027. Pulau Semakau 2nd Hunt – It’s a whole new world down there~~

With the sunlight piercing through marshmallow clouds up in the heavens and the water swirling cool between my knees, I must say I was tempted to stay rooted and start snapping away. And with my camera safely ensconced within a Dicapac underwater casing, I couldn’t resist dunking my camera every once 2 seconds just to get some sea and sky shots. Though the corners of the images snapped seem to be hindered by the grey outlines of the casing’s edge, it’s all just a matter of cropping it and voila, it’s as good as a real underwater snapshot. ;)

 

 
Amongst the seagrass and algae were sponges with one housing the Hairy Crab (Pilumnus vespertilio) above. Also known as the ‘teddy bear’ crab, the fluffed-up (when submerged underwater) creature triggers a ‘hug me’ reflex in some. >_< The fluffed-up feature (besides eliciting the aww-so-cute-I-wanna-cuddle-it reaction) also serves to break up the body outline, easily passing off as floating debris before the roving eyes of a hungry predator. On terra, their long, silky hairs (sounds like something off a hair shampoo advert.. lol) traps sediment, and thus blending them perfectly with their surroundings [1]!

(top left): In the stream that gently snaked towards the reef, TC found a patch of egg casings hooked atop a blade of tape seagrass.

(top right): Also, burrowed in the sandy bed of the stream was an inconspicuous Sandfish sea cucumber (Holothuria scabra). And just as its common name suggests, the sea cucumber lives in sand and comes out to from its hidey-hole once night falls and the stars twinkle. Did you know that the sandfish sea cucumber is known to harbour symbiotic Pea crabs (Pinnotheres sp.) in its rear ends?  -.-

(bottom left): On Semakau Island, tape seagrass (Enhalus acoroides) covers kilometres of the shoreline. And just like the Sunflower Mushroom Hard Coral, the tape seagrass (so far) is the only species for the genus Enhalus!

(bottom right): Restricted to Malaysian and Singapore in particular (based on the Singapore Red Data Book), the survival of the Noble volute (Cymbiola nobilis) is threatened by its own beauty. Cloaked in orange/yellow/beige with reddish-beige/brown zigzags, the shell is seen somewhat as an attractive accessory. Perfect, more clutter for dust to settle upon.. oh wait, most collectors are usually rich enough to hire servants to do the dirty work. =.= Anyway, it’s unadvisable to collect empty shells from the beach as they are potential homes for hermit crabs that have grown too big for their old homes [2].

(top left): Can’t remember the exact reason, but it’s not right to say male or female flowers (need to flip through my biodiversity notes). Hence, the flower bearing the female sexual organs is large and held on a long stalk. When flooded by the tide, the petals of an unpollinated ‘zips up’ and unzips back when the tide ebbs. It spreads apart to allow easy access to incoming flowers bearing pollen.

(bottom left): While the flowers bearing the female gametes are big, the situation is otherwise for flowers bearing pollen. Looking just like small pieces of white polystyrene or styrofoam, these flowers are produced from a cup-shaped inflorescence that forms at the base of the tape seagrass. With one end water repellent and the other attracted to water, the flower is able 'stand' upright on the water surface (a wet finger-tip too)! This way, the pearly blooms tend to form 'rafts' with all ends facing the same direction. =)

And my find for the day at our transect was the Black Phyllid Nudibranch (Phyllidiella nigra). This black nudibranch with its distinctive pink bumps can often be seen on the southern shores of Singapore, near coral rubble and reef. Indeed, this was where I spotted this lil’ pink one, right at the tip of Semakau reef. This time round, there was no need to worry about avoiding shadows cast by the sun overhead. All I need to do was dunk and snap. I have not felt this excited about taking pictures for quite some time now [3]. :)

And the star of the day, I present to you….

… the Blue-lined flatworm (Pseudoceros sp.) of china porcelain colouration. Gorgeous isn’t it? I was practically leaping with excitement when my eyes caught hold of this tiny gem on the sponge along the sandy shores. It all happened when I was walking back towards the meeting point, and a tiny fleck of blue and white caught my attention.

Usually, this small white flatworm with blue lines is seen on coral rubble near living reefs. Made up of folded edges of the body at the front, is a pair of erect pseudotentacles (as shown in the picture) [4]. As it swept gently across the sandy substrate, my camera followed its every move like the provincial chick (and I mean the one that goes cluck, cluck). Every peer and glance, dip and dive was faithfully embedded onto the digital memory of my A720IS. And with this to commemorate my first acquaintance with DICAPAC WP-510, I can’t wait for my next trip down to Semakau Island!

おねえーさんわ大好き!!  The picture above is dedicated to you, thank you for the lovely gift \(￣ー￣)/

Reference:
1. http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/crustacea/crab/pilumnidae/pilumnidae.htm

2. http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/mollusca/gastropoda/volutidae/nobilis.htm

3. http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/mollusca/slugs/nudibranchia/nigra.htm

4. http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/worm/polycladida/blueline.htm