Walea Soft Coral Pygmy Seahorse (Hippocampus waleananus)

From my recent trip to the Togians.

The Walea Soft Coral Pygmy Seahorse was only described in early 2009. It was first discovered on Waleabahi Island in the Togian Islands, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. This individual was spotted at the nearby Kadidiri Island by Roser Gari, a divemaster from Black Marlin Dive Resort.

More info about the pygmy seahorse at Fins Online and Walea Resort

oh we've had hundreds of those here in phuket for years. never thought it might be new...

only joking. what a fantastic find! love the banded tail. gotta get one of those in the collection one day

but man those pygmies are a bitch to shoot

but man those pygmies are a bitch to shoot

You're right, normally its a pain to shoot them, but these soft coral ones are not so bad since it's not so deep (10-15m), the soft coral was in a sandy area (plenty of space to work) and they're not so tall at about half a meter (just nice to shoot them whilst lying down on the sand). Though I should have brought the Gorilla pod for better stability.

The DM only found them a few weeks before I was there, she also said they also live on the purple soft coral though I didn't get to see that.

Nice find.

I think a tripod or dual pod would've worked better. If it's just sand in the front, a tripod and extra weight on the housing would give you better stability and ability to track the subject.

... I should have brought the Gorilla pod for better stability.

My Gorillapod is showing its age and has gone all floppy. I find myself supergluing the links one by one until very few of them still move. The newer metal Gorillapod might stay stiffer for longer, but personally I'm going to make a tripod intergrated with my housing out of proper lockable strobe arms.