The Flying Saucer At Sunset

Lenticular clouds (Altocumulus lenticularis) are stationary lens-shaped clouds with a smooth layered appearance that form in the troposphere, usually above mountain ranges. One was spotted in Singapore recently...

Eyes Of 30,000 Honeycombs

With 30,000 individual facets, dragonflies have the most number of facets among insects. Each facet, or ommatidia, creates its own image, and the dragonfly brain has eight pairs of descending visual neurons to compile those thousands of images into one picture...

A Kaleidoscope Of Colours, Shapes And Patterns

Spectacular and innovative in design, the Flower Dome replicates the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean regions like South Africa, California and parts of Spain and Italy. Home to a collection of plants from deserts all over the world, it showcases the adaptations of plants to arid environments...

Lightning Strikes, Not Once, But Many Times

Unlike light, lightning does not travel in a straight line. Instead, it has many branches. These other branches flashed at the same time as the main strike. The branches are actually the step leaders that were connected to the leader that made it to its target...

Are You My Dinner Tonight?

A T-Rex has 24-26 teeth on its upper jaw and 24 more on its lower jaw. Juveniles have small, sharp blade-shaped teeth to cut flesh, whereas adults have huge, blunt, rounded teeth for crushing bones. Is the T-Rex a bone-crushing scavenger?

Symbiosis Of A Snapping Kind

9:36 PM  , ,  

North-East Coast
Singapore
January 2013

Alpheidae is a family of Snapping Shrimp characterized by having asymmetrical claws, the larger of which is typically capable of producing a loud snapping sound. Other common names of these species include Pistol Shrimp or Alpheid Shrimp. The shrimp are considered to be a major source of noise in the ocean, and can  interfere with sonar and underwater communication when in colonies. (Wow!)
    
A closer look at the Snapping Shrimp. 
Some of the crevices are barely big enough for it to slide out of...

They can be kinda hard to spot as they are often well-hidden with burrows in rocks and on the seabed itself...

Note the little triangular portion on its big claw that appears to be a "fixed back" broken piece? Don't play play, that is the part that snaps shut to cause a loud "Tiak!" sound audible from several metres away. The blast stuns prey like tiny fish and cracks the shells of small clams. It is also used to warn off predators and intimidate rival snapping shrimps.

Merlion Wayfarer spotted two really big ones in a rock pool nearby...

They were of a drab grey colour with one being visibly darker than the other. Were they courting?
    
A small fish was spotted darting around these burrows. Merlion Wayfarer did wonder if these were friends or food...
  
Some Snapping Shrimp species share burrows with Goby fishes in a symbiotic relationship. The burrow is built and tended by the Snapping Shrimp, and the Goby provides protection by watching out for danger. When both are out of the burrow, the Shrimp maintains contact with the Goby using its antenna. The Goby, having the better vision, alerts the Shrimp of danger using a characteristic tail movement, and then both retreat into the safety of the shared burrow.

The symbiotic relationship between the Snapping Shrimp and the Goby (Cryptocentrus Leptocephalus, Slender-Lined Shrimp-Goby) is seen here... 

The Goby hides in the Shrimp's burrow and keeps a look out... 

It exits the burrow and surveys the surroundings with its tail still in the burrow...

A claw is spotted. An unwary observer may think that the poor Goby will soon be the Shrimp's next meal...

When given the go-ahead, the Shrimp slowly comes out of its hiding place... 

It heads straight from some debris outside its doorstep, with its antenna in close contact with the Goby...

Effortlessly it moves a twig half its size with its smaller pincer claw...

That out of the way, it retreats back into its burrow. 
At the same time, its antenna is still in contact with the Goby...
 
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A Fish Called Toad

7:15 PM  , ,  

North-East Coast
Singapore
January 2013
 
Toadfish (Batrachoididae) are really scary. The first you see of them in murky waters are their two red eyes gleaming back at you. But then, sometimes, you may not even see the two eyes. Maybe only one. Like a tiny red ruby.

Toadfishes are usually scaleless, with eyes set high on large heads. Their mouths are also large, and often decorated with barbels and skin flaps. They are generally drab in colour, and range in length from 7.5 cm to 57 cm. The ones found at our reefs are generally smaller, with a size of 5-15 cm for the ones spotted here in the sightings today...
Spot the Toadfish...

Because they exist in murky water and are often hidden under stones and rocks, there is a tendency to mistake them for other dangerous fish like Scorpionfish and Stonefish. A good guide to tell them apart can be found on Wild Singapore.

Toadfish are not venomous. However the spines on its back and its bite can be painful if inflicted.
A clearer look at the nasty spines on its back...

Males make nests, and then attract females by "singing", that is, by releasing air by contracting muscles on their swim bladder. The sound has been called a 'hum' or 'whistle', and can be loud enough to be clearly audible from the surface. This behaviour, and its look is probably how it got its name.

The Toadfish is an ambush predator. They tend to be omnivorous, eating sea worms, crustaceans, mollusks and other fish. It waits motionless for its prey to wander by. Prey that comes near enough is sucked into its expandable wide jaws and usually swallowed whole.

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Bristles That Sting

3:03 AM  ,  

North-East Coast
Singapore
January 2013
  
Bristle Worms (Polychaete) are segmented worms belonging to the phylum Annelida (segmented worms). They are found in all oceans from shallow intertidal reefs to deep depths. They live on or burrow into sand, mud, shell debris, rocks and coral rubble. Some eat their way through muddy sediments, some eat algae and others are accomplished predators. Their common predators are small fish, crabs and predatory snails.

Found commonly in beaches with stones at low tide... 

"Worm" is a common name which applies to a "shape" rather than a particular phylum or class of animals, much as "slug" applies to much more than opisthorbanch molluscs. Bristle Worms have bodies that are divided into segments. Except for the head and last segment, all the segments are generally similar. Each segment has a pair of flattened extensions called parapodia. These appendages are usually branched at the ends and covered with bristles, called setae. These bristly appendages are sometimes used to move (much like a centipede does) and to burrow.

Although Bristle Worms are not aggressive, they bite when handled, and the bristles can penetrate skin. These bristles contain poison and drop off easily, even in the water around them. The Bristle Worm bite or sting may cause inflammation, burning, swelling, numbness, redness or pain.

A magnified view which shows the fineness and fluroscence of the bristles...

More photos are available on Merlion Wayfarer Goes Green's Picasa at :

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Brittles Under Stones

2:24 AM  ,  

North-East Coast
Singapore
January 2013

Brittle Stars belong to the phylum Echinodermata and and sub-class Ophiuroidea which has about 2,100 known species, of which 300 brittle star species can be found in shallow tropical waters. They get their name from their ability to drop off their arms, for example, when grabbed by a fish. A new arm will regrow. Although often found on Singapore shores, Brittle Stars are seldom seen as they are active at night and shelter under rocks, beneath the sand and in even on other animals such as sponges.

Two Brittle Stars were spotted within close proximity of each other 
under some stones by the beach at low tide...
  

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