Here is the seahorse-pygmy
ENCome on, a little article just to help you see the tiny and very shy seahorse-pygmy that I had photographed in Sogod Bay...since many of you have been unable to find him.
A tiny seahorse, hiding in the gorgonians...
This tiny "sea horse" lives hidden in gorgonians, whose appearance and color it imitates. L'Hippocampus bargibanti has little pinkish-mauve bumps, to better deceive its predators and... underwater photographers!
I could admire this one in Sogod Bayin the Philippines, in the south of the island of Leyte.
Without our Filipino guide Pedro and his lynx eye, we would never have been able to distinguish the creature, wrapped around its gorgonian branch. The famous seahorse-pygmy is about as big as the nail of my little finger...
Obviously, with my compact camera, focusing on such a small subject in the interlacing "branches" of gorgonian is a bit of a mission impossible.
Here it is again!
Updated 15 April 2008 : I add the magnified and processed image on the way back, below... The quality is not extraordinary, but we can distinguish it better, no?
Updated: May 2016
About eight years after this very first picture made at that time with my modest compact camera, I have made a lot of progress with seahorses... 😄 I invite you to visit the link below, with pictures taken at Canon Eos 7D, in March 2016, in Triton Bay (West Papua, Indonesia):
Well, today I'll settle for a raised eyebrow, but a very big one....
Despite your efforts, I still haven't located the seahorse, but the infinitely small conceals beauties that are probably inaccessible only to aquatic initiates, and my eye doesn't know how to see....mam
I can't see the pygmy seahorse either! It's not for lack of zooming though...
To Mam and Pascale: Wow! You really can't see it??? Well, I'll give you a picture where I surround it in pink...
Bizzzzzz
😉
Thank you!!! I wouldn't have found it!!!
That's what I was saying... it's not easy to find!
Lack of patience or sight... the less persistent leave without having seen even a piece of tail!
Good continuation
Pim's
@ Pim's :
That's right! It was one of my very first attempts to immortalize a pygmy seahorse. Since then, I've made a lot of progress.
I've learned to inspect gorgonians carefully, and to be patient, to take the time needed to get a good shot... You can find all my articles containing images of these charming "sea horses", by clicking on the keyword sea horse, in the right column.
🙄
So this is what you were looking for in Derawan during the muckdive?! Indeed, now I see what it looks like! 😯 😀
@Guilhem: That's right... Search for "seahorse" or click on the keyword seahorse on the right. Since this post, I've photographed a lot more of them, and I've managed to get some much better images!
😉