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Pygmy Seahorse
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Pygmy Seahorse

by Clinton Bauder

Gallery: WildlifePosted February 13, 201517,432 views4 comments
This is Bargibanti's Pygmy Seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti). This species is actually one of the larger pygmy seahorses reaching nearly 2.5 cm in length although this one is definitely under 1cm. They live their entire lives living on a gorgonian sea fan and are specific to one species of fan only. I took this shot last week at the Wakatobi Dive Resort in Indonesia which is pretty much pygmy seahorse central. Despite being somewhat common there they are very difficult to take pictures of. The resort has strict rules about the number of photos you can take (5) per animal to avoid disturbing them with your flash (which is absolutely necessary to get a decent image). Getting focus right in the water AND getting the seahorse to look at you and not turn away at the same time while the whole fan moves in the gentle surge is quite tricky.

Nikon D800, Nauticam Housing, AFS-VR 105 Micro, 2x Sea and Sea YS-350 strobes.
ISO 100, 1/250th, f/22, strobes at half power.
This is a significant crop of about 1/3 of the original image.

Comments

4 comments
Comment posted by Ken Watkins on February 14, 2015 at 7:44 AM
Clinton,
This has to be amongst the smallest subjects I have ever seen, and also one of the strangest.
Under the circumstances it is a great capture :toast: :toast:
Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments
Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on February 14, 2015 at 9:25 AM
They are cute little fish. An interesting capture. There is a slight red cast to the overall image--it appears that way on my monitor. Perhaps there are more of those pink gorgonians in the background which explains the slight red color in the bg and that's OK. Other than that, this was a very difficult capture and like Ken stated "Under the circumstances it is a great capture". Well done :toast: :toast: .....................Jim
Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Sharp on February 15, 2015 at 3:17 PM
This is a stunning example of almost perfect camouflage adaptation! I asked my wife to "find the animal" and she could not. You have given us a good view angle with excellent detail. It would be wonderful and almost impossible, I suppose, to get one of these little guys more isolated from their protective sea fan. Thanks for sharing this unique image.
Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments
Comment posted by Sandipan Dutta on February 18, 2015 at 11:28 AM
Fabulous image and great execution. :toast:
Registered on March 9, 2009, 171 Posts, 493 Comments