Category Archives: Gili Islands

Smallest fish in the world

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Scientists have discovered a fish living in forest swamps on the Indonesian island of Sumatra that is only 7.9mm long.

The species of fish belongs to the carp family and is called Paedocypris progenetica . It is the world’s smallest vertebrate or backboned animal.

Living in acid

The tiny, see-through Paedocypris fish have the appearance of larvae and have a reduced head skeleton, which leaves the brain unprotected by bone.

They live in dark tea-coloured waters with an acidity of pH3, which is at least 100 times more acidic than rainwater.

‘This is one of the strangest fish that I’ve seen in my whole career’, said Ralf Britz, zoologist at the Natural History Museum.

‘It’s tiny, it lives in acid and it has these bizarre grasping fins. I hope we’ll have time to find out more about them before their habitat disappears completely.’

Threatened swamps

The swamps were once thought to harbour very few animals, but recent research has revealed that they are highly diverse and home to many species that occur nowhere else.

In 1997 the peat swamps were damaged by large forest fires and they are still threatened by logging, urbanisation and agriculture. Several populations of Paedocypris have already been lost.

Fish discovery

The new fish was discovered by fish experts Maurice Kottelat (from Switzerland) and Tan Heok Hui from the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research in Singapore. They were working with their colleagues from Indonesia and with Kai-Erik Witte from the Max Planck Institute in Germany. Ralf Britz, at the Natural History Museum , helped analyse its skeleton and the complex structure of the pelvic fin.

Previous smallest

The previous record for smallest vertebrate was held by an 8mm species of Indo Pacific goby. The UK’s smallest fish is the marine Guillet’s goby, Lebetus guilleti , reaching 24mm in length.

Top 10 Most Endangerd Fish: Number 9

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Beluga Sturgeon

While the beluga sturgeon is popular for its fillets, its eggs, known as “true caviar,” are regarded as a delicacy. Native to the Caspian Sea, these ancient fish can grow to 15 feet in length, weigh more than a ton and live to be 100 years old. Due to the popularity of their eggs, they’re heavily overfished — typically with gill nets. This particularly problematic because this species that doesn’t reach sexual maturity until 20 or 25 years of age. In addition to fishing pressures, beluga sturgeon suffer from habitat reduction, having lost 90 percent of their historic spawning grounds over the past several decades. Because of these pressures, the IUCN classified the beluga sturgeon as endangered, and the population is expected to continue its decline.

Gill Nets

Gill nets are nets that sit like a fence on the ocean floor. When a fish that is tcoo big to swim through the net tries to swim back out, it gets caught by the gills.

For more information:

http://www.oceans5dive.com

Top 10 Most endangered fish: Number 10

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Altantic Halibut

Found in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Atlantic halibut is the largest of the flat fish species.

Boasting a 50-year lifespan, it can reach a length of 9 feet and weigh up to 1,000 pounds. But because this slow-growing fish doesn’t become sexually mature until it’s 10 to 14 years old, it’s particularly susceptible to overfishing. While Atlantic halibut are normally caught with hooks-and-lines, they’re often caught as bycatch in bottom trawl fisheries. The IUCN classifies them as endangered, and their numbers are not expected recover in the near future. This has prompted the United States to ban Atlantic halibut fishing in its coastal waters.

Facts about Fusiliers

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Fusilier
These streamlined blue and yellow fish are found around coral reefs where they feed on zooplankton.

Statistics
They are approximately 40cm in length.

Physical Description
This silvery-blue fish has a fusiform, streamlined body, long dorsal fin and a forked tail. Some species have yellow or pink markings. All have small eyes and a tiny, distensible mouth. Closely related to snappers.

Distribution
They are found in Indian and West Pacific oceans. Around the Gili Islands you will find them at Sharkpoint, Halik, Soraya, Deep Turbo etc.

Habitat
They inhabit coastal areas, mainly near coral reefs.

Diet
Unlike their predatory relatives, the snappers, fusiliers are plantivores. They form large, mid-water feeding schools.

Behaviour
These schooling fish are often found around cleaning stations or along reef slopes. At night they shelter within the reef.

Reef Clean Ups around the Gili Islands

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a href=”http://www.oceans5dive.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/P1000666.jpg”>

Another amazing underwater beach clean-up at Oceans 5 Dive resort Gili Air.
Every Wednesday, the Oceans 5 team mobilizes to clean Gili air’s harbor.
We include our lovely divers into the experience and give them the possibility to do something for the ocean.
Our ocean needs us!

Take action!

Every day tons of our daily life trash makes its way to the ocean.

Facts about Garden Eels

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Garden Eel (Heteroconger hassi)

Every diver usually remembers their first garden eel encounter. You are swimming near the edge of the reef, over the sandy bottom like Hans Reef Gili Air, Gili Islands, and you see a grassy area at the limit of your vision. As you move closer to the grass, it begins to shrink and eventually disappear! It turns out it is not vegetation at all, but garden eels! These animals use their rigid tail-tip to dig a burrow in the sand. They exude lots of mucus from the skin that helps cement the sand grains together so the burrow walls become stable. If danger approaches, they withdraw into their burrows, but when the potential threat disappears, the garden eels reappear.

They stretch out from their refuges to snag zooplankton (tiny animals like animal larvae, tiny crustaceans and eggs of various reef animals) that are pushed past in the current.

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Facts about Hammerheads Sharks

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The Hammerhead Shark

The Hammerhead Shark. Take one look at this amazing fish and you’ll know how it got its name. The scientific name for its hammerhead shaped head is called Cephalofil.

There are 9 different species of Hammerheads:
•Winghead Shark
•Scalloped Bonnethead
•Whitefin Hammerhead
•Scalloped Hammerhead
•Scoophead
•Great Hammerhead
•Bonnethead
•Smalleye Hammerhead
•Smooth Hammerhead

The largest of them all is the Great Hammerhead Shark. When fully grown, it gets to 6 meters in length and weighs 170 kilograms. Most other species only grow to 4 meters.

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Facts about Sail Fish

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Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus albicans)

Description

The Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus albicans) cuts a truly striking profile, taking its name from the large and distinctive dorsal fin which runs along the length of its body. When extended, the dorsal fin is taller than the width of the body

The Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus albicans) cuts a truly striking profile, taking its name from the large and distinctive dorsal fin which runs along the length of its body. When extended, the dorsal fin is taller than the width of the body, and, with its pronounced upper jaw that is modified into a long, circular bill, an elongate torso and a strongly forked tail fin, this fish is one of the most magnificent of all ocean creatures.

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Facts about Unicorn Tangs

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Interesting Facts About Unicorn Tangs

Unicorn tangs or Naso unicornis are members of the family Acanthuridae commonly refer to as surgeonfish. There are 80 species in 6 different genera in this family. All have one distinguishing characteristic. They have sharp blades at the base of their tails (caudal peduncle) on both sides of their bodies that are used in self-defense. Seventeen of the 80 species are unicornfish. Here we will be elaborating on the unicorn tang. They are endemic to the Indo-Pacific from Indonesia and Christmas Island westward to the Andaman Sea, south to the eastern coast of Africa and east to the Hawaiian Islands. When you are diving around the Gili Islands you will find the everywhere.

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Facts about Saltwater Crocodiles

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Earth’s largest living crocodilian—and, some say, the animal most likely to eat a human—is the saltwater or estuarine crocodile. Average-size males reach 5 meters and 450 kilograms, but specimens 7 meters long and weighing 1,000 kilograms are not uncommon.

Saltwater crocs, or “salties,” as Australians affectionately refer to them, have an enormous range, populating the brackish and freshwater regions of eastern India, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia. They are excellent swimmers and have often been spotted far out at sea.

Classic opportunistic predators, they lurk patiently beneath the surface near the water’s edge, waiting for potential prey to stop for a sip of water. They’ll feed on anything they can get their jaws on, including water buffalo, monkeys, wild boar, and even sharks. Without warning, they explode from the water with a thrash of their powerful tails, grasp their victim, and drag it back in, holding it under until the animal drowns.

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