Christmas Eve on Big Sister's Island

24 December 2010 - It was nice to spend Christmas Eve with a group of fellow nature lovers on Big Sister's Island, away from the crowd of last-minute shoppers and revellers in town. So, what did we see on this peaceful and quiet island?

Plenty of Frilly Anemones (Phymanthus sp.) were found.

In contrast, this is the only Giant Carpet Anemone (Stichodactyla gigantea) which I came across today. But sigh, no anemonefish or shrimp were spotted on it.

This is not an anemone, but the Circular Mushroom Coral (Family Fungiidae). Saw quite a few of them today.

Spotted Black Flatworm (Acanthozoon sp.). This flatworm was huge, approximately 10cm in length.

A clump of seaweed? Look closely again. There's an Ornate Leaf Slug (Elysia ornata) hidden among the Hairy Green Seaweeds (Bryopsis sp.).

Is this a Turban Snail (Family Turbinidae)?

Two-spot Reef Octopus (Family Octopodidae).

I like the colours on this Blue-spined Swimming Crab (Thalamita sp.). Isn't it pretty?

This is the Red Egg Crab (Atergatis integerrimus).

And it's fellow poisonous cousin, the Floral Egg Crab (Atergatis floridus). I didn't see the most poisonous crab of Singapore this evening - the Mosaic Reef Crab (Lophozozymus pictor).

We saw many different fishes on the shore. This is a Flathead (Family Platycephalidae).

Filefish (Family Monacanthidae) hiding among the seaweeds.

Is this a Scorpionfish (Family Scorpaenidae)?

No idea what this is. Some fish perhaps?

And this is the best find of the day - a Tiger-tailed Seahorse (Hippocampus comes)! Kok Sheng found a pair of them clinging onto a sponge. =)

Land Hermit Crab (Coenobita sp.) residing in a large moon snail shell. Cute!

A cute little spider scuttles across our path as we made our way back towards the jetty.

Today's trip to Big Sister's Island is the last intertidal trip of the year for me. Looking forward to more wonderful adventures on our shores in 2011. Merry Christmas and a great year ahead everyone!

Back on Ubin

7 December 2010 - The memory of last year's trip is still fresh in my mind and here we are, one year later, exploring this stretch of shore again on Pulau Ubin...

Dark clouds loom ominously above us as we headed out towards the sea to look for marine life...

the friendly stray that followed us about as we explored the shore...

Alas! All we had was 15 minutes before the rain pelted relentlessly on us. Armed with our poncho and umbrella, we gamely continued with our exploration.

Despite the rain, we still saw many marine creatures! Such as this Thorny Sea Cucumber (Colochirus quadrangularis)...

an Orange Sea Cucumber ...

and many (and I really mean MANY), Thumbs-up Sea Squirt (Polycarpa sp.).

Drills and their egg capsules on the rocks...

A rather large (and very shy) Striped Hermit Crab (Clibanarius sp.)...

the prehistoric-looking Horseshoe Crab (Tachypleus gigas) with encrustations on its shell. Am really happy to find this as it has been a long time seen I last saw a live one...

and this is the more commonly seen, but quite hard-to-photograph Mudskipper. Mudskippers are actually fish that breathe with gills. When out of water, they breathe by retaining water in enlarged gill chambers. They can also breathe air through their wet skin!

A trip to Ubin (or Changi) would not be complete without a starry find. And we were not to be disappointed. We saw many Biscuit Sea Stars (Goniodiscaster scaber).

and a number of Cake Sea Stars (Anthenea aspera)...

What's so interesting about a sponge?

There's more to it than meets the eye. It's actually a Sponge Crab in disguise! Sharp-eyed Ria spotted it as the crab had given itself away by leaving two of its legs outside the sponge. =)

Towards the end of our trip, Kok Sheng found a pair of Lined Chromodoris Nudibranchs (Chromodoris lineolata) while flipping over rocks.

This is what it looks like when relaxed in a pool of seawater... This is indeed a nice surprise as this nudibranch is usually only found on our southern shores.

On our way back towards the jetty, Rene spotted this huge web with a rather large black spider on it. Don't you think the web is beautiful?

It was nice to be back exploring the shores after a long hiatus. Looking forward to more trips!