Philippines Photo Gallery: Anilao sweetlips and coris

We took an underwater photography trip to the Philippines in December 2016.

Sweetlips have big fleshy lips. They eat bottom-dwelling invertebrates (bristleworms, shrimps, small crabs). Juveniles look very different from adults and have an undulating swimming pattern, possibly mimicking poisonous flatworms as a means of predator avoidance.

oriental sweetlips, Plectorhinas vittatus

sweetlips

striped sweetlips, Plectorhinchus lessonii

sweetlips

juvenile Harlequin sweetlips, Plectorhinchus chaetodenoides

juvenile sweetlips

juvenile oriental sweetlips, Plectorhinchus vittatus

juvenile sweetlips

Coris (rainbow wrasses) are found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. The yellowtail coris is native to the central Indian and western Pacific Oceans. It is found in areas that have a mix of sand patches, rubble, and coral. Adults have a bright orange anterior.

Juvenile yellowtail coris, Coris gaimard

juvenile sweetlips


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Last modified 21 February 2017