Stingrays & sharks. Part 4 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...  

In this video we look at the two most common stingrays in the Lembeh Strait. The bluespotted stingray (Neotrygon kuhlii) and bluespotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma), also known as the blue-spotted stingray, are both occasionally found. They both like to camouflage themselves by burying themselves in the sand, but the latter species prefers to seek the shelter of outcrops, and has a more circular shape and vivid coloration. Stingrays breathe through their spiracle, a hole just behind the eye.

Pelagic sharks; sharks that must keep moving to breathe, are not at all common in the Lembeh Strait. But the benthic (bottom-dwelling) brownbanded bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium punctatum), sometimes known as a catshark, is sometimes seen. Juveniles bear strong banding, possibly mimicking the coloration of some dangerous snakes and eels. These sharks can pass water over their gills while remaining still on the seabed. In adulthood the coloration fades to a more uniform gray. The shark has two sensitive barbels above the mouth that help it find prey when it hunts at night.

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 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

I post updates about my videos here:
  / bubblevision  
http://google.com/+bubblevision
  / nicholashope  
  / bubblevision  

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

00:04 Bluespotted Stingray, Neotrygon kuhlii, Hairball
00:12 Bluespotted Stingray, Neotrygon kuhlii, Makawide
00:33 Bluespotted Ribbontail Ray, Taeniura lymma, Critter Hunt
00:45 Bluespotted Ribbontail Ray, Taeniura lymma, Tanjung Kusukusu
01:08 Brownbanded Bamboo Shark (juvenile), Chiloscyllium punctatum, Aw Shucks
01:38 Brownbanded Bamboo Shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum, Aer Perang
01:52 Convict Snake Eel, Leiuranus versicolor, Jahir