This monitor lizard was making quite a bit of noise up in the tree. It must spotted me from the distance and wanted to get away as it suddenly let go and dropped to the sand, deftly landing on its feet. It proceeded to move away from me quite hastily.
There is quite a lot of things to see at Lazarus. The presence of coral and sponge usually indicate that the stretch of shore is a good place to explore.
Pectinia.
Faviidae.
Turbinaria.
Heliopora and sponge.
Soft coral and a fanworm.
Tiny blades of seagrass cover small portions of the shore at Lazarus. These look like Halodule and Halophila.
Polychaetes feeding. They pluck algae and retreat into their burrows instead of munching out in the open.
Phymanthus anemone.
Stichodactyla gigantea. Quite a few were seen.
Stichodactyla haddoni with two shrimps (Periclimenes brevicarpalis) on it.
Cerianthid. This was the only one I saw in the sand/mud area of Lazarus.
Spiral melongena (Pugilina cochlidium) eggs.
Lazarus has a good share of black lipped conchs (Strombus urceus).
Ria found at least 2 spider conchs.
Cute eyes of a spider conch.
Ria found this fantastic looking feather star.
Closeup of a filter-feeding arm of the feather star.
Dardanus lagopodes.
Holothuria leucospilota mouthparts.
Archaster typicus.
Filefish.
Over at the sandy crescent that is Seringat Kias, a reclaimed beach:
Unknown polyp. Possibly a cerianthid.
Mudskippers (Periophthalmus chrysospilos) tend to keep their distance.
So it is with some delight that they allow me to get closer.
And even closer.
Many moon crabs emerge after dark.
Climber crab hiding under a rusty drum.
First time seeing an active Actinopyga lecanora revealing its mouthparts.
Feeding away.
Diadema urchins. Swimmers beware.
Surprising finds at the jetty itself:
A rather large crinoid.
Sea fan!
Cave coral.
There was also a ctenophore and a very transparent sea jelly at the jetty, which were regrettably impossible to photograph properly with our limited equipment.
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