• Photo by Rantje Allen

  • Photo by William Tan

  • Photo by Rantje Allen

  • Photo by William Tan

  • Photo by Rantje Allen

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Tag Archives: dive gorontalo

Duncanopsammia peltata forms pagodas in Gorontalo

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Duncanopsammia peltata or pagoda coral form immense colonies in Gorontalo’s healthy waters.

Stunning Pagoda Coral Colonies

One of Gorontalo’s ancient and stunning coral formations is pagoda coral. Giant plates form spirals, hence the common name denoting pagodas. The colonies featured in this video measure over four meters across. The video is courtesy of @jhonheriano of Pertamina Dive Club.

Other colonies of this distinctive coral form single plates. Additional plates may take several centuries to form. In other coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific region, this coral forms pillars. That morphology has yet to appear in Gorontalo.

Descriptions of Duncanopsammia peltata

Duncanopsammia peltata
Corallites of Duncanopsammia peltata

The scientific name for pagoda coral is Duncanopsammia peltata. When we consulted coral experts, they asked for a detailed photograph of the polyps. These are distinctive in determining the species. Usually, corallites measure between three and five millimeters in diameters. However, those of the giant colony featured here measure almost one centimeter!

As with other corals, polyps are only found on the upper surfaces of the colony. They need sunlight and easy access to plankton brought by passing ocean currents. Sometimes, the corallites are embedded flush with the coral plate. However, other times they protrude above the plate like little bumps. Typically, the polyps are extended during daylight hours, ready to sunbathe and catch plankton. Their many arms can measure up to one centimeter in length.  

pagoda coral
Photo courtesy of @jhonheriano

Tiny single-cell organisms called zooxanthellae live inside Duncanopsammia peltata. They turn sunlight into food that they share with their host coral.

Colonies of Duncanopsammia peltata live in coral reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific region. They thrive just below the surface, down to a depth of about forty meters. The color is grey to light brown.

Ask us to show you Gorontalo’s pagoda corals when you make your dive reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving. 

Dead nudibranch startles divers

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Dead nudibranch is rarely seen. But one of our sharp-eyed dive masters spotted one along an unnamed section of coral reef.

A Black, Fleshy Mass

Miguel’s Diving staff are always looking for marine life to show to our diving guests. They are skilled in spotting small critters, as well as pelagics that swim past divers who are focused on the amazing coral here.

Recently, a dive master noticed something out of place in a small patch of white sand. The object looked black and fleshy, like the mantle of a clam. However, he knew that no clam lived there in the sand.

dead nudibranch
Dorsal side of the dead nudibranch

With a piece of broken coral, he probed the strange thing. It was clearly dead and lifeless. Upon closer inspection, it was clearly the dead body of a large nudibranch. Round holes remained where the rhinophores had been during life. Towards the back, the area where the gills should have been were completely torn. We have placed circles around the missing dorsal parts in the photograph.

Turning the dead nudibranch over on its back, he saw that the entire area of internal organs was entirely ravished. Only the fleshy body of the dead nudibranch remained.

An Expert Comments on the Dead Nudibranch

Everyone at Miguel’s Diving was curious to learn about this unusual sighting. None of us had ever seen a dead nudibranch before. We wanted to learn how this marine critter could have died. So, we contacted an expert. She is Prof. Dr. Heike Wägele of the Leibniz Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum. She kindly responded to our email.

belly
Ventral side showing missing interior parts

She speculated that the nudibranch could have experienced an injury to its back. As a result, fish began to nibble at it. Another alternative could be damage from a parasite. “Copepods usually sit close to the gill and perhaps this has also weakened the animal,” wrote Dr. Wägele. Sometimes, the nudibranch ages and dies naturally.

We also asked her why only parts of the dead nudibranch were eaten and not its body. She responded, “Usually these animals have toxic compounds accumulated in the body, mainly actually in the large body. But the organs are usually less toxic.” Also, the bodies of nudibranchs are full of spicules. Spicules are hard and spiny. They help support the body structure of marine animals that lack bones. Also

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, they make their bodies unpleasant to chew.

Once Alive

Given the extreme decay of the specimen, there is no way to know what species of nudibranch we found dead. However, its shape and size are similar to Ardeadoris egretta. Divers occasionally see this beautiful white nudibranch along coral reefs in Gorontalo.

For your chance to see a living nudibranch, please make your dive reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving.  

Flower urchin trembles with danger

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Flower urchin looks like a lovely ball of trembling flowers. However, those flowers contain highly toxic venom. This sea urchin’s maximum diameter is about 15 centimeters. It lives in areas of sand and rubble along coral reefs. It also inhabits areas of sea grass.

Beauty to Avoid

flower urchin
Flower urchin hiding in the reef

Although commonly known as the Flower urchin, the scientific name of this echinoderm is Toxopneustes pileolus. The genus name Toxopneustes means “poison breath.” And “skullcap” is the meaning of pileolus

, the species name. These names underscore the creature’s deadly possibilities.

Its toxins can cause a number of symptoms. These include breathing problems, muscular paralysis, and numbness. Such effects can render the victim disoriented. The combination can result in accidental drowning. Initial contact gives the victim an extremely painful shock. Then numbness and spasms start to travel through the body from the point of contact. Happily, accidental contact with this sea urchin is extremely rare.

Deceptive Flowers

Various projections cover a Flower urchin’s exposed surface. The most noticeable are the flower-like pedicellariae. These colorful appendages are actually jaws. Each jaw has three prongs. Moreover, the flower-like jaws have sensors that detect contact or proximity movement to the sea urchin. Any touch will trigger the jaws to contract. Then the jaws inject venom. To make matters worse, once the jaws are triggered, they can easily break free from the sea urchin. That means they stay embedded and will continually inject venom for several hours.

The flowers of this sea urchin can appear a pinkish or yellowish white. There will be a single lavender dot in the middle. These false flowers typically cover the short spines of the urchin.   

On the underside of the Flower urchin are double rows of tubular feet. These emerge along the ten segments of the urchin’s shell. In the center is the creature’s mouth, which contains five plates. These plates function as teeth that crunch food. Sea urchins forage along the bottom on algae, bryozoans and detritus. With the mouth facing the substrate, the anus faces the water column and any curious passing diver.

Flower Urchin Piled with Debris

To observe a Flower urchin, divers must keep a safe distance. Careful observation of the surface of this creature shows thin, translucent, and waving appendages that are longer that the trembling flowers of the urchin. These appendages are tubular feet that end in three claws. These are used to clear the urchin’s surface of debris.

Toxopneustes pileolus
Appendages of Toxopneustes pileolus

However, the urchin also uses these tubular feet to move debris from the substrate onto its top and sides. Scientists call this covering or heaping behavior. The tubular feet keep debris in place. The function or purpose of this behavior remains a mystery. Because divers think that a small heap of debris is simply rubble, most flower urchins remain unnoticed.

In the rare instances when we see a Flower urchin, our dive masters will warn guests first and then carefully show the beautiful creature. Afterwards, the dive master will use his stick to move debris on top of the urchin. This helps the urchin but also prevents accidental contact by anyone else passing by.

To dive with such caring dive masters, please make your trip reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving.  

Leopard sea cucumber self-mutilates

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Leopard sea cucumber is a beautiful creature of the ocean floor. However, divers should avoid touching its sensitive body.

Spotted Beauty

The Leopard sea cucumber lives in the eastern Indian and the western Pacific oceans. In the areas we dive in Gorontalo, it can only be found dependably at a single dive site. This sea cucumber lives in sandy areas, flanked by coral reef. Researchers say that it lives from three to almost forty meters deep. We usually find it between 15 and 18 meters here.

Leopard spots
Close-up of spots

Although research claims it can grow to 60 centimeters, those in Gorontalo measure only half of that length. Divers can easily identify the Leopard cucumber. Its spotted pattern is distinctive and unmistakable. The tubular body is grey but sprinkled with random rows spots. These spots are orange and edged in brown.

Avoid Touching

Leopard sea cucumber is highly sensitive. It considers touching, grabbing, or lifting to be a threat. When threatened, it will eject white strings. These elongate in sea water. They also become sticky. Scientists consider this behavior to be defensive.

These white strings are called Cuverian tubes after the French zoologist who first studied them. They are naturally attached to the sea cucumber’s interior respiratory system. When the Leopard cucumber feels threatened, it will contract its body muscles. This contraction is so great that it tears the cucumber’s interior. The contraction forces Cuverian tubes out of its anus. In this way, it self-mutilates.

Leopard sea cucumber
A Leopard sea cucumber sits undisturbed

The Leopard sea cucumber can regrow its tubes. However, this takes several weeks. So, divers should avoid touching this sea cucumber. The tubes contain toxins, which can cause skin irritation in humans. Interestingly enough, researchers are using toxins from the Leopard sea cucumber in cancer research.

Leopard Sea Cucumber in Ecology

This sea cucumber has several rows of tubular feet on its underside. It moves slowly across the sandy bottom. While doing so, it ingests sand and anything the sand contains. In this way, all sea cucumbers clean the ocean floor of detritus and other waste materials.

Moreover, its own waste is beneficial to coral growth. After internal digestion, it excretes calcium carbonate and ammonia along with clean sand.

Home for a Fish

Pearl fish live inside of some Leopard sea cucumbers. The fish’s scientific name is Carapus mourlani. It enters and exits the cucumber via the anus, usually tail first. A scientific study in Indonesia of Bohadschia argus, the official name for the Leopard sea cucumber, found fifteen pearl fish living inside a single cucumber!

Sometimes an Emperor shrimp will be living on the sea cucumber’s surface.

For your chance to see this beautiful creature in Gorontalo, please make your dive reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving.  

Healthy Coral Growth Evident in Gorontalo’s Reefs

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Healthy coral growth is a notable characteristic of Gorontalo’s pristine reefs. Hard corals, known as scleractinians, dominate the marine environment here. Situated in the center of the Indo-Pacific’s Coral Triangle, Gorontalo displays highly diverse and dense corals.  

Diverse Acropora coral colonies

One genus of Gorontalo’s hard corals is Acropora. Acropora coral colonies can form tables or branches

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, depending on the species. In fact, there are over 140 species of Acropora.

healthy coral with polyps
Acropora with coral polyp tentacles protruding

Scleractinian corals are actually animals that live in a surrounding calcium structure. The animal is a a coral polyp. It is shaped like a tube with a single opening at one end. Tentacles usually ring this opening and function to gather plankton for food. Waste is expelled through the same opening. These tentacles can protrude or retract from the surrounding structure. Moreover, these tentacles gather passing plankton to eat. The embedded end of a coral polyp is connected to the entire coral colony via shared tissue and a nerve net. Moreover, all Acropora species are colonial.

Most Acropora species share a common distinction. The individual coral polyp is encased in a small tube that projects from the common substructure. This is true whether the Acropora forms a flat table or forms branches. Upon close inspection, divers can observe this distinction. However, determining the species of an Acropora colony requires microscopic analysis of its calcium skeleton.

Ringed in White

For the most part, the coloration of Acropora colonies comes from algae living inside the tissue of coal polyps. These algae are symbiotic. By process of photosynthesis, they convert sunlight into energy. This energy is more than the algae needs, so the surplus is passed to the coral polyp host. Scientists suspect that algae provides up to 98% of the nutrients health coral colonies need to survive.

Most divers know that rising ocean temperatures can cause the algae to vacate its coral host. If the algae does not return, within a matter of weeks the coral starves to death.

healthy coral
Acropora table corals with healthy white edges

Some divers are shocked to see Acropora colonies in Gorontalo ringed in white. They conclude that the coral is experiencing dangerous bleaching. However

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, this white edging is actually indicates rapid coral growth. In fact, the colony edges represent new coral growth. Algae has not yet had time to assimilate into the new coral polyps on the edge of the healthy coral colony.

Healthy Coral Environmental Conditions

Gorontalo Province is free from chemical producing factories. This means water contamination is very low. Also, frequent wave action creates high amounts of oxygenation. Located just north of the equator, Gorontalo enjoys an abundance of sunlight. All these elements are necessary for healthy coral growth.

Gorontalo’s health coral reefs are waiting for you to enjoy. So, please make your dive reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving.

Reticulated puffers delight divers in Gorontalo

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Reticulated puffer is a clumsy, clownish swimmer that delights divers who chance to see it. This puffer lives throughout the Indo-Pacific tropics

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, including Gorontalo.

A Distinctive Network of Lines

reticulated puffer
Arothron reticularis in Gorontalo

The scientific name for this fish is Arothron reticularis, which is a fitting name. Reticulated means arranged like a net or marked like a network. Only the Reticulated puffer has the network of white lines around its face and belly. It sports white spots on its body. But so too does Arothron hispidus

, another puffer species that lacks the network of lines. The body color for Arothron reticularis range from brown to grey.  

Puffer fish have quite distinctive bodies. This includes tough skin and a dental plate in their beak-like mouth. What they lack is more notable. They lack fin spines and ribs. As a result, they can inflate their stomachs with water when afraid. Moreover, their skin, gonads, and liver contain two toxins. These are tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin. Some species are more toxic than others. Because different puffer species have similar body shapes, identification is most accurate when using color patterns.

So, the reticulated pattern makes the Reticulated puffer easy to identify.

Facing a Reticulated Puffer

Typically, puffer fishes are occasional in the marine environment. However, Miguel’s Diving staff know of one dive site in Gorontalo where Reticulated puffers are likely to be seen. Moreover, this species of puffer fish also exhibits the ability to recognize humans. Certain puffers at that dive site swim right to our dive masters.  

reticulated puffer smiles
A Reticulated puffer smiles for the camera

The face of a Reticulated puffer makes a delightful photo. Besides showing the distinctive reticulated pattern, the eyes are especially beautiful. Encircled with white rings, the eyes have brown irises and dark pupils. The eyes have great range of motion. This puffer fish smiles for the camera with its four teeth plates. These continually grow. The fish will keep them worn down by eating shrimps and crustaceans. On the snout and between the eyes are twin, forked tuffs. These are actually olfactory organs that allow the fish to smell its watery environment.

Divers will notice that the body of this fish is often sprinkled with sand. During the day, puffer fish often hide in sandy bottoms. They use their pectoral fins to throw sand onto their backs. Their maximum length is 45 centimeters.

Proper Behavior for Divers

Divers should never catch or grab puffer fish to make them inflate. This action frightens the fish

, causing stress. Like many puffer species, the Reticulated puffer is covered with defensive spines. These short prickles are only visible when the fish is puffed up in a defensive posture.

Although our Reticulated puffers know some of our dive staff, they do not like to be pursued with cameras. Instead, for guests who want a souvenir photo of this cute fish, we recommend approaching patiently. If the fish starts to swim away, leave it alone. Given time, it will return. A photographer’s random behavior that ignores direct pursuit of the fish will calm it down, allowing a closer approach for a photograph.  

For your chance to see this delightful puffer fish in Gorontalo, please make your dive reservations directly with Miguel’s Diving.  

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