Lembeh’s Divesite Police Pier is known for its plethora of Pipefish (alongside it’s spawning Mandarinfish and fantastic Frogfish population). This week one of the Banded Pipefish found itself in a slightly awkward situation when it got a bit to close to a hungry Ribbon Eel. Luckily, the Ribbon Eel immediately realized that the physics of his meal was simply too complicated and let the Pipefish go without so much as a scratch. If you look closely at the underside of the fish you can see that the Pipefish is carrying eggs. As it turns out, a whole generation of Banded Pipefish was spared!

Speaking of the next generation of fish, Trikora is a fantastic dive site to catch a sighting of the mouth-brooding Bangai Cardinalfish. The Bangai are a common fish in the Strait, but are extremely rare to non-existent in most regions of Indonesia. They are endemic to the island of Bangai and were purposefully spread to Lembeh when they became in high-demand amongst aquarists. The Strait now provides easy access to the fish, and the fish fascinates first time divers to the region with their good-looks and kooky reproductive practices. Not only do the Bangai Cardinalfish brood their eggs in their mouth, but they protectively keep the juvenile fish in their mouth for up to a week after they have hatched! It’s an amazing sight to see small fish peeking out of the swollen mouth of the Cardinalfish, and one well worth requesting on your next visit.

Speaking of hatchlings, we have exciting topside news at the Two Fish Resort in Lembeh: Miss Pepper gave birth to 6 healthy puppies this week! The whole staff is pitching in to keep Mama-Dog well fed so that she can keep up with her demanding pup-feeding schedule. Papa-Dog is a black mutt from the local village with a white underbelly and Ridgeback markings. The puppies take after Pops in their darker coloration and Mohawk markings. I think it’s safe to say that this is going to be yet another beautiful collection of pups from the Pep-Pep girl.