Komodo surprised me by throwing up plenty of critters. There were plenty of nudibranchs, as usual, eggs included.
Some of them I still can’t identify though I see them occasionally.
Others, I think I know the names, like this spanish dancer (I think).
And then there are the ones that I’d seen for the first time in Komodo, and had no idea what they were.
There were some that were plain bulbous and gross. If anything can tell me what this is, I’ll be quite grateful. I think this is more of a sea snail of sorts because I think our guides said something about the shell being on the inside and the soft stuff outside.
There were also much prettier ones with delicate tendrils.
Then there were the crustaceans that lived in the delicate tendrils of corals, like this coral crab.
Others, like the orang utan crab, lived on cabbage coral.
And there were the hard to find whip coral shrimp, which was a beast to photograph. I remember this little critter took me 10 minutes and a good 20 bar of air to get a not-great photo.
And the highlight of the critters was Oscar the smashing mantis shrimp. This fella lived in a hole and whenever we’d visit, our guide would knock at the entrance of his hole. Before long, two little fish would rise out of the hole, smartly realising that the safest place would be in the cosy hole where Oscar couldn’t extend his smashing pincers.
Check out how Oscar would come out and peer at the outside world.
eat. drink. cook. travel. 