Lionfish, sponge, moorish idol..

Shall be flying off to Sabah tomorrow morning...
And heading to one of the islands for some, oooh... diving...
Can't wait...

Meanwhile, have to be contented with looking at these pics... found this lionfish specimen at the housereef near a resort I went some time ago...

The vicinity was just all sandy... quite a bit like a dessert... sloping gently to the depths... and this guy was just there, relaxing... looking at me at the corner of its eye...

This cute little fellow is a different specimen... a so-called Spotfin Lionfish... it has two 'spears' rolling right out from its eye area... watch it now...

And they are telling me this is an animal? Actually, a sponge, so to say... humans used to harvest such sponges for the domestic and the beauty industry... they are supposed to have pretty immense water suction capability...

Ah... anthias... can never get tired of gazing at these little fellows darting here and there... they are such a pretty sight for the eyes...


And the speedy, speedy Moorish idol... wanted to shoot its characteristically long dorsal fin (?) as well but... forgive me...