click on the thumbnail image to see the original larger image
blackeye goby Rhinogobiops nicholsii in its refuge, next to cup coral. These gobies defend their territory, do not flee from the diver, & shelter in a refuge.
juvenile sheephead Semicossyphyus pulcher, a wrasse which swims with its pectoral fins and not its tail fin. These are an elusive juvenile fish to photograph, a difficult & frustrating subject, flitting about, fleeing. I keep trying....
strawberry anemones Corynactis california among a kelp holdfast, which is the rooting structure of a Macrocystis kelp plant, stretching to the surface above me. You can see the arms of a brittle star, at middle right, which shelter in the kelp holdfasts.
a filter-feeding featherduster polychaete worm (lower left), among strawberry anemones Corynactis california, and filter-feeding purple encrusting bryozoans
a handsome cabezon Scorpaenichthys marmoratus, which can live up to nineteen years
a Tritonia festiva sea slug on blue encrusting sponge
proliferating anemone Epiactis prolifera, on Macrocystis pyrifera kelp blade float