Pics of the tough-to-spot, tough to find and the rare.

[ColoDale]

Pederson Shrimp top - not very rare but still can be hard to find. Lower - Batfish

 

[iamrushman]

very cool and very interesting...thanks for sharing such great photos.

 

[cicopo]

Until I think of anything else that fits here I've got this Batfish which I almost walked right past on my way out to test my new camera while snorkeling at the Grand. I would say it was only a few yards from shore in just over 3 feet of water.

And my friend Pedro Pablo (with Blue XT Sea) called me over to see this sponge he calls "Monkey Face".

 

[deepsea21]

Cicopo.. The rare Monkey Sponge! Fantastic.

 

[jlyle]

This thread got me thinking about rare and unusual critters in Cozumel waters.

Frogfish, many species of sea slugs, gaudy box crabs, viper morays, and batfish come to mind. At times some rare creatures like pipehorse are common, others absent or rare.

I need to look around for some photos.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Try this, Discosoma, just north of Puerto Abrigo in shallows. Only known spot in Cozumel.

 

[cicopo]

I guess this belongs here even though I put it in the Favorite Photos thread. They are a rare sight while diving. It was taken on Barracuda at roughly 60 feet down just a bit before our dive ended in 2011

 

[deepsea21]

Harlequin Pipefish

Scorpion fish - just a cool photo

Black Blinney

White Blinney

Both playing "hard-to-get"

Tiny furry crab. I know, I know... No molesting the sea life! I was fining along running my fingers through the sea grasses and this critter jumped on to molest me. Had little "hooks" on the tips of his legs and I couldn't shake him off so he crawled all over my hand until I "convinced" him to get back on some sea grass.

 

[deepsea21]

Purple Crowned Sea Goddess. If I ate this would I start seeing and hearing weird things?

 

[Gdog]

Here is an old photo of a Pipefish Seahorse