Painted Frogfish Antennarius pictus This orange frogfish yawns as a snack goes down the gullet, beyond those sharp teeth. He was waiting for prey -- until someone blundered by. The small white frilly object, just about where his right eyebrow would be, is his lure, useful for bringing curious small fish into range. I like to think of an image showing the starship Enterprise being sucked into his mouth. Somehow his Latin name, Antennarius pictus , sounds perfect for an alien g

Crinoids often have resident shrimp; maybe they always do, because the shrimp are usually hard to find: they are well-camouflaged and like to hide.

Whip-Coral Goby: Bryaninops yongei Whip-coral gobies are common in the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and the Western and Central Pacific. They usually live in male-female pairs on whip coral (AKA wire coral). They are small and well-camouflaged, but tend to remain still once they are found. They're good subjects for photography! This pair decided to hide on the other side of the whip coral after about 5 minutes; the erect dorsal fins in the image below show that they are ready to j

Wire coral Crab: Xenocarcinus conicus Xeno crabs spend their lives strolling along a particular wire coral, like colorfully dressed flâneurs . Like many of his species, this individual has extended his red-and-white camoflage by attaching a few yellow coral polyps to his shell.