This christmas tree isn’t a tree at all, it’s a worm living under this coral. It will keep its delicate blue crowns exposed like this to catch food and breathe until it detects something nearby, and then will quickly retract into the coral. This one let me get close enough for a shot with my camera before deciding I was too close and going away to hide.
I love nudibranchs. Very tiny, hard to find, hard to photograph, and full of so many crazy colors when you get the photo right. I could spend a whole dive getting a good shot but normally have to move one after taking a few pics. Some would call this a sea slug, but I think the proper name for this one, Dermatobranchus Ornatus, rolls of the tongue much better!
What does this look like to you? Some type of microbe, a spiny cactus or a sea creature? If you guessed sea creature you’d be correct, and this one isn’t nice at all. It is a crown-of-thorns starfish, and this nasty guy eats the coral reefs. Close up you can see his sharp spikes and understand why most other animals don’t mess with him.
Look at those pearly whites! I’d hate to have to brush all those crazy teeth, but this whitemouth moray eel doesn’t seem to have an issue keeping them looking sharp. They seem vicious since they are always opening and closing their mouths, but they do that to breathe. This one let me and my camera get quite close for a photo.
