Reptillian Snake Eel (Yes, Anilao again)

[Marriard]

For me this was a satisfying image as I specifically was looking for this Eel on this dive. Dive site was Basura in Anilao, The Philippines.

This meant I looked at basically every rock on a rocky bottom from about 7' deep to 20' deep for 65 minutes until I found this one (although I stopped to photograph everything else interesting I came across as well.) The eye is the only give away - you can actually poke this eel and it STILL wont move or react.

So how do you find this sort of critter. Here is what I knew before I got in the water:

1. Such Eels exist. They have weird eyes, but otherwise don't move much
2. They live in the rocky bottom pretending to be one of the rocks in shallow water - looking above 20' was going to be a good strategy
3. They have been seen in the area before (specifically I had seen one at this dive site and photographed it previously)
4. The eye over-exposes and reflects light easily - so bracket a lot. Also the rocks at the site have a lot of white specks which can be moved

You can see a full gallery of this Eel at:
http://www.deepseaimages.com/dsilibrary/showgallery.php?cat=1254

Enjoy,
M

 

[alcina]

It's always so satisfying to find what you're looking for on a dive!

He's got great markings!

 

[ch0ppersrule]

In the Hawaii's Fishes book they call it : Henshaw's Snake Eel ( the crocodile snake eel)

Nice shots of the eel.

 

[Pinay_Diver]

Awesome shot, Marriard! You can see it snake-like eyes..This eel does not move an inch even taking several shots of it. Here's a photo of a snake eel I took of at Basura.

 

[Jamdiver]

Wonderful shot Marriard, glad you got to find what you're looking for.
That's always a satisfying feeling..

Love the markings and colouration, looks a bit smaller than most of the other eels i've seen...
Nice shot Celina .

M if I may ask, what's your rig??