Juvenile fishes. Part 11 of my documentary, "Mucky Secrets", about the fascinating marine creatures of the Lembeh Strait in Indonesia. Watch the full 90-minute documentary at    • Mucky Secrets (full) - The Marine Cre...  

The sheltered conditions make the Lembeh Strait a successful nursery, and juvenile fishes can be seen everywhere. First we encounted the bright orange and white coloration of a young spotted parrotfish, Cetoscarus ocellatus. Previously, all specimens bearing this pattern were thought to be of a species commonly known as the bicolor parrotfish (Cetoscarus bicolor), but those are now deemed to be local to the Red Sea. In later life it undergoes a dramatic change in coloration.

Sweetlips are another family that change dramatically during their life cycle. We meet a juvenile painted sweetlips, Diagramma pictum, which bears bold stripes, and an adult which exhibits spots.

The juvenile harlequin sweetlips, Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides, mimics toxic flatworms and sea slugs, and the movement is confusing for predators. As it matures, the movement slows down and the pattern starts to change. It's coloration as an adult is entirely different from that of the young.

Juvenile yellowblotch razorfish, Iniistius aneitensis, a type of wrasse, are here too. This fish will dive head-first into the sand to sleep or if it is alarmed. The slim, bony head is optimized for this purpose. It prepares an area of sand in advance by loosening it to make it easier to dive into, and it is able to move significant distances under the sand before re-emerging. We see a white variation with two false eyespots on its dorsal fin.

Juvenile filesfishes are a common sight in the Lembeh Strait too. Their retractable dorsal spine deters predators. The name filefish comes from the rough skin. It is said that dried filefish skin was once used like sandpaper to finish wooden boats. In Australia they are known as leatherjackets. We encounter both juvenile and adult strapweed filefishes, Pseudomonacanthus macrurus.

There are English captions showing either the full narration or the common and scientific names of the marine life, along with the dive site names.

The full Mucky Secrets nature documentary features a huge diversity of weird and wonderful marine animals including frogfish, nudibranchs, scorpionfish, crabs, shrimps, moray eels, seahorses, octopus, cuttlefish etc..

Thanks to Kevin MacLeod of http://www.incompetech.com for the music track, "Mysterioso March", which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

Thanks to the staff and keen-eyed divemasters of Two Fish Divers (http://www.twofishdivers.com), for accommodation, diving services and critter-spotting.

The video was shot by Nick Hope with a Sony HVR-Z1P HDV camera in a Light & Motion Bluefin HD housing with Light & Motion Elite lights and a flat port. A Century +3.5 diopter was used for the most of the macro footage.

I have more scuba diving videos and underwater footage on my website at:
http://www.bubblevision.com

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Full list of marine life and dive sites featured in this video:

00:00. Spotted Parrotfish (juvenile), Cetoscarus ocellatus, Tanjung Kusu-Kusu
00:09 Spotted Parrotfish, Cetoscarus ocellatus, Fiji
00:29 Spotted Parrotfish (juvenile), Cetoscarus ocellatus, Tanjung Kusu-Kusu
01:03 Starry Goby, Asterropteryx semipunctata, Tanjung Kusu-Kusu
01:08 Painted Sweetlips (juvenile), Diagramma pictum, TK 1
01:18 Painted Sweetlips, Diagramma pictum, Hairball
01:25 Harlequin Sweetlips (juvenile), Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides, Aer Perang
01:35 Harlequin Sweetlips (sub-adult), Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides, Nudi Falls
01:43 Harlequin Sweetlips, Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides, Thailand
01:52 Yellowblotch Razorfish (juvenile), Iniistius aneitensis, TK 2
02:25 Undetermined Filefish (juvenile), TK 2
02:38 Strapweed Filefish (juvenile), Pseudomonacanthus macrurus, Retak Larry
02:51 Strapweed Filefish, Pseudomonacanthus macrurus, Nudi Falls
03:00 Strapweed Filefish, Pseudomonacanthus macrurus, Jahir