Hunter-Seeking on Kusu Island

30 May 2009 - Was out this morning with Kok Sheng, his church friends, and two of my friends for a low tide trip to Kusu Island. This trip however, is a little different from my usual ones. Today's trip is a guided trip - Kok Sheng did the guiding, and I'm the hunter-seeker. My job is to find interesting marine creatures and put them in containers to show the participants. After which, the animals are released back to the original location where they were found.

Kusu, which means "Tortoise Island" in Chinese, is also known as Peak Island or Pulau Tembakul in Malay. It is situated about 5.6km from mainland Singapore.

The island is easily accessible with a 15 minute boat ride from Marina South Pier. Here's a shot of the lagoon, with the city skyline in the background.

Eh, what's so interesting about a pile of sand? See the smooth beige-coloured thingy in the middle? That's an Acorn Worm!

Acorn worms swallow mud and sand and process these for edible bits. At low tide, they stick out their rear ends at the surface and excrete coils of processed sediments. Called the cast, this is all that most people will see of an acorn worm!

And this is a Striped Hermit Crab. Hermit crabs do not have their own shells. Instead, they move to another empty shell when they outgrow their existing one. Every empty shell is a potential hermit crab home. Please don't take any shells home!

Spotted this shrimp quite by chance. It's really small, about 2cm, and it's almost transparent! I wouldn't have seen it if it hadn't moved.

I'm not really good at identifying creatures. Is this fish a Shadow Goby?

And a nice surprise... A four-armed Common Sea Star! Five-armed specimens are definitely more common, but six-armed specimens have been seen before too!

Spotted many swimming crabs in the lagoon's tidal pools... Here's a pair.

This fella is pretty aggressive. See its threatening pose?

And this is another type of crab - Hairy Crab! These little crabs are not the same as the large 'Hairy crabs' that are served in our restaurants as seafood.

There were many fanworms amongst the corals too. This is a Banded Fanworm.

And here's another type - an Orange Fanworm.

What's this chewed bubblegum-like thingy? This pinkish, flesh-coloured creature is actually a Beige Flatworm. Some people describe this unattractive flatworm as resembling more like mobile phelgm. =S

Also spotted is this Brittle Star. As its name suggests, brittle stars are really fragile and has a tendency to fall apart. It may purposely throw off an arm when threatened. Like a lizard's tail, the star's dropped arm may continue to wriggle to distract the predator while the brittle star escapes.

There are many different types of corals and anemones on Kusu Island. Here's a picture of a soft coral and a Magnificent Anemone.

Apart from soft corals, there are many different types of hard corals and carpet anemones too...

This is a Montipora Coral. Sometimes, seahorses can be found within such branching corals.

There are many types of sponges too...

But the best and most exciting find of the day would definitely be this False Clown Anemonefish nestled in a Giant Carpet Anemone!

This fish is probably more famously known as Nemo - a name coined from the widely popular Disney movie Finding Nemo.

This is only my second time seeing a Nemo, and this one is huge! It's probably about 10cm in length.

The Nemos on our shores are known as the False Clown Anemonefish. This is to distinguish it from another closely related fish called the Clown Anemonefish. Unlike the Clown Anemonefish, False Clown Anemonefish has black bands on the top edge of its dorsal fin. The natural distribution of these two species of anemonefishes do not overlap.

Today's trip has been really interesting. It feels great to be able to share our knowledge and interesting experience with others. Here's a photo of the group in action.

All too soon, the tide turned, and it is time to leave. Goodbye Kusu Island! We hope to visit again soon!