Tag: anilao
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Everything you need to know about ribbon eels, and a little about gymnastics
Reminiscent of the ribbon event in rhythmic gymnastics, ribbon eels are a dramatic sight. Here are some interesting facts about ribbon eels and some photos of these beautiful, fascinating creatures.
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Updated Flickr Gallery: Anilao Muck Diving
I’ve added new photos to my Anilao, Philippines muck diving gallery on Flickr, including underwater photos of pipefish, ribbon eels, and mantis shrimp. Enjoy :)
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This Shrimp is the Tiniest Sea Creature You’ve Never Seen
It’s easy for divers to get stoked on seeing the big-ticket critters. Manta rays? Majestic. Sharks? Spellbinding. So far, we’re all on the same page here. There’s this cognitive leap, though, that occurs for divers when they learn to find and appreciate the nudibranch. It’s a bit of a chicken and egg scenario, but this…
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The Reproductive Habits of the Ghost Pipefish (A Limerick)
When asked of his ties to the seahorse, the ghost pipefish replied in due course: “Though I lack a pouch, “our girls are no slouch, “and they tend to their eggs without remorse.”
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Why the Mantis Shrimp Rocks
Although named for its resemblance to both praying mantis and shrimp, the mantis shrimp is neither; it’s a stomatopod, in fact only a distant relative of crabs, shrimps, and lobsters. Stomatopods can be loosely divided into two groups based on how they kill prey with their raptorial appendages (I just want to say that over…
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A Limerick about the Ornate Ghost Pipefish
There once was a pipefish so ornate, the crinoid it lived in seemed cut-rate. “This feather star’s plain,” said the fish, “I’d not deign “to inhabit so homely an estate.”
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Creepy crinoids and the camouflaged critters that colonize them
What stalks across the seafloor and ripples around the reef? What looks like a plant, but then GRABS you when you swim past? What has no brain, an anus next to its mouth, and a bunch of sticky arms that reach out and attach to you? What’s beautiful and terrifying all at once? The crinoid.…
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Garden Eels are Maddening
Trying to catch a garden eel out of its hole is a maddening task.
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In Pursuit of Pygmy Seahorses
The scene is a hotel room in Anilao, Philippines. Our heroine is standing over a console table, assembling an underwater camera, when her husband enters the room with news from their dive guide. HUSBAND: The boat is going looking for pygmy seahorses today. How big are they, anyway? Our heroine looks up, instinctively making a…
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How to Fall in Love with Nudibranchs in 12 Easy Steps
It is no secret that I love the nudibranch. But it may come as a surprise that not everyone shares my branchophile tendencies. Fortunately, I have devised a twelve-step program to convert even the most reluctant slug-lover lover into a nudi connoisseur.