Egg Eaters and Cave Dwellers at Basse Espagnole

After diving The Tugboat, we took advantage of calm seas to dive Basse Espagnole. A large reef area that rises to 3.5 meters below the surface, Basse Espagnole is one of the best reefs in the area and features underwater caves, canyons and other interesting topographical features.

Shortly after descending, we found an unattended patch of fish eggs on a rock surface that was being greedily consumed by a variety of fish species. Nearby, a small cave was home to schooling silversides and glassy sweepers. A bit later in the dive, Stuart spotted a nurse shark sleeping under a rock ledge. A variety of other tropical species rounded out a fantastic dive.

Coral Polyps
Adult and juvenile Bluehead (<em>Thalassoma bifasciatum</em>), juvenile Clown Wrasse (Halichoeres maculipinna</em>) and Cocoa Damselfish (Stegastes variabilis</em>) eating fish eggs from an unattended nest
Saddled Blenny (<em>Malacoctenus triangulatus</em>) eating fish eggs from an unattended nest
Ocean Surgeonfish (<em>Acanthurus bahianus</em>), Cocoa Damselfish (Stegastes variabilis</em>), juvenile bluehead (<em>Thalassoma bifasciatum</em>), Bicolor Damselfish (<em>Stegastes partitus</em>), Juvenile Puddingwife (<em>Halichoeres radiatus</em>) and juvenile Princess Parrotfish (<em>Scarus taeniopterus</em>) eating fish eggs from an unattended nest
Initial Phase Redband Parrotfish (<em>Sparisoma aurofrenatum</em>), Ocean Surgeonfish (<em>Acanthurus bahianus</em>), Cocoa Damselfish (Stegastes variabilis</em>) and Juvenile Bluehead (<em>Thalassoma bifasciatum</em>) eating fish eggs from an unattended nest
Silversides schooling in a cave
Glassy Sweeper (<em>Pempheris schomburgki</em>) in a cave
Schooling Glassy Sweepers (<em>Pempheris schomburgki</em>) in a cave
Schooling Glassy Sweepers (<em>Pempheris schomburgki</em>) in a cave
Silversides schooling near a cave
Nurse Shark (<em>ginglymostoma cirratum</em>) resting under a ledge
Nurse Shark (<em>ginglymostoma cirratum</em>) resting under a ledge
Whitespotted Filefish (<em>Cantherhines macrocerus</em>)
Rock Beauty (<em>Holacanthus tricolor</em>) behind a cloud of Mystid Shrimp (<em>Mystidium</em> sp.)
Trunkfish (<em>Lactophrys triqueter</em>) hiding behind Common Sea Fan (<em>Gorgonia ventalina</em>)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 11:40 am and is filed under Fruits News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “Egg Eaters and Cave Dwellers at Basse Espagnole”

  1. Spencer Nagle Says:
    March 3rd, 2010 at 12:22 pm

    Cool pictures!

    I like the ones with the blue-headed wrasse and then the school of glassy sweepers!