Your most-unusual critter from the Andaman Sea

[Bowmouth]

Just curious what your most unusual critter find was in the Andaman Sea. Only ONE animal is allowed and NO animal may be mentioned twice.

I'll start:

Purple "Rhinopias Aphanes" at Black Rock in Myanmar.

 

[Kim]

Ghost pipe fish - several sites in the Similans and the south in April.

 

[jiveturkey]

Can we go broader than the Andamans? If so, I'll go with a Mandarin fish I saw at Mabul.

 

[OnTheSpot]

Seamoth.

Only ever seen it one time, which was in the Similan Islands about 5 years ago. Looks like a cross between a fish, a bird and an insect. There was a pair sitting on a rock for quite a while (I mean several weeks at least) on the dive site around Islands 5&6, which I called the Hideaway. I was freelancing on The Junk when I saw them, and recall when I got back on the boat after the dive, the tour leader Mick got very animated as (even with his X,000 logged dives) he'd never seen a seamoth and I had to explain exactly where they were. He'd just finished a dive but dashed off in the dinghy to find the seamoths! He loves his critters, does Mick.

 

[MoonWrasse]

I've not yet seen one, but here's some photos of the Rhinopias Aphanes:
http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/students/focus/raphanes2.htm
http://www.seafocus.com/species_rhinopias.html

Seamoth:
http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfacts/fish/plancifer.htm


For me, I've seen many that might be called unusual, however I notice unusual behavior as more notable, such as a ghost pipefish taking a dump and a wrasse gobbling it up an instant later.

 

[Bowmouth]

Can we go broader than the Andamans? If so, I'll go with a Mandarin fish I saw at Mabul.

Sorry, not valid! MUST be in the Andaman Sea ONLY (Part of the Indian Ocean off the West Coast off Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand.)

 

[Bowmouth]

Seamoth.

Only ever seen it one time, which was in the Similan Islands about 5 years ago. Looks like a cross between a fish, a bird and an insect. There was a pair sitting on a rock for quite a while (I mean several weeks at least) on the dive site around Islands 5&6, which I called the Hideaway. I was freelancing on The Junk when I saw them, and recall when I got back on the boat after the dive, the tour leader Mick got very animated as (even with his X,000 logged dives) he'd never seen a seamoth and I had to explain exactly where they were. He'd just finished a dive but dashed off in the dinghy to find the seamoths! He loves his critters, does Mick.

The correct name of that side (East side of Island 5-6) is "Morning Glory". Mick named the site years ago when he started working as dive crew on the first season of the Junk.
Those two Pegasus fish were there for quite a while but then they suddely disappeared and I've never seen any of them again on my dives in the Andaman Sea. They're fairly common in North Sulawesi though; in Lembeh Straits on a site named Nudi Retreat there are 4 pairs (!!) of them right now...

 

[Ringo]

Yes, Mick is an unusual critter - and now we are talking about a legend! What a knowledgable and fantastic diver he is.

 

[whitehead]

Surprisingly the slender seamoth is a guaranteed sighting on every dive at Koh Sac in Pattaya of all places but I digress - Burma Banks (Silvertip Bank) my first and only Midas Blenny.

MidasBlenny.jpg

 

[Bowmouth]

Surprisingly the slender seamoth is a guaranteed sighting on every dive at Koh Sac in Pattaya of all places but I digress - Burma Banks (Silvertip Bank) my first only Midas Blenny.

Nice critter! I've never really looked for (Midas) blennies while diving the Banks in Myanmar but may do so on future dives from now on. With so few sharks around on the Banks nowadays it's probably better there to look for smaller animals than just keep on staring into the blue...