Honeycomb moray [Gymnothorax favagineus]

The Laced moray, Gymnothorax favagineus, also known as the leopard moray, tesselate moray or honeycomb moray, is a species of moray eel. Laced moray can grow up to 300cm in length, and as such are one of the larger species of moray eel. They feed mainly on small fish and cephalopods. It has been observed that adults are prone to be aggressive in the wild. They are found in the Indo-Pacific, and East Africa to Papua New Guinea, north to southern Japan, south of Australia. These morays live at depths of between 1 and 45m, usually in crevices within reef flats and slopes.

 Pictures: Komodo, Indonesia by Sami Salmenkivi

Emperor angelfish [Pomacanthus imperator]

Raja Ampat, Indonesia (notice the pointy upper fin)

Cozumel, Mexico (smooth upper fin)

The Emperor angelfish, Pomacanthus imperator, is a species of marine angelfish. It is a reef-associated fish, native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from the Red Sea to Hawaii and the Austral Islands.

Juveniles are dark blue with electric blue and white rings; adults have yellow and blue stripes, with black around the eyes. It takes about four years for an emperor angelfish to acquire its adult colouring. They grow to 40 cm in length. (text source: Wikipedia)

Pictures:  Papua, Indonesia and Cozumel, Mexico by Sami Salmenkivi

I made an UW picture book

I came across a neat book making service Blurb the other day and fell in love with its stylish, yet usable user interface, and also with the quality and diversity of books made by people. So, of course I had to try if I could do a photo book with the service.

I downloaded the software and started to work on an underwater photography book. You can browse the 15 first pages of my or any other public book on the site. You can also buy my book, which is highly recommended! 😉

The book contains 40 pages of pictures in a Standard Landscape 10×8 inches (25×20 cm). Most pictures are mine, but there’s also few Creative Commons pictures – really nice ones – from fellow photographers. 

Klunzinger’s Wrasse [Thalassoma klunzingeri]

adult

Variety of different aged juveniles

Wikipedia has no article on this Wrasse, even though its one of the most common reef fish in the Red Sea.

Picture: Ras Nasrani, Red Sea, Egypt by Sami Salmenkivi

Coral grouper [Cephalopholis miniata]

Wikipedia has no article on Coral grouper.

Picture: Andaman&Nicobar Islands, India by Sami Salmenkivi

Scrawled filefish [Aluterus scriptus]

The scrawled filefish, Aluterus scriptus, is a filefish of the family Monacanthidae. Its length is up to 1.1 m, and it is found on tropical reefs circumglobally to a depth of 120 m.

Coloration is olive brown to grey with blue lines and spots, while juveniles may be yellowish-brown with dark spots. The body and head has a scattered of small black spots. The body is elongate and strongly compressed. The caudal fin is rounded and long. The gill opening is oblique.

The scrawled filefish inhabits lagoons and seaward reefs, and occasionally are seen under floating objects. Juveniles may travel with weed rafts in the open ocean for a long time and reaching a large size. Adults are usually seen along deep coastal slopes or outer reef drop-offs in about 20 m depth. They feed on algae, seagrass, hydrozoans, gorgonians, colonial anemones, and tunicates.

Picture: Cozumel, Mexico by Sami Salmenkivi

Clown triggerfish [Balistoides conspicillum]

The clown triggerfish, Balistoides conspicillum, is a triggerfish from the order Tetraodontiformes. This reef-associated fish is commonly found in the tropical Indo-Pacific and Red Sea.

This species is a primarily marine species. This fish is found in Tropical Indo-Pacific and Red Sea coastal waters from 1-75 metres in depth (3-250 ft). This fish is generally uncommon or rare throughout its range, which includes East Africa to South Africa, through to Indonesia, and all the way to Japan and New Caledonia. The clown triggerfish is most commonly found around coral reefs. It lives in clear coastal to outer reef habitats. It also occurs in clear, seaward reefs near steep drop-offs.

The fish can reach up to about 50 cm (20 in) in length.[1] It has strong jaws which can be used to crush and eat sea urchins, crustaceans and hard-shelled mollusks.

This fish has unique coloration. The ventral surface has large, white spots on a dark background, and its dorsal surface has black spots on yellow. There is a vertical, white (slightly yellow) stripe on the caudal fin. This fish has a form of camouflage that is, or is similar to, countershading. From below, the white spots look like the surface of the water above it. From above, the fish will blend in more with the coral reef environment. (text source: wikipedia)

Picture: Andaman&Nicobar, India by Sami Salmenkivi