A new tropical find

Squat, or Sexy Anemone Shrimp (Thor amboinensis)

This tiny shrimp, the Squat, or Sexy Anemone Shrimp is another visitor brought to our shores courtesy of the Eastern Australian Current (EAC to “Finding Nemo” fans).

In their normal environment they inhabit Anemones whose venomous tentacles offer them protection from fishy predators. In the absence of appropriate hosts this little fellow has taken home in a coral (Pocillopora aliciae), another visitor who has made the aquatic reserve its permanent home.

A Flurry of Flathead!

Blue Spotted Flathead (Platycephalus caeruleopunctatus)

Marbled Flathead (Platycephalus marmoratus)

Tassel-snouted Flathead (Thysanophyrs cirronasus)

Dusky flathead

Dusky flathead tail

Blue spotted flathead

Whilst I’m not sure “Flurry” is the correct collective noun for Flathead, they were certainly abundant this weekend, from small sand-burying Marble Flathead to the Blue-spotted and monster female Dusky Flathead. The latter can grow up to 1m long. The only species I didn’t see that frequents the aquatic reserve was the quaintly named Tassle Snouted flathead, masters of disguise. The Latin names for them are equally extravagant – Platycephalus caeruleopunctatus being one of my favourites. It is pretty much much the Latin derivation of their common name “Flathead greenspots” – well almost!

These fish hide in the sand waiting for prey to pass nearby then swallow them whole in a single gulp. When their sandy appearance looks the same the tail spots on the caudal fin are a sure way to differentiate the species, but the more you see them the easier it is to differentiate.

And so the summer fades….

Clarke’s Threefin

Threadfin Butterflyfish

Painted Stinkfish

Tailor

Two-tone Dartfish

The end of April usually brings strong southerlies signalling the end of summer. Luckily this year they came a bit late, but the water has chilled to 19 degrees already and many of the tropical visitors have died already.

As the water slowly cools, algae dies off and the water clarity should improve giving the best visibility of the year.

The biomass in the bay still astounds me, and this weekend saw dolphins patrolling the surrounding beaches, probably looking for a feed.

Glorious Goatfish

Eastern maori wrasse and Black-spot Goatfish hunting for food

Blue-striped Goatfish (Upeneichthys lineatus)

Freckled Goatfish (Upeneus tragula)

Black-spot Goatfish (Parupeneus spilurus)

Yellowfin Goatfish (Mulloidichthys vanicolensis)

Australian Goatfish (Upeneus australiae)

Blue-striped Goatfish (Upeneichthys lineatus)

There are some ten different species of goatfish that can be found in Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve, some are tropical visitors but there are also quite a number of resident species too. As horrific winds blew from the west and south all weekend, prompting weather warnings all along the coast, the bay was flat and visibility 10+ metres, so diving was beckoning.

The goatfish are quite amusing fish to watch as they patrol around usually in shoals, sifting the sand with their two barbels below the mouth. These flexible protrusions work prolifically looking for food particles. Often individual adults will be seen with an eastern maori wrasse, the latter opportunistically waiting for a morsel to be dislodged or flushed out, as the goatfish does his work.

Diving in May

Juvenile Common Lionfish

Forceps fish

Eastern Blue Devilfish

Moorish Idol

Sunset Wrasse

Starry Toadfish (Arothron firmamentum)

Gold-lined Goatfish

Cigar Wrasse

Bicolour Fangblenny

This time of year is my favourite for diving. The algae that makes the water green throughout summer starts to die off as the sunlight diminishes approaching winter. The water remains warm, around 20 degrees for a while and this brings Westerly winds that help calm perfect diving conditions.

This weekend was one of those perfect moments to dive and a couple of dives were rewarded with some great finds.

The Gold-lined Goatfish and Forceps fish are rare tropical visitors, but the stars of the weekend were a small group of Starry Toadfish blowing the sand, looking for food.

A very sick Weedy Seadragon floated over the sand, its skin looking infected, and the poor thing visibly flinched when the strobe of my flash went off. I never take more than 5 shots of this species anymore due to their sensitivity to stress, so after a couple of identification shots of the snout spots my buddy Matt and I quickly left it in peace.

Other great finds included a juvenile Common Lionfish, a Cigar Wrasse, Bicolour Fangblenny and a magnificent Eastern Blue Devilfish.

A dive amongst tourists

Goldsaddle Goatfish (Parupeneus cyclostomus)

HoneyComb Coral Crab

Spotted Fringefin Goby (Eviota guttata)

Headband Damselfish

Redhead Stylophora Goby (Paragobiodon echinocephalus)

Juvenile Weedy Seadragon

My buddy Matt, despite an injured calf, joined me today for a fun dive where we spotted lots of locals and a few visitors from afar. The locals included a couple of Weedy Seadragons including the cute juvenile pictured above and an Eastern Blue Devilfish.
We also encountered an amazing diversity of “newbies” including the Headband Damselfish, a Spotted Fringefin Goby, a Redhead Stylophora Goby (not previously reported in NSW), a Yellow Saddle Goatfish, apparently rare south of Foster, and a few crabs including the Honeycomb Coral pictured above. The establishment of corals in Cabbage Tree Bay has brought with it the organisms that have a symbiotic relationship. The Trapezia family of crabs, the Headband Damselfish and Redhead Stylophora Goby all co-exist with the Pocillipora family of corals, and the new species of Pocillopora aliciae that inhabits the bay in a number of locations  has attracted these new species.

 

Five minutes of madness

Short-tailed Ceratosoma

Goatfish

Moon Wrasse

Blue-barred Parrotfish

Blue Dragon

Moses Perch

Averni’s Glossodoris

Dusky Whaler

The pictures above summarise the weekend of diving in Cabbage Tree Bay aquatic reserve. With some really hot days recently it was a surprise to find that in the last week water temperatures have dropped at least a couple of degrees due to the persistent nor’easterly this week that has brought waters as cold as 18 degrees to the shores. The first dive was almost over when things went crazy, in a great way. Three adult Blue-barred parrotfish, rare tropical visitors, appeared and lead the way back to the beach, one sporting a big scar on it’s body from an attack. As I followed them I glimpsed a shark in the shallows, the first Dusky Whaler I have seen for a while. Surge over the reef was making it exciting….mullet were feeding at the surface, then Kingfish swam through chasing the smaller fish. Shortly after a group of Samsonfish appeared, then more Dusky Whalers. I had a 100mm macro set-up so was lucky to get a shot of the Dusky Whaler.It seemed to be feeding time judging by the agitated nature of all the fish, but suddenly after maybe 5 minutes it calmed down, though just as it did a Moses Perch appeared, another rare visitor from the north, and a small shoal of Spangled Emperor.

The reserve has also been popping up some incredible nudibranchs, a few  photos included to show the range that can be found here.

Two great dive buddies too with Matt and Joel

 

Easter Surprise

Eyelash Fangblenny (Meiacanthus atrodorsalis)

Barred Soapfish (Diploprion bifasciatum)

Wedge Tailed Triggerfish

Keyhole Angelfish

Juvenile Spangled Emperor

Masked Bannerfish (Heniochus monoceros)

Threadfin Butterflyfish

Bridled Triggerfish

Freckled Goatfish

This is the best time of year to be diving. As the strength of the sun wanes the algal bloom, that keeps waters green during summer, recedes, improving visibility, and the warm waters still nurture a wealth of tropical visitors that have cruised the Eastern Australian Current as larvae. By April many of these have grown to a spottable size and everywhere you look they can be spotted. The selection above were from a single dive in a very busy spot in the aquatic reserve.

Big Swell Diving – Wrasse heaven!

Black-Barred Wrasse (Thalassoma nigrofasciatum)

Orange Basslet

Leopard Wrasse

Elegant Wrasse

Three-spot Dascyllus

Despite the big swell that picked up this week the obvious harbour dives were destined for crowds so I headed to the aquatic reserve. Very patchy visibility was made up for by the amazing diversity of tropical fish around, particularly some of the less common wrasse, like Diamond, Leopard, Black-barred (aka Jansen’s), Yellow Moon, the protected Elegant wrasse, and many others. A “huddle” of four Three Spot Dascyllus were hiding in a crevasse, many species of butterflyfish.

Diving in cyclonic swell

Australian Bonito (Sarda australis)

Red Bigeye (Heteropriacanthus carolinus)

Moorish Idol

Cuttlefish

Yellow Moon Wrasse

My diving buddy, Matt, was keen to get in the water today, and despite rising swell arriving from a cyclone out east in Tonga, we foolishly braved the elements, together with a surprising number of other divers. Poor visibility, plenty of surge made for an interesting dive but there were, as there often are, a few gems to be found. Plenty of Moorish Idols can be found patrolling the reef, moon wrasse, including adult yellow moon wrasse, and “packs” of hunting bonito were patrolling the edge of the huge shoals of baitfish.

The highlight was a blotched glasseye – I’ve only ever seen one before, maybe it was even the same one!