New Jersey Scuba Diving

Cozumel Underwater 2

Cozumel - Threespot Damselfish — Threespot Damselfish *Pomacentrus planifrons*

Ferocious, territorial, extremely pugnacious, and fortunately only four inches long. In the background is the tentacle of a Giant Anemone Condylactus gigantea .

Cozumel - French Angelfish — French Angelfish *Pomacanthus paru*. Now my collection is complete.

Cozumel - Smooth Trunkfish — Smooth Trunkfish *Lactophrys triquiter*. These are not very trusting - this is the best shot I was able to get all week.

Cozumel - Yellowtail Damselfish — Yellowtail Damselfish *Microspathadon chrysurus*

Unfortunately, the shot is clouded by condensation on the camera lens. The blue spots are incredibly intense, like LEDs. Lettuce Coral at upper-left, Common Brain Coral Diploria strigosa at lower-left.

Cozumel - Giant Anemone — Another Giant Anemone close-up. This and the next picture seem to suffer from some sort of bad camera or strobe setting.

Cozumel - Flamingo Tongue — Flamingo Tongue *Cyphoma gibbosum*. A snail that feeds on Sea Fans *Gorgonia* and Sea Rods *Plexaurella* ( as it's doing in this picture. ) Pity the colors didn't come out.

Cozumel - gunboat wreck — Looking over the bow of the gunboat wreck.

Cozumel - Red Finger Sponge — Wow, that red really hits you after all that blue. Alright, I admit I diddled with the colors a bit. Red Finger Sponge?

Cozumel - Blue Chromis — Blue Chromis *Chromis cyaneus*. The little guys are often the hardest to get - by the time you line up the shot, they're gone!

Cozumel - lobsters — A cave full of "lobsters". These aren't real lobsters though - lobsters have claws! These are some kind of insect I think. Yellow Boring Sponge *Siphonodictyon corraliphagum* above.

Cozumel - Chromis — Close up - more Chromis.

Cozumel - Rock Beauty — Another close-up. The yellow tail in the center of the picture belongs to a Rock Beauty *Holacanthus tricolor* - a small and very evasive type of angelfish.

Cozumel - Ocean Surgeon Fish — Ocean Surgeon Fish *Acanthurus bahianus*

Cozumel - Deepwater Lace Coral — Deepwater Lace Coral or Sea Fan *Iciligorgia schrammi*

Bryozoans

Bryozoans are colonial animals of uncertain evolutionary descent. They may be related to freshwater rotifers. Bryozoans are found in the lower intertidal to subtidal zones, attached to a firm substrate, and also in brackish water. Individual animals are too small to see with the naked eye.

Bryozoan growth forms range from encrusting, forming coatings on hard surfaces, to bushy. An entire colony may bear a superficial resemblance to a hydroid colony, although bryozoans are internally more advanced than cnidarians. Bryozoan colonies grow to 3", and are occasionally larger.

More: Bryozoans ...