Where: Koh Yang / Tarutao National Park / Thailand
When: April/2017
Water temperature: warm
Visibility: Good (10-15 meters)
Main attractions: Hard coral reef
Duration: approximately 30 minutes
This was the last snorkeling of the day trip from Koh Lipe to some of the Tarutao National Park islands (after Koh Jabang and Koh Hin Ngam).
The island was not too far from Koh Lipe:
Some nice fishes were there. The place had islands of hard corals in the sand. The hard corals were very diverse and healthy. Here is a photo of the common scenario:
Brain Corals
The brain corals were beautiful, I remember seeing at least 4 huge ones.
Funnel Coral _ Montipora sp.
There was a good amount of Montipora corals there, but these purple ones were very special:
Table coral _ Acropora latistella
The perfect refugee for damselfishes, mostly the lemon damsels.
Staghorn Coral _ Acropora sp.
Saw a few of them there.
Behn’s Damsel _ Neoglyphidodon nigroris (juvenile)
This little fish was swimming alone near some funnel corals, very nice black-and-yellow striped colors.
Bicolor blenny _ Ecsenius bicolor
One of the most beautiful blennies in my opinion. Only saw it here and for a short time. They use to stay still on the corals until you come close.
Bowtie Damselfish _ Neoglyphidodon melas
An all black damsel, looks like a shadow fish. Not a common find.
Bridled Parrotfish _ Scarus frenatus
This was a male in its final adult stage, you can identify it by the light green color of the lower half of the head and the posterior body region.
Checkered Snapper _ Lutjanus decussatus
They habit offshore and inshore coral reefs, most time on the transition between the corals and the sand bottoms.
Dusky parrotfish _ Scarus niger
Common parrotfish at the Tarutao National Park (Koh Lipe neighborhood). This is a male specimen.
Easter Triangular Butterflyfish _ Chaetodon baronessa
Saw it eating from this staghorn coral, it is a common fish in the Andaman sea.
Lemon damselfish _ Pomacentrus moluccensis
Very common on table corals, staghorn corals… Here I found some groups on many occasions.
Lined Surgeonfish _ Acanthurus lineatus
For me, it was a rare finding, only saw it on that occasion. Beautiful specimen. Take another look at this nice fish:
Melon Butterflyfish _ Chaetodon trifasciatus
The Melon Butterflyfish is most often seen in pairs, this one stayed a little longer near me because it was distracted eating.
Moon Wrasse _ Thalassoma lunare
Very common and often passing near humans, look at the beautiful pectoral fins.
Rollands Demoiselle _ Chrysiptera rollandi
The adults of this species are small in size, so I am not sure at which stage it was. A great colorful mini fish.
Skunk Anemonefish _ Amphiprion akallopisos
These common but shy anemonefishes are very important for anemones health. It protects the anemone from other fishes who feed on them and give them some food remains from its preys.
On the other hand, the anemones protect them with its stinging tentacles (the anemonefish is covered by a thick mucus that makes them immune to the actinian nematocysts). It is a mutualism relation defined as symbiosis.
Two-lined Monocle Bream _ Scolopsis bilineata
A carnivore fish that has a beautiful design on its head an upper body. Unusual finding.
Yellowtail Sergeant _ Abudefduf notatus
A not so common sergeant, saw a big group that wasn’t any scared by my presence. They were swimming on the surface as they were looking for someone to feed them (maybe that is a common practice in this place…)
Magnificent Anemone _ Heteractis magnifica
There was some anemone here and there, but their number was not very impressive.
Giant clam _ Tridacna sp.
Found some at this place, but after seeing a large number at Koh Hin Ngam, didn’t feel the urge to registrate many of them.
Black sea cucumber _ Holothuria atra
This common and ugly black sea cucumber is doing its job of a scavenger of the sandy bottoms. As seen by its size, must be doing its job very well.
Banded Sea Urchin _Echinothrix calamaris
This sea urchin is way less common than the black diadema species, do not get too close to them, because they sting.
Noble Feather Star _ Comaster nobilis
This young feather star was placed on a beautiful coral with a very nice texture.
Overall: Place with good visibility and a large variety of corals, including some giant brain corals. Lots of different species of fishes, some I only found there. Great snorkeling!
More places of the “Plankton e Sunset Trip” from Koh Lipe:
World Thru Mask 