The Black Saddled Toby…
The Black Saddled Toby is very common on the walls of the Bunaken Marine Park and it is a very funny fish to watch as it swims around the reef. It moves similar to pufferfish and filefish. It is also known as the Saddled Toby and Valentini’s Sharp Nose Puffer and is normally seen here in the shallower reefs next to sandy/coral rubble areas.
The Toby has a symbiotic relationship with the bacteria Pseudoalteromonas tetraodonis which makes the powerful neuro toxin tetradotoxin. This toxin is 100 times more powerful than Cyanide and can be deadly to their predators! Tobies eat algae, organisms, molluscs and tunicates. The Black Saddled Toby is found in the Puffers or Tetraodontidae family and they are part of the ‘odd-shaped swimmers’ category in most fish books.
There is another fish in the filefish or Monacanthidae family that mimics the Black Saddled Toby. This is called the Mimic File Fish and is not poisonous but because it looks almost identical it gives them a bit more protection. Sometimes both of these fish will be seen swimming together in the same groups. They are almost impossible to tell apart aside from tiny differences.
This week in Bunaken…
Congratulations this week go to Erica, Roman and Atticus who finished their PADI Open Water Course on Christmas Eve and Andrew (Erica’s Wife) finished his PADI Advanced Open Water Course. They then did two days of fun diving as a family which was amazing!
We had many divers diving with us at Two Fish Divers Buanken over Christmas including a group of 7 who come every year. They had a great time seeing so many turtles again as well as many exciting things to take photos of. There were sightings of Denis and Pontohi Pygmy Seahorses, Orangutan Crabs, Nudibranchs and Shrimps. They have now gone over to Two Fish Divers in Lembeh to dive over New Years and do their first dive of 2020. Sina, Carla and Arjen dived in Lembeh and arrived right before Christmas to do some amazing wall diving! Christmas is a great time to be away in a tropical country diving every day!!
Jens has just finished his Divemaster Course in Bunaken after completing the first two weeks in Lembongan. He learned a lot while he was here and has done some amazing dives. We had a lot of fun teaching him the last skills for his course and watch him accomplish everything he tried. He also did his PADI Enriched Air Nitrox course which is a great speciality to do as a professional diver.
This week we celebrated Christmas in Bunaken. Everyone was already in the Christmas spirit after the blessing last week but still had lots of energy and were very excited for the 25th! There was a lot of Christmas music, singing all day, delicious food and lots of amazing cookies!! Everyone at Two Fish Divers Bunaken wishes you a Merry Christmas wherever you may be in the world!!
If you’d like to come and join us for diving in the Bunaken Marine Park or for more information, fill in the form below and we’ll get right back to you! We hope to see you soon in 2020!
