Alright - if you've been following along with my dive photography, you'll probably know that shrimp are among my favorite underwater subjects. This trip provided me another batch of really great opportunities to photograph shrimp. For the most part, nothing too flash (sorry, I will be saving the crème de la crème of the shrimp from this trip for another post), but some good shots of some shrimp that have been elusive in the past and some new shrimp that I've never seen in the wild before (but have looked at in the ID book and wanted to find!).

First up is one of those shrimp I've always wanted to see, and oddly enough I didn't realize I had seen one when I took this photo. I thought I was photographing a Banded Coral Shrimp (there'll be a photo of one of them further down) because of how this little guy was hidden up under this coral. However, what we actually have here is a Golden Coral Shrimp (Stenopus scutellatus) - the dead give-away is that pair of red spots on its front. Unfortunately it isn't the best photograph, and had I known what I was looking at I would have spent more time with this subject (but it was actually on the very first dive of the week, and I was still a little over-excited just to be back in the water!).

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/16. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

Next up is another shrimp that I've technically seen before, and I've gotten a really bad photograph of previously, and I technically only got photograph of its claws this time. It is an Orange Ghost Shrimp (Corallianassa longiventris) - with thanks to Andi for the updated version of the Reef Critter book for the ID - and it is quite the shrimp. Reading up on them now that I am home, I am wishing we had been more patient with them when we found them and tried to get them to come further out of their burrows for a better shot. Luckily, Mike figured out that they like to eat seaweed and was feeding the couple that we found which provided for the shots I did get...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/160th sec at f/25. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

Banded Coral Shrimp (Stenopus hispidus)	Red Night Shrimp (Cinetorhunchus manningi)	Orange Ghost Shrimp (Corallianassa longiventris)
Red Snapping Shrimp (Alpheus armatus)	Pederson Cleaner Shrimp (Periclimenes pedersoni)	Squat Anemone Shrimp (Thor amboinensis)

This last one was another I had seen in the book but was unimpressed with until I'd seen them in person. This shot below I captured on the first night dive of the week, and was really happy with the shot. Anya found me another one (well, technically she didn't know she found it for me, but I'll still give her credit) that I will share later as I have not yet processed the photos from that dive, but I am still happy with this shot and it certainly makes this shrimp look way cooler than it does in the ID book...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/160th sec at f/25. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

In case you're wondering (and if you're still reading, I know that you are), that is apparently a Two Claw Shrimp (Brachycarpus biunguiculatus) - I know, I pretty non-descript name for a fairly cool looking shrimp. I'm thinking Big Claw Tiger Shrimp would be a better name, but I'm hoping that name is already taken for something else that looks even cooler and I'll get the chance to find that some day in the future!

- Bill