September Lembeh HD Macro Critters

This month has started off well. We've seen a lot of Flamboyant Cuttlefish activity. I was very lucky to catch a mum laying her eggs under a half coconut husk, though I did not want to disturb her too much, so it was difficult to get in close with my macro lens.

I was then even luckier, as I managed to get a Flamboyant Cuttlefish exiting it's egg. This took a while, as they don't hatch when you want them too, and when they do they are almost certainly going to do it from an egg that the camera is not looking at!! It was fascinating watching the tiny Flamboyants inside their eggs, especially when they display their colours..

After a fairly quite season this year on the Flamboyant front, it has been encouraging to see so many eggs being laid in multiple locations in the Strait.

[vimeohd]28576348[/vimeohd]

click here for direct link to video

Nice find Kaj

What was the yield of the eggs like? I found it to be less than 5% the few times I found nests of eggs. The eggs you shot look like there were quite a few stillborns. My fave cephalopod! Thanks!

Nice find Kaj

What was the yield of the eggs like? I found it to be less than 5% the few times I found nests of eggs. The eggs you shot look like there were quite a few stillborns. My fave cephalopod! Thanks!

Hi Drew..glad I found your fave cephalopod

I spent nearly two hours with these eggs over two days. Though you can't see it here, most of the eggs did, as some point, move. They would swim around in the eggs for a while, then settle down again, looking like they were 'stillborn'. I personally saw three of them hatch over the time I watched, and I know that our divers saw another hatch the day before I went to film them for the first time. Based on what I saw, I think that at least 70% of them moved at some point. I will sit through my footage at some point in the future to get a clearer idea.

Kaj

simply fantastic.

We were fortunate enough to see one when we were in Lembeh and it was a treat. Thanks for posting an exceptional video.

Ed

Been there 3 or 4 times and have filmed a lot of those eggs, but never a birth. Very cool, I'm jealous.

Big thanks for sharing it.

Steve

Here's another video for cephalopod freaks

I was starting to think I had seen pretty much everything in Lembeh, but this week again proved me wrong.

This is a video of an Occellate Octopus. This is the generic name I have called it. Occellate means 'eye', and octopus that get false blue eyes are very rare.

This octopus that I found I have never seen before and can find no reference of. It looked a little like a Coconut Octopus and I found it in the middle of an expanse of sand, hiding by half burying itself.

When I first tried to film it, it shot off, displaying two blue eyes. This got me very interested!!! After he had calmed down I was able to film him.

This is a very unusal octopus. some guides have occassionally seen it, but it's very very rare. If anyone knows what it is, please let me know. It was much bigger than a Mototi, probably about twice the size.

[vimeohd]28885014[/vimeohd]

direct link to video

That pulsing blue ring and patch of color above the eye were fantastic.

thanks for sharing

ed

Here's another video for cephalopod freaks

 

I was starting to think I had seen pretty much everything in Lembeh, but this week again proved me wrong.

 

This is a video of an Occellate Octopus. This is the generic name I have called it. Occellate means 'eye', and octopus that get false blue eyes are very rare.

 

This octopus that I found I have never seen before and can find no reference of. It looked a little like a Coconut Octopus and I found it in the middle of an expanse of sand, hiding by half burying itself.

 

When I first tried to film it, it shot off, displaying two blue eyes. This got me very interested!!! After he had calmed down I was able to film him.

 

This is a very unusal octopus. some guides have occassionally seen it, but it's very very rare. If anyone knows what it is, please let me know. It was much bigger than a Mototi, probably about twice the size.

 

[vimeohd]28885014[/vimeohd]

 

direct link to video

same as this one no?

http://www.youtube.com/user/Scubaman5000#p/u/30/Vb_7iwSVkSo

from 0:56

same as this one no?

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/Scubaman5000#p/u/30/Vb_7iwSVkSo

 

from 0:56

It's hard to say, though probably not. I must also say that I'm not a great fan of harassing critters too much, and seeing your friend bring the octopus over in his hands was a little too much for me.

This has to be one of the coolest and weirdest named critters!! It's a Red Frog Spanner Crab

These crabs spend much of their time buried in the sand, with just their eyes showing. when they do come out they run across the sand and seem to be wearing a cloak that looks like a set of extra legs!!

A very strange critter to watch. Check out the ‘blink’ the crab gives towards the end, just before it buries itself in the sand.

[vimeohd]29213570[/vimeohd]

Direct link to video

Darn, beautiful red coloring...another one I have yet to film..still waiting for my blu ring.

Steve

This week is the turn of the Mushroom Coral Pipefish, one of the hardest critters to film, for four reasons...

1. They are small.

2. They are white, making it very hard to film without blowing them out.

3. They live at the bottom of Mushroom Coral, in amongst their long polyps.

4. And they never stop moving!!!!

They are a very lovely pipefish, completely white, expect for a red line that runs through their eyes. They also have funy upturned mouths.

As their name suggest, they live exclusively in Mushroom Corals. Here we usually only see one in a coral, so it was very nice to find two sharing one small home.

[vimeohd]29553104[/vimeohd]

click here for direct link to video

It's hard to say, though probably not. I must also say that I'm not a great fan of harassing critters too much, and seeing your friend bring the octopus over in his hands was a little too much for me.

What makes you think that guy is my friend?

I have no idea who that guy is, it's just a video from YouTube that I came across that I thought answered a question you asked.