Underwater Animals

These are just a few of the underwater creatures we saw on our trip.

scorpion fish portrait Flathead Scorpion Fish (Scorpaenopsis oxycephalus)

This fish is poisonous. Do not step on him!

white leaf scorpion fish Leaf Scorpion Fish (Taenianotus triacanthus)

squid Squid (Sepioteuthis sp.)

transparent anemone shrimp Clown Anemone Shrimp (Periclimenes brevicarpalis)

There are many kinds of small shrimp. This one lives on a sand anemone.

hermit crab White-spotted Hermit Crab, Dardanus megistos

cowrie Panther Cowrie (Cypraea pantherina)

red squat lobster on fan Depressed spider crab, Xenocarcinus depressus

The crab is the same color as the sea fan he lives on. Look carefully!

decorator crab on feather hydroid Decorator Crab

spawning brown volcano sponges spawning sponge closeup Spawning Sponges

The visibility had been unexpectedly poor for several days. On the day after the full moon in November we could see maybe one meter. The reason was because the sponges were spawning! They were pumping gametes into the water at a great rate.

Back to Tanzania Photo Gallery Back

©2001, 2009, 2017, 2019, 2024 Mermaid Underwater Photographic. All Rights Reserved.

Contact us at mermaid@underwater.org.

Last modified 22 December 2024