Submitting a picture of a critter discovered outside of it's "endemic" home

[dianna912]

Sorry for the long title there but I figured I needed it to get the point across.

While diving in the Similan Islands, I was lucky enough to spot the Tapestry Shrimp, a beautifully colorful little guy that is supposed to be endemic to Myanmar! It was Island 9, at Breakfast Bend, if anyone wants to go looking. We do have a picture. It's not the greatest picture in the world, because we didn't really know what we were looking at, I just thought "cool, a polka dot shrimp" and my husband thought "good God, she wants me to take another picture of another creature in the back of a hole.

I have two shots, one is blurry and one is darker. The darker one has great detail but needs to be enhanced. I played with my brightness on my phone, but it probably looks silly to any pros.

Anyways, is there anyone I should report these to? I know Myanmar is close, so I wasn't sure if it would still be considered endemic to Myanmar or if they would change it to the region.

Also, I just realized the file size on these images is quite small. I need to pull them directly from the camera again, as I cannot remember how I got them on my phone. I think a lot of quality might have been lost in the process.

 

[drbill]

I have observed a number of species formerly found much to the south of SoCal in our waters over the past few decades. Geographic ranges are dynamic and my understanding is that the current in the Indian Ocean gyre would be be beneficial in transporting this species from Myanmar to the Similans.

Good spot!