These pictures were made during 25 dives on the southeast coast of the Philippine island Negros and the neighbouring Apo and Siquijor Island. We stayed 13 days at the El Dorado Beach Resort, listened to the all-day sound of neighbour's fighting cock and dived with Sea Explorers. The dive sites were very interesting and included walls, coral gardens, sand, seagrass meadows and wrecks. I used a Nikon Coolpix 990 digital camera in a UK Germany case and a Subtronic Gamma strobe. See also the pictures made by my dive buddy Roli Barmettler.
Fig. 1: A nice colourful scorpionfish lying on the ground, well covered with its many fringes — Nikon Coolpix 990, f=19mm, 1/125s, f/7, Negros/Philippines, 13 January 2004Fig. 2: A nudibranch of type Phyllodesmium Kabiranum — Nikon Coolpix 990, f=19mm, 1/125s, f/7, Negros/Philippines, 13 January 2004Fig. 3: Polyps of a coral — Nikon Coolpix 990, f=19.6mm, 1/125s, f/10.1, Negros/Philippines, 13 January 2004Fig. 4: A little decorator crab in a soft coral — Nikon Coolpix 990, f=21.3mm, 1/125s, f/10.6, Negros/Philippines, 13 January 2004Fig. 5: A little coral hermit crab with big antennas peeping out of a hole in a coral. — Nikon Coolpix 990, f=21.3mm, 1/125s, f/10.6, Negros/Philippines, 13 January 2004Fig. 6: Two nodibranches of type Nembrotha Lineolata with a pretty smiling face — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 7: In the resort where we stayed there was a fat japanese guy with small round eyeglasses. He looked like this pufferfish. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 8: A white christmas tree or tube worm sticking out is trail of his tube. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 9: A female ribbon eel. Males are black and old females are yellow — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004 Nikon E990; Δt=1/125 s; f=21.3 mm; f/6.7; ISO 100; 13 January 2004 14:34:07Fig. 10: A dwarf lion fish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 11: A sea cucumber (Neothyonidium magnum) licking its tentacles — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 12: Surface of a brain coral — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 13: A ghost pipefish imitating a coral twig — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 14: A nudibranch (Pteraeolidia ianthina) — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 15: Two flatworms of type Pseudoceros Scintillatus — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 16: Underwater scene with a barrel and two sea urchins in seagrass near the beach of Eldorado Beach Resort — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 17: A photo of Marlin, Nemo (on the right side in the background) and two clownfish aunts — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 18: A sea cucumber eating dirt with its tentacles — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 19: A gorgony in blue water. I wish I had a fisheye lens and an underwater model — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 20: A yellow-lipped sea snake seizing its prey — Nikon Coolpix 990, Apo Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 21: A black frog fish trying to imitate a sponge on a coral — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 22: A green pufferfish on a sea grass field — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 23: A seagrass pipefish hidden in seagrass — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 24: Underwater reef scene with white tube sponges — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 25: Underwater reef scene with feather stars — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 26: A scorpionfish waiting for its prey — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 27: A giant sea turtle with a remora on its back. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 28: Underwater reef scene with a lonely coral on the sand — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 29: A swarm fish hiding in protective coral twigs — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 30: The skew face of a flounder — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 31: A flounder with a surface like the underground sand — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 32: Seahorses are very slow moving and were perfect photo targets if they wouldn't always turn their back towards the camera ... — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 33: A flatworm — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 34: A sea squirt — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 35: A white-eyed moray eel — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 36: A christmas tree spiral worm in a stone coral. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 37: A skunk anemone fish. Luckily I was wearing my dive mask and did not smell him :-) — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 38: A giant murder shell — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 39: A pufferfish. Their face always reminds me on the famous french oldtimer Citroën 2CV. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 40: A transparent Commensal Shrimp with a bunch of eggs inside. Clown fishes were attacking me and bit me in my hand while I was taking this picture. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 41: Surface of a coral — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 42: A shell in a stone coral. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 43: The spiral ends of christmas tree worms. They exist in many beautiful colours. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 44: The two spiral ends of a christmas tree worm. They exist in many beautiful colours. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 45: A dusky anemone fish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 46: A lizardfish lying on a coral — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 47: A batfish. In the background one of the bow nets used by the native people for catching fish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 48: A shiny snail-shell with the reflection of my underwater strobe — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 49: Four blue damsel fishes and a coral — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 50: A clownfish peeping out of its home anemone. Don't get too close! Some of these cute little fish may bite. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 51: A lionfish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 52: A multibar pipefish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 53: A white-eyed moray eel — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 54: A shrimp which looks definitely better without cocktail dip sauce. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 55: An orange spotted dragonet (lyra fish) — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 56: A banded cleaning shrimp — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 57: A "Jar Jar Binks" fish or more commonly know as Blue Spotted Sand Diver (Trichonotus setiger). — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 58: A Roli Tongue Fish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 59: A sea feather on sand — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 60: A pack of small striped eel catfish. It's fun to observe them rolling over the sand searching for food. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 61: A small fish with a imitated eye on its rear end — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 62: A pufferfish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 63: A peacock grouper with a cleaning wrasse escaping from a diver with a camera. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 64: A blue pufferfish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 65: A nudibranch of type Phyllidia Varicosa — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 66: A blue-fin travelly — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 67: A group of bigeye travellies — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 68: A little twig crowded with corals, sponges and sea squirts — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 69: A royal angelfish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 70: Two Moorish Idol Fish eating from a coral — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 71: A nudibranch. Looks like a Nembrotha Milleri. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 72: A lion fish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 73: Reef scene with an orange and a blue sponge. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 74: A sea turtle awaken by a nosy photographer — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 75: A sea turtle soaring through the water against the current. I had to speed up very quick to get it from the front and not as usual from behind. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 76: The turtle is keeping up. A diver in the background already went out of air and is breathing from his buddy's tank. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 77: A fish over the tentacles of a coral. The tentacles open and close always like a hand, grabbing plancton out of the water. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 78: A nudibranch of type Nembrotha Kubaryana — Nikon Coolpix 990, Siquijor Island/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 79: A ghost crab within some corals — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 80: A hawkfish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 81: A lion fish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 82: Two white-eyed moray eels — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 83: A nudibranch of type Thecacera Picta — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 84:Melibe Mirifica, of the Thetydae family. This nudibranch is hunting like a vacuum cleaner for little crabs on the sand — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 85: A baby lion fish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 86: A fish in a seagrass field — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 87: A fish in a seagrass field — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 88: A cute green seahorse. I photographed it in a shallow seagrass meadow with an unusual method because my air tank was almost empty and I had not enough lead. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 89: Another cute seahorse — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 90: A pinkbar partner goby with their blind shrimp which is digging a hole while the goby is watching out for enemies. If an enemy gets too close, the fish gives a signal to the shrimp and both disappear in the hole. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 91: A nudibranch. Possibly a Magnificent Slug (Chromodoris reticultata). — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 92: A Commensal Shrimp on a anemone. This time my dive buddy played with the aggressive clown fishes so that I could take pictures without being bitten. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 93: Two banded boxer shrimps — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 94: A group of sweepers — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 95: A black anglerfish hiding under a rock. Unfortunately it didn't want to sit on the top, posing for a good photograpy — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 96: A fimbriated moray with a banded boxer shrimp. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 97: Sand dunes under water — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 98: A swarm of jackfish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 99: A bignose unicorn fish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 100: A bluespotted stingray tries to cover itself in the sand. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 101: A bluespotted stingray — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 102: A goatfish searching with his tentacles for food in the sand. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 103: A yellow ribbon sweetlip fish. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 104: A swarm fish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 105: A green-coloured sepia with raised tentacles — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 106: A black-yellow striped fish is hiding between algae on sand. I haven't found what species it is. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 107: Isn't he cute? A yellow little hairy frogfish, looking like an indian chief in the wind — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 108: Another hairy frogfish, hidden in a bunch of algae. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 109: A hairy frogfish, hidden in a bunch of algae. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 110: A snail plowing through the sand. On its house there are polyps, probably a kind of an anemone or a coral. Note the smears of water coming out of its trunk. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 111: A lyre fish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 112: A cute little white sepia hiding under a leaf — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 113: This funny looking fish is a gold-bar sand-diver (lat. trichonotus halstead). From time to time they are spreading their big yellow pectoral fins and three long dorsal fin extension. Probably for showing off for the females in the background. They reminded me a bit on Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars. Unfortunately the image quality is very poor. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 114: A little green nudibranch — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 115: This funny looking fish is a gold-bar sand-diver (lat. trichonotus halstead). From time to time they are spreading their big pectoral fins and three long dorsal fin extension. This one has black pectoral fins, other ones have yellow. Probably for showing off for the females in the background. They reminded me a bit on Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars. Unfortunately the image quality is very poor. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 116: I was first thinking that this is a tiny scorpion leaffish, but it is a juvenile cockatoo waspfish. Thanks to Thomas Ehrensperger for pointing this out. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 117: Two nudibranches — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 118: Diving into the lion fish ship wreck. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 119: A little decorator crab on a soft coral — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 120: A ship wreck — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 121: A ship wreck with lion fish and diver. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 122: A group of three sea urchins — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 123: A fish in a seagrass meadow — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 124: A green filefish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 125: A family portrait of a anemone, two types of clown fishes and a porcelain crab — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 126: Close-up of the porcelain crab which was trying to hide under an anemone. This picture was taken in shallow water (about 3-5m) and swell was moving me forth and back and the crab was covered and uncovered. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 127: Underwater reef scene — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 128: A group of yellow fin snappers — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 129: A big red snapper. Hope this one didn't end o a plate. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 130: A harlequin sweetlip. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 131: Underwater reef scene — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 132: Two splendid garden eel peeping out of the sand. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 133: A pretty scorpionfish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 134: A spiral coral — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 135: A false cleanerfish (Aspidontus taeniatus) is peeping out of a pipe. This fish looks like the common cleaner fish and imitates its behaviour. But instead of cleaning the client it bites off a bit of the client. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 136: A lionfish — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 137: Two gobys on the sand — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 138: Underwater reef scene in shallow water — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 139: Two nudibranches of type Chromodoris Quadricolor, nickname: pyjama nudibranch — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004Fig. 140: A white anemone on black sand. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004 Nikon E990; Δt=1/125 s; f=8.2 mm; f/7.0; ISO 100; 15 January 2004 07:27:39Fig. 141: A decorator crab on the sand — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004 Nikon E990; Δt=1/125 s; f=12.1 mm; f/6.4; ISO 100; 15 January 2004 07:41:17Fig. 142: A "Jar Jar Binks" fish or more commonly know as Blue Spotted Sand Diver (Trichonotus setiger). — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004 Nikon E990; Δt=1/91 s; f=21.3 mm; f/4.2; ISO 100; 19 January 2004 04:06:34Fig. 143: Looks like a razor wrasse peeping out of the sand. — Nikon Coolpix 990, Negros/Philippines, January 2004 Nikon E990; Δt=1/125 s; f=19 mm; f/4.4; ISO 100; 25 January 2004 07:54:06