Sorry - I don't even remember what all I did this week that I didn't get any new posts in, but here's another one from the Wakatobi trip.

I know I shared a slightly different version of this shrimp before, but I figured I would also share this version (which coincidentally is hanging from our walls in an 8x10" format) that has had a little post production work done on it.

Anya spotted this little girl (yes, I know it is a female) early in the one dive, but for whatever reason, no one else in the group got to see it. As soon as she pointed it out to me (and I figured out what she was pointing to!) I moved in and rattled off a ton of shots.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/100th sec at f/11.3. Image Stabilization on. ISO 3200 (Auto). Ikelite Housing and Port with Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Removed Color Cast in Photoshop Elements 8.0 (mouseover for original).

The Peacock-tail Anemone Shrimp (Periclimenes brevicarpalis) is only about 1.5" long and lives specifically on carpet anemones where in exchange for keeping the anemone free of parasites and potentially warning off some predators, it receives protection and free meals from the scraps the anemone misses. As I said, I know this is a female because they are much larger than the males - as you can see in the photo below (the male is towards the bottom right).

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/170th sec at f/11.3. Image Stabilization on. ISO 2500 (Auto). Ikelite Housing and Port with Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. No post production.

Unfortunately, this was the only shrimp we saw like this, and any others we saw I didn't manage to get good photos of. Which is a shame, really, because I am very fond of shrimp - especially these tropical ornamental kinds.

- Bill