Critters you can't stop talking about!
We often think of the biggest, brightest or most flamboyant fish as the most memorable on a scuba or snorkel experience but in my personal experience I find its some of our strange, hazardous or downright ‘ugly’ creatures that are talked about long after the dive is over. Here are some of our favorite underrated creatures we encounter on our dives!
Basket Star - During the day they look like this photo to the left taken by our diver Bill. During the day they clutch themselves in a tight ball usually into a crevasse in the rocks or coral, the edge of a barrel sponge, or around a plumelike this one! At night when they feed, they unfurl themselves stretching out in a fractal pattern of arms! when bundled up during the day you can still watch the arms move about cementing it’s position and security. Take a look at this link to see what one looks like at night - opened up!
Bearded Fireworm - These bristle worms are often mentioned in our hazardous creature warning, because they look soft and fluffy like a caterpillar but are more similar to a centipede with the level of pain they can inflict with those fluffy looking tufts. Diver’s will find them feasting on coral, dead fish / fisherman off cuts and just crawling around the reef and certainly never forget them if they are unfortuante enough to make contact with one!
Lionfish - also on our hazardous fish & creatures list, this creature is an invasive species in Dominica. We spot them large and small at all depths of reef and we point them out as they show off, completely unbothered by onlookers. With no natural predators here in Dominica population control is only attainable with the help of hungry divers! The thing is they are so beautiful it’s hard to imagine the reef without them!
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Sharptail Snake Eel -NO THIS IS NOT A SEA SNAKE- we do not have sea snakes but we do have several ‘snake eels’ who’s serpentine looks and bottom swimming frequently startle divers. This one isthe sharptail snake eel, not to be confused with the similarly patterned ‘golenspot’ or ‘goldspotted’ snake eel, who’s spots have rings around them. These eels aren’t necessarily shy, so divers tend to be able to get a close look, but they are burrowers so expect them to disappear into a hole if you bother them!
eather Star / Crinoid - This creature is closely related to the seastar / brittle star / sea cucumber and sea urchins are often mistaken for plants or soft corals due to their color, structure and locations. These creatures are found all around the world from shallow reefs to deep sea, and they’ve been found in even more abundance in fossils! These creatures have a crown that features the mouth and anus and 5 rays that might branch out further into 10 or more arms that look like feathers due to parts called pinnules. Each arm that breaks off is replaced by 2 new arms so some crinoids can have as many as 200 arms! They use specially adapted claw like appendages called cirri as a holdfast, which attaches them to the substrate, inside barrel sponges or rock crevices. Some species stay connected to the substrate with a stalk during their adult or juvenile phase while others are free swimming in order to find the plankton they need to eat!
What is your favorite underrated creature/fish local to you?