Cozumel Underwater 3 ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

Cozumel Underwater 3

Cozumel - Giant Crab — Now we're on the first night dive. A "Giant Crab" *Mithrax* (?) related to northern Spider Crabs.

Cozumel - Yellow Stingray — Yellow Stingray *Urolophus jamaicensis*

Cozumel - Stoplight Parrotfish — A sleeping Stoplight Parrotfish *Sparisoma viride*

Cozumel - Slipper Lobster — Slipper Lobster *Scyllarides nodifer* or
Sculptured Slipper Lobster *Parribacus antarcticus*

No claws, no spines, no teeth, no camouflage.
No fangs, no barbs, no bristles, no poison.
No strength, no speed, no brains.
You really have to wonder how they survive.

Cozumel - Common Atlantic Octopus — Common Atlantic Octopus *Octopus vulgaris*

Cozumel - Punta Sur — Punta Sur. Going into the hole.

Cozumel - Mostly French Grunts — Mostly French Grunts *Haemulon flavolineatum*

Cozumel - crab — Another crab, oddly out in the open during the day.

Cozumel - French Angelfish — French Angelfish. I think these are the most majestic of the Angelfishes. Not as gaudy as the Queens, and a lot bigger.

Cozumel - Queen Triggerfish — Queen Triggerfish *Balistes vetula*. Headin' for the hills - I'm surprised I got this close. ( Photo is cropped - you can guess the range from the colors. )

Cozumel - Blue Tang — Blue Tang *Acanthurus coeruleus* and Squirrelfish *Holocentrus adscensionis*

Cozumel - Almost — Almost (Queen Angelfish)

Cozumel - Sharptail Eel — Nighttime again. Sharptail Eel *Myrichthys acuminatus*

New Developments in Artificial Reefs

The Pauline Marie sinks slowly on the Atlantic City Reef.

By Evelyn DeWitt Myatt & Bill Figley, 1986

It's hard to imagine anything that could have looked more forlorn than the rusty old freighter whose proud seagoing days were a thing of the past. Floating idly at her berth awaiting her fate, she was a victim of nature's ravages that had left her beautiful only in the eyes of her old captain and crew. The Pauline Marie, however, was not destined to be the victim of a cutting torch that would turn her into a tangle of scrap steel. Instead, she was acquired by the New Jersey Artificial Reef Program and went down with dignity as an artificial reef in March 1985. She now provides continuing services from her watery grave in the Atlantic, some twelve miles off Atlantic City, and her appeal to marine life is undeniable. Her interior compartments now shelter fish and crustaceans; her decks now provide substrate for mussels, soft corals, and plant life; and her newfound productivity has put delicious seafood on many tables.

Cozumel Underwater 3

Cozumel

Artificial Reefs History

New Developments in Artificial Reefs