Clam-tiful day...

Date: 2 May 2010

Location: Terumbu Raya

I was almost late for the trip! Waking up only at 0450am, I quickly changed and washed in 10minutes and met James downstairs to catch a cab to the boat... Soon, all of us were eagerly waiting to go on for the trip!

We were greeted by the red sunrise.... Not too hot and not too cold - just right for a long and slow low tide.... :) The highlight of the trip was probably the giant clam finds... We just can't get enough of them! Giant clams are one of the largest reef invertebrate and they are so colourful on the reefs. Their psychedelic mantle coloration is one of the main attractions on coral reefs. Unfortunately, these animals are facing dangers from fishing and poor environmental conditions all over the world, including our sunny island. Nevertheless, every clam found is important for my study. :)

Below here is a Tridacna squamosa, also commonly known as the fluted giant clam. This is such a unique fellow! Unlike the usual spotted mantle, this one exhibited striations along the mantle lobes (which is the fleshy bit)... (Spotted by James)

The next one here is the Tridacna crocea, affectionately called the boring clam... Not the kind of boring that you might think, they bore and sits in the coral rubble. They burrow! :) Hence, you only see the fleshy bits of this particular species.

Both clams are looking healthy, good size and good shell growth. Hope to see them in another year's time for their 'check up'... These local giant clams have been tagged and marked, so that in an event they have been removed, I will know. (I hope none though!)

Besides the two magnificent clams, I also took photos of some ascidians.. There will be an ascidians workshop that will be held on Tropical Marine Science Institute, St John's Island this coming May 17. Anyone interested can click on the link to find out more...

It is also the season of (evil) stinging nettle jellyfish. I got stung by it too... Blehs! However, watching the bell pulsate at a safe distance is such a surreal feel... The jellyfish keeps blobbing... To watch how it moves, see Andy's nice video of it...

My all time favorite little nemo! Look closely and you will see a baby commensal shrimp too! (Hint: Look for the orange-spotted tail then trail back to the body...)

One of the finds of the day by Chay Hoon was this endangered tiger cowrie. My second sighting of this elusive animal! Usually found in the deeper waters at Hantu.... Kok Sheng did a fantastic job of describing this animal so do click here to find out more about this cowrie...

Other slimy animals that I spotted were the the flatworm.....

and nudibranchs...

Unfortunately, I was carrying so many gear that I couldn't take many photos... But I saw the blue spotted rays, eel blenny, fishes darting back and forth.... Seagrass variety is pretty amazing! Almost like their neighbour (Pulau Semakau)...

To read up on how's the corals are doing, read Ria's and Kok Sheng's blog about how one of them almost started snorkeling! Our resident 'microscopic eye' spotter, Chay Hoon also shares all her molluscan finds...

What a great day out! I can't wait for the next few trips! :)