Abstract beauty in the sea.Vertigo in the feather, feather, feather
Spirals, and floods of color attract for me. When looking through a macro lens, the usual feather star transforms into abstract art at once. Owase, Mie, Japan
Macro: Feather star
Close-up : Spiral Pattern in Feather Star
Abstract beauty in the sea
Every diver knows that sea cucumber, sea urchin, starfish, and feather star, all belong to Echinodermata. Yes, I know also. Though, they have too much different shape each other. And each body is very fascinating.
For a while, let’s enjoy the beauty of various echinoderms.
The first is one is the spiral pattern of the Feather star.
Close-up : Brown-lined puffer キタマクラ
Canthigaster rivulata (Temminck & Schlegel, 1850)
Pretty but venomous
Brown-lined puffer is tiny pretty fish. It is often swimming around colorful soft coral woods. The Japanese name of this puffer is “KITAMAKUR”. KITA is north. MAKUR is a pillow.
In Japan, when people die, there is a custom of turning the head of the dead body to the north.
It means that you will die if you eat this fish, carelessly.
This fish is venomous like other Family Tetraodontidae.
The body of Brown-lined puffer is flatter than another puffer.
It is similar to an edible fish like the filefish. This sinister name is a warning that you should be careful not to make a mistake.
Macro : Chromodoris orientalis Rudman, 1983 シロウミウシ
Very simple but Beautiful
Chromodoris orientalis is feeding seaweed on a rock.
This nudibranch is commonly found at Owase. It is known as “Shiro-Umiushi=White sea slug” in Japanese common name.
Their fashion is very simple. So white body with black spots and orange-yellow fringe. That’s all.
Don’t you think it looks so stylish?
Macro :Messmate pipefish イシヨウジ
Corythoichthys haematopterus (Bleeker, 1851)
Tiny Pretty Doragon
It is seen at shallow coral reef.
Unexpectedly the swimming speed is fast.
It swims as crawling on the sandy bottom of the sea floor. The face with big eyes and long proboscis is like a pretty dragon in a cartoon.
Yap, Micronesia. Sept.1st.2016. -2m
Macro :Spider squat lobster オルトマンワラエビ
Chirostylus ortmanni Miyake & Baba, 1968
Spider squat lobster (Chirostylus ortmanni Miyake & Baba, 1968) on a branch of a black coral. -18m. Owase, Mie, Japan Jun 6. 2019
Macro : Painted tunicate クラベラ
Clavelina picta (Verrill, 1900)
“Clavelina Sphere”At Owase, Painted tunicate, Clavelina picta (Verrill, 1900) , can be seen here and there. I like the delicate creatures like this glass work.
The Painted tunicate colony was spherically attached to the bone axis of a Whip Gorgonian.Owase, Mie, Japan. Jun 6.2019
Macro :Tooth-edged chromodoris ボブサンウミウシ
(Chromodoris roboiGosliner & Behrens, 1998)
Now known as Goniobranchus roboi. Thanks, Ron Silver
Owase, Mie, Japan June 6, 2019 It was a small guy. About 2cm. -20m.
Macro : Ring sea anemones
Peronanthus sp3
I took this photo two years ago at Hitotsuishi point , Owase, Japan. Although, I checked the name of them on a lot of books or websites, I couldn’t have got it. And I gave up at that time. Last weekend, When I was selecting my photos, I find out photos of this anemones. this time, I asked FB page “ID Please?”. Then, only in one day, the answer was coming Thank you Joe Fish, and “ID please?”. I could to know the name of this beautiful anemone, and the fact they are living in the deep sea also.
According to Graellsia, 60(2): 143-154 (2004), Ring sea anemones seem to be more common at depths between 85 and 1500 m. Five different species of ring sea anemones are recognized, one described by Hiles (1899) as Peronanthus verrucellae, and the others named by us provisionally as Peronanthus sp1, sp2, sp3 & sp4. Ring anemones on this photo is Peronanthus sp3. It is said although sp3 lives in shallow water than the other, still, sp3 is found at 30-50 m. I took this photo only -18m. Wow, Owase is lucky place for taking underwater photography.
Close-up : Spot eye flathead ワニゴチ
Inegocia ochiaii Imamura, 2010
They look the same, but they are different.
Wow! It is Crocodile Fish (Cymbacephalus beauforti (Knapp, 1973)) ! Is it right? The answer is correct, and incorrect. This is Spot eye flathead (Inegocia ociaii Imamura, 2010). It is called “Wani-Gochi” in Japan. “Wani” means Crocodile. So, it can say “correct”. These two flathead is a very similar shape. Crocodile Fish has lappets on each eyeball. And has eyebrow above each eye. Spot eye flathead has lappets also, however, it doesn’t have eyebrows on each eyeball. Spot eye flathead is found in coastal water more south of Sagami-Bay in the Pacific side, more south of Wakasa-Bay in Sea of Japan side. Crocodile Fish is the fish that is seen more south, like Kyushu or Okinawa. So, the answer is incorrect. Anyway, when I find out a Sopt eye falthead, I’m fun. I can feel tropical even in the Temperate sea. Kajika, Owase, Mie, Japan. -18m
Macro : Sporochnus radiciformis (R. Brown ex Turner) C. Agardh
ケヤリ
When Spring has come, we can see the algae which have a head like a small Pom Pom Ball on the end of branches. This algae is popular as the background of a photo of fish. This is Sporochnus radiciformis (R. Brown ex Turner) C. Agardh. It belongs to Class Phaeophyceae, Family Sporochnaceae. It is a distributed Pacific side south from Kanto. It is called “Keyari” in Japanese. At the Edo era (1603-1868), when a lord traveled as a corp, decorated spear, named Keyari, is used as the mark of the corp head, so it is called Keyari as the common name. This algae is distributed in Australia also. Please tell me a common name in English. Kushimoto, Wakayama, Japan.
Macro : Shiho’s seahorse ハナタツ
Hippocampus sindonis Jordan & Snyder, 1901
The Maracot Deep
Looking at the seahorse, I always remember a scene from the old science fiction novel “The Maracot Deep (1929)”. This novel is the work of Arthur Conan Doyle, famous for the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The story is the adventure that marine scientists discover the sunken city Atlantis. I can’t forget is the scene where huge size seahorse eating eyeballs of huge halibut. What’s even scarier, the victim halibut have been sucked its eyeballs by the slender mouth of seahorse. So that I was a child age, it made scare my little heart. The seahorse of the photograph is a small size one called Shiho’s seahorse. This is about only 5 cm, tiny, cute, creature. However, if it would be over 10m….. I think stupid thinking. Lol. Owase, Mie, Japan. -20m
My Artworks 