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Can you see me? The Stony Coral - Galaxea astreata is a hard coral and occasionally, other Organism can be found living among them, for protection. Can you spot this one? Coral,Galaxea astreata,Mabul,Malaysia,Sabah,Stony Coral Click/tap to enlarge

Can you see me?

The Stony Coral - Galaxea astreata is a hard coral and occasionally, other Organism can be found living among them, for protection. Can you spot this one?

    comments (5)

  1. View Christine Young's profile
    Christine Young
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    Cool photo Albert. Is it the red thing? Or, the little, antennae-like projections in the upper middle?? Posted 7 years ago
    1. View Albert Kang's profile
      Albert Kang
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      Thanks, Christine.
      Its the 'red thing' which is a Pipefish. The antennae-like projections is also another organism that lives inside a dead polyp, that antennae-like thing is used to feed.

      Here is the picture of the Pipefish :

      Pughead Pipefish Bulbonaricus brauni - Braun's Pughead Pipefish is a small sized Pipefish, like a toothpick with length of around 5 cm and body thickness/width of only 2-3 mm. They are dark red to brownish in colour with super tiny white spots that are not visible with the naked eyes. They have a white patch on the face, this is similar to the tip of the tentacle/polyps of the Galaxea stony corals that they lives in, giving them good camouflage. They are usually found in pairs and similar to Seahorses, they possibly pairs for life and if not disturbed, will spend their whole life in the same Galaxea sp coral host.<br /> <br /> This pipefish is very difficult to take good pictures of, especially with a Compact camera as not only are they very slender in size (body width of around 2-3 mm), but they also lives in between the crevices of Galaxea stony corals of around 3-4 mm space. This corals have translucent tentacles/polyps, which not only the Pipefishes camouflaged well with, but also covers them from direct views. Braun's Pughead Pipefish,Bulbonaricus brauni,Fish,Mabul,Malaysia,Pipefish,Pugface,Pughead,Pughead Pipefish,Sabah
       Posted 7 years ago, modified 7 years ago
      1. View Albert Kang's profile
        Albert Kang
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        Christine, the 'antennae-like projections' is a Coral dwelling Barnacle :

        Nobia grandis - Coral Dwelling Barnacle Barnacle,Coral Dwelling Barnacle,Mabul,Malaysia,Nobia grandis,Sabah
         Posted 7 years ago
  3. View Flown Kimmerling's profile
    Flown Kimmerling
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    Very cool! Thank you for sharing! Posted 7 years ago
    1. View Albert Kang's profile
      Albert Kang
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      Thanks, Lisa for your appreciation :) Posted 7 years ago

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The Galaxea astreata

''Galaxea astreata'' is a large polyp stony coral of the ''Galaxea'' genus.

Info 5 0
Similar species: Stony Corals
Species identified by Albert Kang
View Albert Kang's profile

By Albert Kang

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Uploaded May 18, 2018. Captured May 18, 2018 11:15.
country flag of Malaysia Explore Malaysia 6,517 3,884 0
  • TG-5
  • f/6.3
  • 1/400s
  • ISO200
  • 18mm