Wonders of the sea, the harlequin ghostpipefish

Another amazing creature of the ocean.

Their scientific name is solenostomus paradoxus, also known as the harlequin ghostpipefish.
They are unique, elegant and extremely beautiful.
You can find them in the Western Pacific Ocean and Indian ocean. But also in the Red Sea.

You can usually find them hidden in colorful coral or feather stars, where they camouflage themselves very well in order to protect themselves from predators.

The harlequin ghostpipefish grow approximately to 12 centimeters and can be found at dephts from 5 to 30 meters.
The harlequin ghostpipefish can vary in colour from brown, black, dark red, yellow or even transparant.
They hang upside down the majority of the time, simply because this is how they feed.
Because they are relatively weak swimmers, they tend to stay within very small territories.

They are a master of camouflage because their bodies look more like coral or seaweed and because they are also not very big. They are hard to find.
Many divers swim past, without realizing they have just spotted an intriguing fish.
I don't know how often this happened to me.
But I've been lucky a few times to find this lovely fish.

So let's go diving. There is so much to see.