures of other gobies and shrimps that share the same burrow.

There were also many flatworms out on the reef today. Flatwoms are really very very flat. Usually less than 1mm thick! Being flat has its advantages. They can get into almost every kind of space: to hide or to get at their food. Oxygen diffuses quickly across the skin and to all parts of the body. So a flatworm doesn’t have a blood circulatory or respiratory system. [2]

Today I spent some time appreciating the beautiful sponges that are so prolific along our reefs – some stood tall and majestic like the barrel sponge on the left, and some were small and delicate like the Red maiden fan sponge (Oceanapia sagittaria). Even if you don’t dive, you can still try to spot a sponge along our shores. Sponges are commonly seen on almost all our shores. They grow on all kinds of hard surfaces, from boulders, jetty pilings to coral rubble and even other animals. While many are large and colourful, others may be small, found under stones and other hiding places and thus overlooked. Although they look like plants, sponges are actually animals, albeit very simple animals. It is made up of a few types of cells that are largely independent of one another and only loosely held together. These cells do not form tissues or organs, so a sponge does not have a mouth, digestive system or circulatory system. A sponge is NOT a colony, in the way that a hard coral is a colony of individual animals. [3]

Nudibranches were a dime a dozen, and divers were darting between every rock and crevice to sneak a peak at these seemingly benign yet wonderfully mesmerizing creatures of the reef. Left column from top: Hypselodoris kanga, Tambja sp. – check out its blue-coloured mouth parts!, Chromodoris cincta. Right column from top: Reliable Chromodoris (Chromodoris fidelis), Orange-spotted gymnodoris, and a pair of Blue dragon nudibranchs (Pteraeolidia ianthina) mating.

While most slugs encountered today were big, bold, and declared their presence on the reef, some others, like the four above, were hard to find because they were either so miniscule or so well camouflaged! You can perceive how absolutely tiny the young Orange-spotted gymnodoris (top left) is by comparing its size to the pores of the barrel sponge it’s crawling upon. Top right is a kind of Phyllid, and as for the two in bottom row, Chay Hoon has helped identify them – on the left is Elysia sp. that is not a nudibranch but a Sarcoglossan (ie. Sapsuckers). On the right may be Murphydoris sp. Its generic name Murphydoris was created to honor the zoologist and ecologist D. H. Murphy. [4]

I also managed to find a few Icon seastars to wrap up out trip to the island for this month. I next visit will be in November and I can’t wait for that! The months just seem to be getting better and better, and I always love taking out new people to the reef and watching as they transform from being once skeptical to being excited and enthusiastic about visiting our reefs again, and sharing the news with their friends! That makes any trip for the volunteers and myself, a fruitful one!

To view more pictures from this dive, visit The Hantu Blog Gallery.

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It was a special day today because we got to bring the staff of Singapore Prisons out to local waters for some education and recreation! Despite the onset of the Northeast monsoons we had a nice dry day out at the islands with a cool breeze. Above: A pair of Copper-banded butterflyfish and an Anchor tuskfish ply the shallow reefs for food.

Underwater visibility, like the past five months have been very favourable for new divers, but seasoned divers like the Hantu Blog volunteers who have become used to the low visibility conditions do miss the more challenging conditions. Above: Soapfish, Paradise whiptail, Eight-banded butterflyfish, and Damselfish busy feeding off the reefs.

It also seems that we are better able to spot critters on the reef when the visibility is low. I’m not sure if this is because that’s just what we’re used to, or if it’s true that more critters come out when the visibility isn’t so good. Above: A Barrel sponge can grow large enough to fit a person inside! The largest amongst this cluster of seems seems to have had a huge chunk taken out of it. Hawksbill turtles are known to eat Barrel sponge. Could it be?!

There has been some speculation that because of the low visibility, small critters might not feel so threatened by larger predators, especially those that patrol along the reef like barracuda and other large carnivorous fish. Above: Arul Kishnadas gets close to the reef to take a photograph of a tinsy tiny nudibranch.

Look at the assortment of nudibranches we managed to uncover! Some of the divers out with us had not seen or even heard of these flamboyant reef creatures till today! It’s very satisfying to be able to share the wonders of local reefs with others! How lucky they were too to have the good visibility to make their dives more comfortable.

It was also a good day for me because I managed to find this Tomato clown anemonefish living in a Bubble-tipped anemone (above left). Bubble-tipped anemones are known to be a natural host of several species of anemonefishes, including the Cinnamon (Amphiprion melanopus), Tomato (A. frenatus), Orange-fin (A. chrysopterus), Amphiprion clarkii, Amphiprion ocellaris, Amphiprion percula and Maroon (Premnas biaculeatus). On the right is a “family” of False clown anemonefish in a Magnificent anemone.

Some creatures could only be found by peering into nooks and crannies along the reef, such as this False scorpionfish (left) and the Red swimmer crab that’s making it clear that it does not want me to get any closer!

Something I thought was really cool that I wanted to share, was this photograph of a school of Sand-divers (Trichonotidae). Because of their superb camouflage, they would be very hard to spot in the picture if I kept it in colour, so I got rid of the colours and pumped up the contrast so now you can see at least nine of them hovering just above the surface of the sandy seabed. Notice that all but one of them have tiny spots on their body. The one closet to the camera has large and distinct black spots. I wonder if it’s just a colour variation or if the species is sexually dimorphic.

On all of our dives, we always have to do a little cleaning up. Among the most troubling kind of debris we encounter are monofilament fishing lines. Discarded monofilament lines can present serious environmental problems. These lines are extremely difficult to spot when submerged in water, and fish, birds, sea turtles and other marine life can easily become entangled, causing starvation, amputation, and death. Ingestion is also a serious threat to wildlife. Monofilament lines also present a risk to swimmers and scuba divers. There are actually two lines in the above photo, one of the lines is translucent and the other is a bright yellow. This line was at least four meters long, and some parts had already cut into and become embedded in the whip coral. The line continued to the right of the picture where it is tangled with more sponges and a seafan. The Hantu Blog encourages recreational fishermen to choose their equipment wisely. Find out more about the fishing spot so you understand the right lines to use and prevent entanglement and collateral harm to the environment.

To view more pictures from this dive, visit The Hantu Blog Gallery.

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What creature of local waters is peeking out from just beneath the sandy seabed? Can you try and guess? We will release a new hint each day till someone guesses what the creature is! Visit our Flickr for details! Post your guesses in the comment fields in our Flickr, Facebook or Blog!

See more amazing photos and videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!

It looks unassuming, but this is one potent fish! I almost missed this squat and grumpy-looking Hollow-cheeked stonefish as it blended seamlessly with its silty, algae-encrusted surroundings, but as I swam over it, I managed to catch it at just the right angle to pick out the shape of its upturned mouth and spiny dorsal fins, which gave away its position.

Some divers have likened this fish to its cousin the rhinopias. They look similar and are sometimes classified in the same family (Scorpaenidae) but there have been no records of rhinopias in local waters.

Stonefish are ambush predators. They don’t actively hunt their prey. Instead, they lie motionless, relying on their camouflage to remain undetected. When a suitable snack comes close enough, they suck it into their huge mouths, or grab it with a sudden lunge of incredible speed. They generally eat fishes and crustaceans.

Running into a stonefish might mean death if you’re a fish or crab, but you’re just at risk if you’re a human. They are one of the most dangerous fishes on our shores, with tough dorsal fin spines that can penetrate thick soled shoes. These spines act like hypodermic needles, injecting a venom that can be fatal to humans! Stonefishes produce a neurotoxin that is considered the most deadly of fish venoms. While there have been few documented cases of fatalities, a victim should be brought to hospital as soon as possible.  Though they are deadly, the fishes use their spines only in self-defence and not for hunting prey.

Despite the mean arsenal, some animals do eat stonefishes! Known predators include sharks, rays, a sea snake, and well, humans of course! I’ve witnessed local fishermen catch these fish with hook and line and they’ve told me that it’s good deep fried to a crisp.

So just how painful is the sting of a stonefish? A victim from Australia describes, “Imagine having each knuckle, then the wrist, elbow and shoulder being hit in turn with a sledgehammer over the course of about an hour. Then about an hour later imagine taking a real kicking to both kidneys for about 45 minutes so that you couldn’t stand or straighten up. I was late 20s, pretty fit physically and this was the tiniest of nicks. Got sensation back in my finger after a few days but had recurrent kidney pains periodically for several years afterwards.” Other stories describe sting victims wanting to have their stung limb amputated from their body. Mother Nature’s Kings of Pain Stings and Bites of Some Animals Are Almost Beyond Endurance, Victims Say By Lauren Cahoon ABC News 26 Feb 08

There have been cases of people getting stung by stonefishes in Singapore. Naturally, they weren’t too happy about it. See more amazing photos and videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!

Silver Moonies school in estuaries and near freshwater streams, in harbours and near jetties. Some species are inhabit brackish waters and may even swim far up into freshwater systems. They are also known as Diamond fish and Silver batfish, but they are not batfish. They are also sometimes confused with Pomfrets. We encountered this school at Pulau Hantu over the weekend. Aren’t they just magical? See more amazing photos and videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!

There were two commensal shrimp in this burrow but only one was captured during the length of this video. As the fish was skittish and I didn’t have all day, I hovered quite a distance away from this burrow so they the fish and shrimp could keep doing what they do without too much disturbance. See more amazing videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!

You don’t usually see sand-divers because they are quick to dart into the sand for safety as soon as they spot something unfamiliar near by, but on a day with a nice current, they are coaxed out of their hiding places to feed in the water that’s pushing through. Watch this video and check out how the sand-divers simply disappear into nothing at the end! That’s how fast they are! See more amazing videos of Singapore’s sea life first on our Facebook Page!

Mei Lin observed and photographed this tiny cuttlefish hunting and grabbing its prey at Pulau Hantu yesterday. She also posted a fabulous blog about the rest of the finds! Check it out!

Octopus, two handfuls of Snakey bornella nudibranches, schools of Yellow stripe scad, rabbitfish, fusillers, batfish, and Silver moonies. A weekend of diving at Pulau Hantu had everyone surfacing with smiles and many pictures!

What do we do when Formula cars are spinning around town at 120 decibels? We submerge ourselves. But it didn’t prove to be as quiet as we’d thought, there were some piling works going on along the fairway between Pulau Hantu and Pulau Semakau. While on our first dive, we thought someone had sounded the emergency dive cancelling signal so we all went up, only to realise that the clanging sound was coming from a ship several hundred meters away.

It was just awesome how bright and lively the reef looked today. The reefs have been less turbid than we’re used to for the past five months. That’s almost half a year, but we’ve been diving these reefs for eight years, and all of us are used to lower visibilities. I guess because of the high turbidity we’re used to experiencing over the years, we’re very grateful for conditions like today, where we can experience the reef in all its glory and share photographs like this with you.

A Fan-bellied filefish swims along Hantu’s reefs.

Gorgeous gorgonians (seafans) and whip corals. Yes! This is their original colour. Isn’t that just mind blowing?! Each of those little feathery protrusions are single animals or polyps that are reaching out to sift food from the water that’s being moved by the current.

There were plenty of Phyllidia sea slugs, some of them even formed small clusters upon rocks on the reef.

Evidently, there were also plenty of fish! Clockwise from the top: Star puffer and Seagrass filefish, Kite butterflyfish, Six-banded angelfish, Yellow-spot rabbitfish, and Longnose butterflyfish.

Today’s special was the Snakey bornella. Divers were served as many as TEN individuals of this mesmerising creature. I saw a little one (left) that I measured against my index finger, and a huge palm-sized one that was too busy munching on hydroids to be bothered with me. Those white bits in front of its face are its mouth parts. Cool huh?! I got a video too so we can all gawk and stare at how this fella eats. Stay tuned for the video.

There were plenty more nudibranches that were decked all over the reef… but there was one that was particularly beautiful. But you’ll have to come to this blog another day to see what it is. Or check-in at The Hantu Bloggers Facebook Group to get the headsup first!

As divers ascended from their second dive, we saw this small school of Long-finned batfish hanging out just below the water’s surface. The one on the bottom seems to have its fins rather tattered. I wonder what snagged it.

Of course these aren’t all the pictures from today’s dive. We have videos too! Sit tight for more stuff coming up over the next couple of days/weeks! Meantime, check out our Gallery for more cool stuff!

Charles Rowe, the heart and soul behind the Seacil Project, gave a presentation at a public Discussion on “The Seacil Artificial Reef” hosted by the Nature Society (Singapore) on 27 Jul. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo from Mei Lin's blog

“Once a year, four days after the full moon on the fourth month, our corals spawn” said Jeff during a recent briefing. Wow!

We were afraid that our corals wouldn’t be up to it due to the massive coral bleaching last year. But our corals did mass spawn again! Thanks to Mei Lin and Jeffrey Low for sharing photos and stories and video clips, we get a glimpse of what went on.

Read the rest of this blog.

By SgBeachbum

dusky sunset 22Jan2011 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

peacock anemone 22Jan2011 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

ghostly shrimp fry 22Jan2011 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

broadnosed halfbeak 22Jan2011 from BeachBum on Vimeo.

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

More videos from this trip at SgBeachbum.