DIVING with strange creatures- How I discovered this fish is not an algae but a fish !
A month ago I was in a trip to Mozambique. As a diver I was quite excited, Mozambique being known as a great scuba diving spot. My big hope was to see Manta rays and Whale sharks. Well...one this point, me and my boyfriend were unlucky and we haven't seen them.
The good thing with diving is that even the smaller things are interesting. I want to show you a few STRANGE fishes that we saw during this trip.
Ghost Pipefish
I must say I didn't immediately understood why all the other divers were all excited about this thing, a I though it was a sea weed. Actually it is a fish, and it is very rare! So it as a very special sight. There are few different species of ghost pipe fish and this one looks like the "robust ghost pipefish".
Nudibranches
Those are awesome to watch! They are not very rare, as I often see them during dives. It exists hundred of different species and I can't really tell the name of each ones. They are not fishes but invertebrate. They are beautiful small colourful creatures. Nudibranches are underwater slugs, and I must say, much prettier than the on land slugs! Their name "nudi"=naked "branches"=lungs come from the fact that their lungs are outside the body. On the pictures can you see those things on the back ? That's their lungs!
Crocodile fish
First time I saw one. Crocodile fish have a complete camouflage with the rock they stay on. It's a strange fish because of his form and how much he is flat.
Stone fish
For me it is a stone fish, my boyfriend think it is a scorpion fish. This one looks completely like a rock. Being stone fish or scorpion fish doesn't change the fact that both are very poisonous if you touch their spines. It would give a you a very intense pain. Some scorpion fish will burn you skin while some stone fish spines could kill somebody. So touch only with your eyes !
Banded Snake Eel
I thought it was a sea snake, well known to be very poisonous, but it was actually a eel. It look similar but it not dangerous as the snake can be.
Some fishes are not so easy to identify, there is a huge amount of different species. Please if I have made a mistake about one of those strange ones, just correct me on the comments ! That's how we learn :)
I really advice Mozambique for people who like Africa, it's a very nice country to discover. I will write a few things about it in a future blog post.
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All pictures by Isabelle Sanfilippo, Copyright
Cheers :)