How colorful marine life can be in the coral reefs. A friend showed me some beautiful shots underwater while he explored the reefs of Puerto Princesa in western Philippines. Here are some of those superb pictures that show why scuba divers love to scuba dive in the colorful underwater world of the tropical regions.

Two bivalves embedded deeply in a massive coral colony.

Two bivalves embed themselves in a massive coral colony presumably of the Porites species. I’m unsure if my friend did some color tweaks but the outcome is nonetheless dramatic. The blend of red, green, and light blue are just pleasing to the eyes. Since these bivalves are detritus feeders, they may actually have a symbiotic relationship with their host coral.

Colorful outgrowths from the massive coral seem like lanterns of various colors.

Occasionally, I could see these colorful outgrowths that seem to breath on the surface of massive coral reefs, I am not so sure what these things are. Once approached closely, these colorful outgrowths retract and disappear within the massive growths of coral. I doubt if these are the polyps that are responsible for the build up of the corals limestone skeleton. I thought polyps should be small. I searched the internet but could not see similar photographs with some description. I’ll get back to this article once I see the answer to these questions.

The golden sea squirt (Polycarpa aurata)

The golden sea squirt shown above is quite common in the reef. But these amazing filter feeders always take the fancy of underwater photographers because of its colorful appearance and odd looks. Sea squirts help filter particulate material in the sea. Sea squirts can filter hundreds of gallons of water daily, removing 95 percent of the bacteria from it. They are amazing natural marine filters.

A school of fish fries.

Lots of fish fries can be seen in the coral reefs. The above fish fries congregate beautifully together. I wonder what guides these fishes to go in one direction. It’s built in their system, described in scientific circles as pure instinct. The direction of the water current may have some effect too.

Common pink sponge in turbid waters.

Sponges are also common in areas with turbid waters. They can take many forms and colors, some yellowish, some orange, some partly black, and of course the one above is pinkish. The sponges also help remove particulate organic material in sea water.

© All photos courtesy of Ofer Ben-Tzvi (2009)