Tag: owase

Cute young Reef fish

reef fish, underwater

Amphiprion clarkii (Bennett, 1830) Yellowtail clownfish

Yellowtail clownfish hiding between the tentacles of an anemone.
I create goods like T-Shirt, iPhone-cover and so on. Please visit my shop, by clicking this photo.

This pic, I shot a few years ago at Owase, Mie, Japan. Owase is a small city that belongs to the temperature zone, even though, the colorful tropic scenery under the sea.
Year after year, the seascape is reaching tropical, I feel.
When I started Dive in Owase, about 30 years ago, I couldn’t watch young Yellowtail clownfish. Yellowtail clownfish was the fish that visited from the tropical zone to the temperature zone and couldn’t overwinter so cold as “extinct migratory fish”.
Two decades years ago or so, We often watch adult Yellow clownfish in early spring. We were surprised to know that they were over winter.
And recently, We can see cute small Yellowtail clownfish easily.
It is or not concerned with the earth’s temperature rising, I don’t know.
I can only say that nature is great!

Location: Owase, Mie Japan

Rock Reef princess

shrimp, Uncategorized

Banded Coral Shrimp

Stenopus hispidus   (Olivier, 1811)

One stone is one of the popular diving points in Owase. It is a large monolith rock reef. Many kinds of soft coral are overgrown, and a flock of cardinalfish and colorful Anthias fishes entertain the diver’s eyes.
There are large and small cracks in this rock reef, and you can see shrimp and crabs.

Banded coral shrimp is common shrimp in such rock holes.
Beautifully colored shrimp decorated with red and white bands.
The Japanese name for Banded coral shrimp is Otohime-Ebi. Otohime is the name of a beautiful princess who lives in a fairy tale undersea palace. Ebi is shrimp. Contrary to its name, it is diligent and is known for cleaning large fish parasites.

The concrete block is an anti symbol of nature?

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Tree soft coral (Dendronephthya sp.)

I like Soft coral against the backdrop of sunshine.
It’s one of the symbolic scenery of the undersea in Owase.
It’s beautiful, elegant, mysterious.
It’s beauty in nature.
However, this soft coral is standing on the artificial fish reef.
It is made of a lot of concrete blocks.


The concrete block is an anti symbol of nature.
It was installed on the sandy seabed about 50years ago.
The time makes it keep changing from an artificial thing to the natural rock reef.
Thanks to the artificial fish reef, you can enjoy the colorful soft coral and many kinds of sea creatures here.

Please visit related articles about Owase
”Can you believe I took these photos in mainland Japan?”

Tsumaguro-hatanpo (Pempheris japonica Döderlein, 1883)

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Tsumaguro-hatanpo (Pempheris japonica Döderlein, 1883) swims between colorful soft corals. Owase, Mie, Japan.

Tsumaguro means a black chip in Japanese. There are black spots at tips of the dorsal fin and the anal fin. The English common name isn’t in Fish Base ( https://www.fishbase.se/summary/13021).

I took this photo at shallow water at HitotsuIshi Point. This point is one of the popular diving points at the inner bay. It is the point enjoy from the shallow like under few feet to the deep like over 100feet.
This point is a reef made from the big rock standing up from the sandy seabed about -60ft. Colorful soft corals cover those walls.
The sandy seabed is continuing gentle slope down to 100ft.
We can see the fantastic Gorgonian wrapper and Ring anemone on the way of that slope also.

Periclimenes Kobayashi

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Cleaner shrimp

Periclimenes Kobayashi (Okuno & Nomura, 2002)
This commensal shrimp finds easy on the tentacle of Dofleinia armata Wassilieff, 1908 which is a venomous sea anemone. Transparent with red spots and a white band. Eyes are impressive. The eyeball is in a transparent sphere and chasing my moving.
at Oobana point (-18m), Owase, Mie, Japan

Sun ball

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The scenery from under the sea

“How inappropriate to call this planet “Earth,” when it is clearly “Ocean.”
― Arthur C. Clarke

The sunny day of the scenery from under the sea is especially great. The bright sun ball can be seen on the surface at distance. Colorful soft corals are emphasized in the contrast of the deep blue water and white sunbeam. What a wonderful space it is! at Owase, Mie, Japan

The edge of the sea

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the bay entrance of Shirasama-beach point

I like the shallows. You can observe creatures for a long time in the warm sunshine. This is the bay entrance of Shirasama-beach point. It is a place where you can enjoy rocky, sandy, silt and various environments.

“The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place.” -Rachel Carson

Colorful Nudibranch

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Ceratosoma trilobatum (J. E. Gray, 1827) Nishiki Umiushi

Ceratosoma trilobatum (J. E. Gray, 1827)

This is a very common Nudibranch, but one of my favorite. This guy was hanging on an isolated small rock on the mud bottom. -18m. 26℃.
At Owase, Mie, Japan. The water is hotter comper with the ordinary year. Set, 26, 2019
This nudibranch is called Nisiki Umiushi as the common name in Japan.
Nishiki is a generic term for silk fabrics woven using various colored yarns. So, Nishiki often is used term to refer to vivid and beautiful things.

Article: 尾鷲　Owase

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The Under water flower garden

The Artificial Fish-reef

The Gyosho point is the garden of Marine flowers. Concrete blocs covered with many colorful soft corals. And it is a habitat for a lot of creatures. It is located south of the Kii peninsula. Mie, Japan.
The article linked (The web magazine TRiPE DiTOR) is in Japanese. But you can enjoy photos.

I introduced that place detailed also in Guide Book “New 50 Best Dives in Japan” (in English). On sale at Amazon.com

Macro: Narwal shrimp

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Plesionika narval   (Fabricius, 1787)

Useful Japanese common name “Okino-suji-ebi”

Okino-suji-ebi in Japanese

According to Sealifebase, “Narwal shrimp, Plesionika narval (Fabricius, 1787) occurs at depths of 10 to 900 m, is found between 200 and 400 m “. This photo was taken at Owase, -20m. Several places in Japan, Wakayama, Izu, This shrimp is found at not-so-deep-water （-20 to -40m） where we can visit with Scuba. Narwal shrimp is called Okino-suji-ebi in Japanese. Oki-no meaning ”at open sea” or “at the ocean”. suji is the line. ebi is shrimp. It is the useful name that we can understand easily the shrimp where lives and what shape.

Macro: Leopard Anemone Shrimp アヤトリカクレエビ

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Izucaris masudai Okuno, 1999

Leopard Anemone Shrimp and Gorgonian wrapper

Ayatori-kakure-ebi in Japanese

These days, Leopard Anemone Shrimps can be seen easily at Owase. Gorgonian wrapper anemone that the shrimps live has been known from over 20 years here. Though, as far as I know, Leopard Anemone Shrimps has been discovered within three years. Anemonefishes came to able to stay wintering also. Water temp may be coming up here also. Owase, Mie, Japan -20m