Cenderawasih Bay, Scorpion- and Lion-fish.

The bay of Cenderawasih is in West Papua. a Very remote location and great for whale sharks. However, apart from the Whale Sharks we did some good diving on the reefs, jetties and muck as well.

The video covers some of the Scorpionfish and Lionfish that we saw in Cenderawasih Bay. Lionfish also fall into the same family as Scorpionfish.

Paper Scorpionfish (Taenianotus triacanthus)
are highly variable in colour due to their habitat. They sway sideways in the current and from there the name “leaf fish”
for which they can easily be mistaken.

Paper Scorpionfish (Taenianotus triacanthus)

Devilfish or Devil Stinger (Inimicus didactylus)
Is really ugly. They have venomous spines in the dorsal fins. The lowermost 2-3 rays of the large pectoral fins are free and thickened, they are used to crawl and probe the ocean floor.

Devilfish or Devil Stinger (Inimicus didactylus)

Zebra Lionfish (Dendrochirus zebra) Pterois zebra
They have beautiful colours in their pectoral fins, almost like mother of pearl.
Spotfin Lionfish (Pterois antennata)
They have bluish, black blotches at the base of their pectoral finns and long thin rays.

Spotfin Lionfish (Pterois antennata)

Common Lionfish (Pterois volitans)
Their colours can vary from brown to gray to black, depending on their age and habitat.
The lionfish are all suction feeders, and this happens extremely fast. Even in slow motion the action is still blurred.
At night they float around like ghosts in the dark.

Goby attacks Syllid worm in Cenderawasih Bay

We recently went on a wonderful dive trip in Cenderawasih Bay. Which is in Western Papua, Indonesia.

This was filmed at the Fisheries jetty at Biak. Biak is an island in the North at the “entrance” to Cenderawasih Bay, which in it’s turn lies on the Eastern side of West Papua.

The worm is about 500cm long and the Goby about 3 cm long. Really a David and Goliath situation.

The Worm must have been scavenging in the Goby nest. The Goby moved extremely fast. Even in slow motion, it’s still too fast to see.

The worm seems to be of the Syllis sp.in the Syllidae family.

The Goby looks like a Shrimpgoby, but it is very difficult to identify it accurately. But, it is extremely fast. It would be interesting to know what happened in the following hours to the 2 creatures.