Here is a nice little Coryphella trilineata (it has had many names) from a local dive 2 weeks ago. This is sitting on a black telescope felt stage.  These guys look harmless but if you look at their teeth (see inset) it will make you happy you aren't a hydroid. In any case enjoy.

Here is a nice little G. coi from Raja Ampat. Enjoy.

Sometimes hermit crabs pick a house that is aspirational, "clearly too big now but maybe I will grow into it”. Here is a nice little hermit crab from a dive in the Pisang (banana) islands on the way from Raja to Kaimana. Enjoy.

Here is a nice little Gymnodoris from today's dives with friends on the Wellenreng. Its species name is impudica meaning immodest. This guy is certainly not modest. Enjoy.

Here is a nice little yellow boxfish, from Triton Bay. These are interesting guys that when they are under stress they can secrete Pahutoxin (see inset) which is unique among fish. I chased this guy for quite a while, she always was looking over her shoulder but I did get her to look directly once. Enjoy.

Here is a nice little (2 inches/50mm) cuttlefish from Triton Bay. These are very interesting guys. We have 3 types of cone photoreceptors to see color, cuttlefish have only one type of receptor but have a retina shaped like a W and can see colors based on polarization. The responses of cuttlefish to their own reflected image differ depending on whether the polarization structure of the image is altered. If you want to mess with them shift the polarization angle and their camouflage changes to not look like the background anymore. In any case enjoy.

Here is a pair of wire coral gobies from Triton Bay. These are interesting guys who change sex (sequential hermaphroditism). The question (sure to annoy Mr. Trump) is why don't more species change sex? Susan Alonzo at Yale has studied this extensively in fish and concludes that since sex change is hard and takes a lot of resources, species will change only if the advantages (bigger females make more eggs, bigger males can fight off smaller males) are enormous. Apparently for these fish they are.

Here is a nice little Z. soror (used to be Periclimines) sitting on the bottom of a sea star. These are interesting guys, they have at least 18 different types of chromatophores and the color intensity increases as the shrimp gets older. If the shrimp has to leave one sea star for another it takes 36 hours for his coloration to match that of his new host. In any case enjoy.

Here is a nice little false clown fish from Triton Bay. These guys live in anemones and there is a distinct group hierarchy based mostly on size. They can move from anemone to anemone and if they move, they move to an anemone that has only a very few fish in it. Here is a settlement graph (see inset), notice that as you get to big groups, no one moves in. In any case, enjoy.

Here is a nice little D. boholiensis from Triton Bay. Thanks Martha. These guys sequester toxic materials from the sponges they eat. This begs the question, "how did they evolve to not be poisoned themselves?" Apparently they have a shuttle system that moves the compounds to their defensive destination (cnidosacs) without it going systemic. In any case, enjoy.

Here is a nice little Acyonosyllis phili (I think) from Triton Bay. These guys are commensal with soft corals but we found this guy just on the sand. There are a zillion Syllid type worms, so ID might be sketchy and it doesn't much look like the photos from the ID guys. In any case enjoy.

Crinoids (contrary to my expectation) sit perpendicular to the current to feed. The photo above (see inset) is from the Antarctic and scientists there use crinoid orientation to measure the direction of the near bottom current. My crinoid was happily sitting on top of a barrel sponge in Triton Bay. Enjoy.

Here is a nice little yellow sea cucumber, Colochirus robustus. They are everywhere in Triton Bay and get no love but they should. They have some glycosides (see inset) that have 20x more anti-tumor activity than cisplatin, a well known anti-tumor agent. And (at least to some folks) they taste good. In any case, enjoy.

Here is a nice little blue ring octopus showing his rings off, basically saying stay away, I can kill you.  Adult blue rings are unpalatable to most predators presumably due to the tetrodotoxin (TDT). But larvae don't have much TDT yet still are unpalatable. In a series of neat experiments, a group from Cal, New Mexico State and CI (Bali) showed that if you spike all kinds of food with the concentration of TDT that is in a larval Blue Ring it gets eaten easily, strongly suggesting that some other compound makes the babies not taste good. The authors state "something else, unidentified is present", not a particularly descriptive claim about what it might be. In any case enjoy.

Things we used to shoot. Here is a nice little (tiny) H. denise (a pygmy seahorse) from Triton Bay this morning. We used to shoot these a bit but they almost always seem shy. This guy was not at all shy, just sat there not looking away. Denise are gorgonian obligate but can live on a few types of gorgonians. They take on the color of their home and spend their entire life on a single fan. In any case, enjoy.

I know, I am still shooting nudis on a black stage. So if you are tired of seeing them then hang up now. Here is another Tenellia sibogae (much smaller than the previous one I sent out). In any case, enjoy.

Here is a nice little cuttlefish from Triton Bay. We are with friends on the Wellenreng. These guys have a unique W shaped pupil but in very low light conditions it becomes round. The reason for the W is up for debate but a team from Woods Hole has data that suggests the W is useful to balance out light coming from above with light reflected from the substrate. They say (Vision Research, 2013, Mathger et al):

“We conclude that the horizontal slit pupil with vertically kinked ends provides an improved retinal intensity distribution, less image haze from scattering and probably serves camouflage at the same time.”

In any case enjoy. When I see a cuttlefish in this pose, I think he is giving me half of a peace sign.

Here is a nice little Armina (sp unknown to Bill) from our dive this morning in Triton Bay. These guys are good chemists able to make this molecule (see inset) with all chiral centers intact. For the non-chemists this is a really big deal. These compounds are diterpenoids similar in concept to Taxol and these guys are being studied as anti-tumor compounds. In any case, enjoy.

Here is a very pretty little shrimp goby from Triton Bay. These guys live with a shrimp who makes a burrow and keeps it clean. The goby (there are often 2) is the night watchman making sure no one comes by who is looking for a nice shrimp dinner. How does the partnership start? The goby is attracted to the shrimp by seeing it (optical) while the shrimp is attracted to the goby by a chemical signal. In any case, enjoy.

Here is another (yes I know there have been others) Fire dart (Nemateleotris magnifica) from Triton Bay. These guys are well known in the aquarium trade and are bred in captivity. It takes 6 months for a pair to bond and spawn, and 4 days of incubation. The male is the better parent, sometimes the female gets hungry and will eat a few of the eggs. I spent a lot of time looking for the purple version but no dice. In any case, enjoy.

Here is a nice little Trapania miltabrancha. This guy was named because Terry Gosliner thinks they have red gills. This one certainly doesn't and neither does the picture in Gosliner's book. According to Gosliner this guy is only in Bali, we found this one in Triton Bay (a fair bit away from Bali, (2000 km, 1200 miles). They eat kamptozoa (entoprocts, the flowery bit at the tip). To get at them they have pretty wicked looking teeth (see inset). In any case, enjoy.