Ornate Ghost Pipefish (5 images)

[stuny]

Pipefish are closely related to seahorses (you can see that by their heads). Some of the species are very complex, and have bodies that closely mimic benign things in their environment. The ornate ghost pipefish almost always swims (slowly) with it’s head down, very close to the sea bed. These little guys shown here are about 8 cm long. And, since several people have asked about my underwater photo rig, I’ve also included a picture of it. It consists of a Panasonic equivalent to a C-Lux, in a Panasonic enclosure waterproof to 40 meters of depth, attached to a bottom plate with an extension to hold a rigid upright for the flexible flash mount. The flash is an Inon D-2000 which fires as a slave via an optical cable to the camera’s built-in flash.

[azzo]

A continuation of magnificently captured images and also interesting to see the gear used.

Stuart,

Well done and thanks for sharing.

[TONTONTINTIN.123]

Stuart, superb series.

[roguewave]

Stuart, expertly done, including the underwater kit!

[stuny]

Ivan, Martin & Ben -

Thank you.

[michali]

Stuart- I couldn't agree more with what's been said above. Outstanding!
MIKE

[stuny]

Mike -

Thank you.

[psquared]

Stuart,

Great pictures. Thank for the explanations, too. It took me quite a while to see where the head and eyes were located, even after your explanation. I didn't take the long snout into account.

Peter

[stuny]

Peter -

Thank you. Today I think I'll post some photos of another sea creature with well camouflaged head -- frogfish.