Razor Sharp Fish

A school of Razorfish in Mataking Island. Photo by Sal.

Razorfish are nearly transparent and flattened from side to side with long snouts and a sharp-edged belly. Hence the name razorfish :) A thin, dark stripe runs along its body. They swim in a synchronized manner with their heads pointing downwards. Adult razorfish can reach up to20 centimetres long, including their snout.

It’s sharp-edged belly of this fish gives it the name Razorfish. They have elongated, flat body and long snouts.

Interesting facts about razorfish:

1. They have transparent body… well nearly transparent. it has a a black longitudinal band along its body.
2. They have no teeth! Like nenek hehehe
3. They swim with their head down… except when they are hunting, then they will be horizontal.
4. When they fight, they will face their razor sharp belly towards their opponent.

Rare Giant Fish Found Dead

Mathew Nicholas with the sunfish

Rescuers have been unable to save a giant fish washed up on a Norfolk beach.

"I saw these massive fins waving in the water, I thought it was a seal," said Mr Denniss, 67.

"I got down and had a look and it was a massive thing. It must have weighed 30lb or 40lb, it took two men to lift it out."

"I've been sea fishing for 50 years but I've never seen one in my life," he said.

The fish died, despite efforts to revive it.

"It had been in our waters for too long, it was too cold," he said. "It was very disoriented and very weak, we did everything we could. We'd love to have kept it over the winter, fed it up and then taken it to somewhere on the south coast and released it next summer, but alas it wasn't to be."

Sun fish are occasionally sighted off the coast of Devon and Cornwall. Little is known about the species, which are named after their round shape. They are believed to inhabit deep water over the continental shelf and feed on squid and jellyfish.

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Sal: A friend of mine saw a sunfish in Mabul Island while diving. It is also called Mola-mola. It is indeed a weird fish :) would love to see it one day.

Some facts on sunfish:

1. It is the heaviest known bony fish. Adult can weight up to 1000kg!

2. They eat mainly jellyfish... massive amount of jellyfish to accommodate their bulk.

3. They are members of the same order as pufferfish, filefish and porcupinefish.

Mola Mola basking in the sun horizontally... hence the name sunfish

Look Before You Dive

He was very brave. I think next time he will think twice before jumping into the water...

See-through Cucumber - Creature of the Deep

An odd transparent sea cucumber, Enypniastes, was seen creeping forward on its many tentacles at about 3/4 inch (2 cm) per minute while sweeping detritus-rich sediment into its mouth. At the end, it bloomed into a startling curved shape and swam away to find another meal, which scientists recorded on video at roughly 1.7 miles deep (2,750 meters) on a 2007 voyage in the Northern Gulf of Mexico.

At 1.7 miles down (2,750 meters) in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, scientists found this transparent sea cucumber, Enypniastes, creeping forward on its many tentacles at less than 1 inch (2 cm) per minute while sweeping detritus-rich sediment into its mouth. The creature was discovered as part of the decade-long, international 14-project Census of Marine Life. Credit: Larry Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Starfish Graveyard

More than 10,000 starfish have died after being washed on to a beach along the Norfolk coast during a storm.

The creatures are thought to have gathered in the shallows to feed on mussels, before being swept ashore during high tide.

Nigel Croasdale, from Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary, told The Times the starfish would have only survived for a few hours without water.

"This type of thing may happen once a year, depending on the weather," he said.

"When the tide returns, the bodies are usually washed back into the sea."

A local resident described the scene on the beach as "a starfish graveyard".

Starfish – not as cute as you think

Lets us uncover the secret life of a starfish. First of al they are not fish but echinoderms, making their nearest relatives the scary-looking sea urchin and the dreary sea cucumber. Ok this that ‘dreary’ bit is just my personal opinion, my best friend is actually thinks they are cool…. Go figure ;) They should be called seastar then and not starfish because they are not related to any fish.

So a seastar can beat X-men member Wolverine in one thing. And that is its ability to grow back their own arms and can even regenerate their entire body from just one limb and a small portion of their central disc.

As well as arms, seastar have feet, eyes and mouths. A red spot at the end of each of arm allows them to sense light and dark, while hundreds of "tube feet" on their underside help them both to scuttle along the seabed and to grip their prey as they eat (their favorites are mussels, clams and snails).

And how amazingly this carnivorous creatures eat, ejecting their stomachs through their mouths, which are also located on their underside, and using enzymes to digest their food before sliding their stomachs back inside. It's not pretty: in an episode of BBC1's latest nature series Life, David Attenborough bid us watch as hundreds of starfish devoured a dead seal pup en masse.

Watch this amazing video and let me know what YOU think.

Starfish Feeding by BBC showing seastars and marine worms feeding on dead seal flesh.

Starfish cute? Well, their table manner might be horrid but their vibrant colors definately add to their charm.

Hard shots – the many many misses

I love butterflyfishes but I find them very hard to photograph. They are very shy indeed!

Butterflyfish has disc-like body. So if you are facing them from the front or from tail, then you will only see one very thin line HAHAHAHA very effective survival strategy!!

That’s how most of my photos are….. loads of misses. Here are some fail to pass shots that I took.

Ya the last photo there is not a butterflyfish... moorish idol. But they have same thin body bah.

The trick is to follow the fish slowly and get the rhythm of its movement. Do not make sudden movement as it will spook the poor fellow. Start clicking (furiously) when it is starting to move with its side facing you. Pray that your shot is focused :) well that’s it… simple huh!

Still not good enough... sigh.

Snorkel Sapi Island – Much better than Manukan

View of Pulau Gaya from Pulau Sapi. Sal's photo.

I thought the reef in Sapi is going to disappoint me because a long long time ago (more than 10 yrs) I thought that the reef in Manukan was so much better (it was my fave island). And when I discovered that Manukan reef is not as good as I remembered it to be, I figured Sapi will be much worse.

I put on my snorkeling gear and head out to sea. The first thing that came to my mind was “Damn, the water is so murky I can’t see more than 1m ahead of me.” Well of course its murky la, I was still in shallow water and wave action is stirring up the sand. A few fin kicks later, the water was clearer and I could see a lot of algae growing on dead corals. Hmm….

Razorfish spotted by Lan. Sal's photo

Then all of a sudden Lan and I was attacked by a school of piranha!! Yes yes they are freshwater fish but i swear these guys are just as bad. Seargentfish (mostly) and other herbivorous reef fishes attacked us. This is the effect of fish feeding. This is why Sabah Parks should stop this activity. Anyway,......

The piranha!! See how vicious they are??? Sal's photo

A few more kicks, and the bottom went down to a sudden steep slope and revealed to me an underwater paradise. Wow! This is what I have been looking for. The treasure he he he. The reef was smallish but it was covered with a variety of colorful corals. Some soft, some hard. I also saw some artificial reefs! (Sabah Parks effort to rehabilitate the reef… kudos guys :)

The artificial reef .... the piranhas were still swarming me. Sal's photo

The busy cleaners. Sal's photo

Lots of cool fishes living here and I love observing the fish cleaning stations. Those cleaner wrasse are cute when they are busy cleaning. I usually wonder if they have conversation with their customers much like a hair dresser talking to a client.

Moorish Idol. Sal's photo

Lan being the expert in discovering marine creatures in hiding, pointed out to me a boxfish :) Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to take a good photo of it. Only got the tail….. This time I saw more butterflyfishes. The common 8 banded butterflyfish were abundant and there were 3 other different species as well.

Boxfish's tail.... at least you can see from here why its called boxfish :) Sal's photo

The humbugs hiding in coral branches. Sal's photo

I was disappointed when I had to go back to shore…. 1 hour exploring this reef was not enough!!

On the down side, I think there were lots of debris floating around the water. I think there is some improvement that Sabah Parks can do to better manage our marine resources for our future.

Sal’s tip: We all should also play our part in this effort. Use less plastic and throw trash in proper bin. Remember, do not step on corals.

There is a part of the island that is all sandy bottom. Perfect for beginners learning to swim or snorkel. No corals to step on here… just watch out for stingrays hiding in the sand ;)

Overall, I give Sapi Island 2 thumbs up!!

Play Music Underwater

Want to listen to music while swimming or doing water sports?

Speedo mp3 in cool colors

The new NU Dolphin MP3 player is tailored for swimmers and water sports enthusiasts as it can be operated under water. This underwater device is waterproof on every part of its unit, from the headphones to the device itself. The device has a minimalist design – cylindrical in shape with all the buttons and the headphone jack located on the sides. The headphone jack comes with a special screw-in system that prevents water from seeping into the player. The headphones itself is also wrapped with a special non-woven fabric membrane to keep the speaker vibration plate dry. The capacity of the device can up to 2GB and its operating time is approximately eight hours on a single charge.

Playing musical instrument underwater is another matter. Here's a unique music show after the annual Underwater Music Festival in Florida... Chinese pop singer Huang Zheng (center) wearing a water-proof helmet with acoustic links leads other divers during an underwater music show in Dalian Sun Asia Ocean World in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province, July 14, 2007. Huang is also a qualified underwater instructor.