Paudean, Lembeh Sel., Kota Bitung, Sulawesi Utara 95551
Lembeh Underwater Gallery & Critter Species List
Welcome to our Lembeh Underwater Gallery & Critter Species List! This is an ongoing visual record of all the marine life found at Lembeh! With 555 photographs and 181 critter species documented and listed so far.
Lembeh holds one of the densest concentrations of marine biodiversity on Earth, much of it cryptic and easily missed. We maintain this gallery as an ongoing record of all the underwater life found at Lembeh, species by species.
This gallery is a continuously updated record of guest contributions to our underwater photography archive dating back to 2007. Every photograph is attributed to its photographer, identified to species where possible, and organized so visitors can browse by photographer, by date, species or by critter type.
With many thanks to our guests who contributed to the underwater gallery!
You can explore the gallery in five different ways:
Browse by slider — the slider randomly selects a photograph of every category, you can click on the photograph and it will jump to the photographer’s respective section. Upon reloading the page, new photos will be randomly selected.
Browse chronologically — the gallery is organized by year and contributor, with the most recent photographers at the top. Use the year jump links above to navigate to a specific year.
Browse by photographer — each photographer has their own section listed in the table of contents. Click any name to jump to their photos.
Filter by category — use the tag bar to view only photos in a specific critter category (e.g. Octopuses, Nudibranchs, Frogfishes). The number in each tag shows how many photos belong to that category. Click any tag to filter, click it again or press “Show All” to restore the full gallery.
Filter by species — You can click on the “Confirmed species sighted” bar to expand the list, and view a list of all the species that has been photographed in this gallery. Click on a species to only see photos of said species.
Each photograph’s caption includes both the common name and the scientific (binomial) name. Where a photo features more than one species — such as a cleaning station or a mutualism between two animals — multiple species are identified, and the photo appears under multiple filter categories.
A small number of photos document behavior rather than a single critter — yawning frogfish, mating octopuses, cleaning stations, sheltering inside bottles. These appear under the Symbiosis & Behavior tag in addition to their species category.
Blue Dragon Nudibranch (Pteraeolidia sp.)Pair of Ornate Ghost-pipefishes (Solenostomus paradoxus)Nudibranch (Glossodoris cincta)Coconut Octopus, sheltering in a shell (Amphioctopus marginatus)Blue Dragon Nudibranch, from a top-down perspective (Pteraeolidia sp.)Dwarf Lionfish (Dendrochirus brachypterus)
Coconut Octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus)Flamboyant Cuttlefish (Ascarosepion pfefferi)Painted Frogfish (Black — Antennarius pictus)Painted Frogfish (Orange — Antennarius pictus)Juvenile Painted Frogfish (Orange — Antennarius pictus)Mandarinfish, from the side (Synchiropus splendidus)Mandarinfish, from the front (Synchiropus splendidus)Yellow Orangutan Crab (Oncinopus sp.)Anemone Porcelain Crab (Neopetrolisthes maculatus)Emperor Shrimp on a Nudibranch (Zenopontonia rex & Goniobranchus kuniei)Nudibranch (Chromodoris dianae)Pair of Bubblegum Sea Slugs (Hypselodoris apolegma)
Photos by Andreas Ahrens (April 2024)
Rocky coral landscape with a school of fish (South Lembeh)Pink tube sponge with a school of fish behind (South Lembeh)Giant sea fan on a wall (South Lembeh)Yellow Gorgonian Sea Fan with a school of fish (South Lembeh)Pink Whip Coral against the reef (Ellisella sp. — South Lembeh)Colourful reef with feather star crinoids (South Lembeh)Flamboyant Cuttlefish (Ascarosepion pfefferi)Juvenile Broadclub Cuttlefish (Ascarosepion latimanus)Blue-Ringed Octopus (Hapalochlaena sp.)
Photos by Gail Vest & Peter Christen (December 2023)
Blue-Ringed Octopus (Hapalochlaena sp.)Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus)Coconut Octopus, sheltering in a shell (Amphioctopus marginatus)Pygmy Seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti)Flamboyant Cuttlefish (Ascarosepion pfefferi)Coconut Octopus, sheltering in a bottle (Amphioctopus marginatus)Juvenile Starry Pufferfish (Arothron stellatus)Painted Frogfish (White — Antennarius pictus)Tube Sponge Crab (Lauridromia sp.)Coconut Octopus, sheltering in a bottle with only its eye visible (Amphioctopus marginatus)Napoleon Snake Eel (Ophichthus bonaparti)Coconut Octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus)Spiny Devilfish (Inimicus didactylus)Devil Scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis diabolus)Whip Coral Shrimp (Pontonides unciger)Nudibranch (Glossodoris cincta)Flabellina Nudibranch (Coryphellina rubrolineata)Nudibranch (Halgerda batangas)
Additional Lembeh Underwater Gallery (2007)
A historical collection from guest photographers across the resort’s early years.
Pygmy Seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti — by Fredrik Ehrenstrom)Denise’s Pygmy Seahorse (Hippocampus denise — by Mark Tarczynski)Pair of Emperor Shrimps (Zenopontonia rex — by Mark Tarczynski)Giant Frogfish (Antennarius commerson — by Danny van Belle)Halimeda Ghost Pipefish (Solenostomus halimeda — by Danny van Belle)Spiny Tiger Shrimp (Phyllognathia ceratophthalma — by Marcus Commodore)Spiny Seahorse (Hippocampus histrix — by Alan Powderham)Pontohi Seahorse (Hippocampus pontohi — by Jonathan Bird)Giant Frogfish, yawning (Antennarius commerson — by Dominique Colleti)Flamboyant Cuttlefish (Ascarosepion pfefferi — by Jonathan Bird)School of Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni — by Bruce Magun)Blue-Ringed Octopus (Hapalochlaena sp. — photographer unknown)Pair of Coleman Shrimps (Periclimenes colemani — by Fredrik Ehrenstrom)Schools of fish and dense coral reef (South Lembeh — by Jonathan Bird)Denise’s Pygmy Seahorse (Hippocampus denise — by Olivier Simons)Warty Frogfish (Antennarius maculatus — by Janny Heringa-Bosman)Ghost Goby (Pleurosicya mossambica — by Bruce Magun)Ornate Ghostpipefish (Solenostomus paradoxus — by Wouter Suyderhoud)Hairy Frogfish (Antennarius striatus — by Bruce Magun)Hairy Frogfish, using their lure (Antennarius striatus — by Bruce Magun)Harlequin Shrimp, on a sunken musical note (Hymenocera picta — photographer unknown)Jawfish (Opistognathidae sp. — by Fredrik Ehrenstrom)Juvenile Warty Frogfish (Antennarius maculatus — by Alan Powderham)Lembeh Seadragon (Kyonemichthys rumengani — by Danny van Belle)Lembeh Seadragon (Kyonemichthys rumengani — by Olivier Simons)Pair of Mandarinfishes (Synchiropus splendidus — by Olivier Simons)Peacock Mantis Shrimp, carrying her eggs (Odontodactylus scyllarus — by Fredrik Ehrenstrom)Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus — by Helene Caillaud)Painted Frogfish (Pink — Antennarius pictus — by Fredrik Ehrenstrom)Paddle Flap Scorpionfish, yawning (Rhinopias eschmeyeri — by Alan Powderham)Weedy Scorpionfish (Rhinopias frondosa — by Alan Powderham)Whip Coral Shrimp (Pontonides unciger — by Bruce Magun)Elegant Squat Lobster (Allogalathea elegans — by Bruce Magun)Spiny Tiger Shrimp (Phyllognathia ceratophthalma — by Mark Tarczynski)Trio of Mandarinfishes (Synchiropus splendidus — by Markus Roth)Longspine Waspfish (Paracentropogon longispinis — by Fredrik Ehrenstrom)Leaf Scorpionfish, from the side (Taenianotus triacanthus — by Olivier Simons)Leaf Scorpionfish, from the front (Taenianotus triacanthus — by Olivier Simons)Whip Coral Goby (Bryaninops yongei — by Dominique Colleti)Wunderpus Octopus (Wunderpus photogenicus — by Fredrik Ehrenstrom)
