The Noble Octopus

Date January 12, 2015

Our first dive of the year got off to a good start! With waters a chilly 27deg C, we were all reminded it was still the monsoon season. Despite this, diving is never off season in Singapore, and we are very lucky to be able to visit the reefs all year through. This blog post is accompanied by photos from Hantu Blog dive guide Joel Santiago who has been guiding with us for over three years and counting! Joel is a huge fan of tiny critters and has a keen eye for spotting the strange and unusual. Above: Flabellina rubrolineata

A year ago, Joel surfaced from a dive claiming he’d seen a mimic octopus and none of us believed him. It wasn’t until last month, when someone finally managed to get a photo of the mimic (above), did we all realise that Joel was indeed right! Joel spotted another octopus this weekend (below)! This time, it was hiding inside the shell of a volute.

There were also the usual suspects: nudis!


Hyselodoris bullocki. Yes, we had quite a bit of silt on the reef this weekend! But that didn’t dampen our dive!


Jorunna funebris, or, Cookies and cream, as Joel like to call them!


Despite Pteraeolidia ianthina being one of the most common nudibranchs to be encountered on our reefs, Joel has shared with us how he was so excited when he first saw them in Singapore waters because he’d never seen one in all his decades of diving all over the world! It helps put things into perspective when we hear stuff like that as it makes us realise that what we consider to be common may quite unique and special to the world!

There was also this shrimp on a whip.

Shrimp in the sand.

And the absolutely gorgeous Tozeuma aka. Sawtooth shrimp

Some vertebrates Joel encountered included this pair of White-faced Pipefish that is another recent new record for Singapore waters! Learn more about this new record!

Orange-spotted pipefish are among many species of pipefish that can be found in Singapore shores! The only way to see them all is to keep on exploring! We are delighted to introduce you to our reefs, or help rekindle an old relationship with Pulau Hantu. Sign up for one of our monthly dives today!

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