God's wonderful creation: CNY Day 1: Semakau South

Monday, January 30, 2017

CNY Day 1: Semakau South

It's the Chinese New Year again! And that also signifies another round of low tide adventures. :)

This super tiny snail that is only around 5mm or less was found by none other than our bionic Chay Hoon! The scientific name for this fellow is Cystiscus minutissimus. And it's also apt for the CNY season given that it is all orange.

We were blessed to have miraculously escaped the storm that surrounded us when we began the survey. After some drizzles, we enjoyed a rain-free field trip.

Unfortunately, we came across this freshly-laid long drift net that is probably about 500-600m long!

And many different types of marine life were trapped as a result- that includes fishes, crabs and even sea stars.

I managed to free this Kite butterflyfish (Parachaetodon ocellatus) and it was taking some time to recover.

What's unique of the southern Semakau shore would be that there are many Hell's Fire anemone (Actinodendron sp.). Despite the possible hell-like pain one can get from getting brushed by their tentacles, they do look pretty like flowers!

Another creature that is common in Semakau and not elsewhere would be this Dragonfish sea cucumber (Stichopus horrens). Can you spot the well camouflaged Common sea star (Archaster typicus)?

The Dog-faced water snake (Cerberus rynchops) made an appearance! They are common on this shore due to its proximity to the mangroves.

This snake is quite docile and shy and this made it possible for us to go quite close to this fellow!

Though the tide wasn't that low, I was able to still find one Knobbly sea star (Protoreaster nodosus). Good to know that they are still around!

Another pretty and charismatic critter would be this Noble volute (Cymbiola nobilis).This snail has a pretty fleshy body that is black in colour with bright orange spots.