One of the most prolific travelers on the planet is the Wanderer or Monarch Butterfly, (Danaus plexippus), and so I was not surprised to find this beautiful creature as we walked around the base of Uluru. Here a wanderer rests on the damp earth from the recent rain drinking from the minute amounts of water […]
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Nudi Fairyfloss
What’s pink and fluffy and tastes great? The pink spongy mass might look like fairy-floss but that’s where the similarity ends, unless of course you are a nudibranch. This is the first time I have found this species of nudibranch, Ceratosoma brevicaudatum, eating this particular species of sponge. Perhaps that’s where it gets its pink […]
Read MoreOpal Eyes
There are many fishes local to a region that you will never find in an aquarium or in the fish markets or even in National Geographic. They are either poisonous, uninteresting, commercially unviable or just plain ugly. The poor Little Scorpionfish (Maxillicosta scabriceps) seems to fall into all categories. Those eyes however are magnificent and […]
Read MoreCeratosoma
This beautiful creature keeps me coming back over and over looking for nudibranchs under our local jetties. There is nothing really exotic about Ceratosoma brevicaudatum. They are common, easy to find and come in a range of sizes from the size of my fingernail to the length of my hand. In fact it is the […]
Read MoreTop of the Hill
In the past I had described photographing hermit crabs as ‘low hanging fruit’ but this guy was not so easy. Clarrie’s Hermit Crab (Pagurixus handrecki) here under Rapid Bay Jetty is tiny, about the size of my little fingernail and was marching furiously around the top of its own private little hill. Despite the diminutive […]
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