Part 8 of my documentary, “Mucky Secrets”, about the marine life of the Lembeh Strait in Indonesia.
This episode features some of the unusual fish found in the Lembeh Strait. First we encounter a pair of short dragonfish, Eurypegasus draconis, a type of seamoth. Seamoths are monogamous and bond closely with their mate.
We then meet the oriental flying gurnard. The juvenile oriental flying gurnard deters predators by appearing as large as it can. The false eyespots on its pectoral fins make it appear like a much larger fish from above.
The starry blenny, Salarias ramosus, is a type of combtooth blenny, of which there are some 400 species. By far the largest combtooth blenny is the hairtail blenny, Xiphasia setifer, also known as a snake blenny. It burrows its body into the sand, much like a snake eel.
Gobies represent the world's largest fish family, and one of the most varied. The yellow pygmy goby, Lubricogobius exiguus, traditionally seeks refuge in natural shelters such as empty shells. Here we meet a pair living in a discarded bottle.
Finally we encounter a toothy goby, Pleurosicya mossambica, a type of ghost goby, living on a sea pen, Pteroeides sp.. The sea pen receives neither benefit nor harm from the relationship, but provides the goby with shelter and a good spot to feed on plankton passing by in the current.
