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| May, 2001 October, 2001 |
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The region combining mainly waters of Sulu Sea and Celebes sea and surrounded by Borneo, Sulawesi and Philippines harbours the richest variety of marine species in the world. WWF identified this area as Sulu-Sulawesi marine ecoregion - the global center of marine biodiversity.
Lembeh strait - North Sulawesi Located just behind the tip of Minahasa Peninsula from Manado (2 hours drive from the airport), Lembeh strait is one of the most fascinating and enigmatic dive spots in the world. With a fishing port town of Bitung in the middle of the strait it doesn't promise much of a tropical paradise. In the first few moments after submerging into murky water of the strait and finding the bottom composed mainly of black volcanic sand I was asking myself: "What am I doing here? Is it some kind of a joke about the diving paradise?". This disappointment didn't last long. It was substituted with a ten-minute long photographic ecstasy but was replaced with another frustration - I ran out of film. In lembeh strait just on a few square meters you can find more bizarre creatures and various nudibranchs than during a week dive trip in other places. After two visits to Lembeh strait I am sure I will come back again (but with a digital camera - 36 shots of film are not enough for a dive in Lembeh). |
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| Banggai cardinalfish Pterapogon kauderni |
Pink anemonefish Amphiprion perideraion |
Round burrfish Cyclichthys orbicularis |
Map puffer - Arothron mappa |
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| Striped catfish Plotosus lineatus |
White ribbon eel Pseudechidna cf. brummeri |
Juvenile razorfish Xyrichtys sp. |
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| Brownbanded bambooshark Chiloscyllium punctatum |
Ornate ghost pipefish Solenostomus paradoxus |
Robust ghost pipefish Solenostomus cyanopterus |
Longtailed ghost pipefish Solenostomus armatus |
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| Pygmy seahorse Hippocampus bargibanti |
Spotted seahorse Hippocampus kuda |
Seahorse - Hippocampus sp. | Painted frogfish Antennarius pictus |
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| Painted frogfish Antennarius pictus |
Warty clown frogfish Antennarius maculatus |
Lembeh frogfish Antennarius sp. |
Frogfish - Antennarius sp. |
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| Juvenile lionfish Pterois cf. volitans |
Spiny devilfish Inimicus didactylus |
Ambon scorpionfish Pteroidichthys amboinensis |
Leaf scorpionfish Taenianotus triacanthus |
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| Leaf scorpionfish Taenianotus triacanthus |
Leaf scorpionfish Taenianotus triacanthus |
Cockatoo waspfish Ablabys taenianotus |
Short dragonfish / Sea moth Eurypegasus draconis |
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| Flying gurnard Dactyloptena sp. |
Stonefish Synanceia verrucosa |
Spiny flathead Onigocia spinosa |
Beaufort's crocodilefish Cymbacephalus beauforti |
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| Hinge-beak shrimp Rhynchocinetes durbanensis |
Commensal shrimp Periclimenes holthuisi |
Commensal shrimp Periclimenes tosaensis |
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| Commensal shrimp Periclimenes venustus |
Commensal shrimp Periclimenes sp. |
Thor amboinensis | Sand prawn - Metapenaeus sp. |
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| Dasycaris zanzibarica or Pontonides unciger |
Xenocarcinus tuberculatus | Lobster Panulirus cf. versicolor |
Elbow crab - Cryptopodia sp. |
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| Anemone spotted porcelain crab Neopetrolisthes maculata |
Box crab - Calappa philargius | Orang-utan crab - Oncinopus sp often called Achaeus japonicus |
Volute - Cymbiola vespertilio |
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| Marginated octopus Octopus cf. marginatus |
Needle cuttlefish - Sepia aculeata | Cuttlefish - Sepia sp | Flamboyant cuttlefish Metasepia pfefferi |
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| Chromodoris kuniei | Glossodoris cruenta | Hypselodoris kaname | Risbecia tryoni |
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| Nembrotha lineolata | Nembrotha cristata | Nembrotha kubaryana | Ceratosoma trilobatum |
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| Cuthona sibogae | Tambja sp. | ||
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Unauthorized use of any materials from this site without permission is prohibited. Read copyright info. Please contact webmaster@sergeyphoto.com for permission and licensing information. |
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