Andrew Taylor
@litoria.bsky.social
CS@UNSW - spare time spent identifying every species seen while diving, bushwalking & running
On a Komodo night dive buzzing with interesting life, l thought this cute little moray was a common species & ignored it. My partner luckily took a few shots: seems it's the little-known Gymnothorax robinsi. Too rare to be in fish books, perhaps the 3rd photo of a live specimen on the internet.
December 11, 2025 at 9:11 AM
On a Komodo night dive buzzing with interesting life, l thought this cute little moray was a common species & ignored it. My partner luckily took a few shots: seems it's the little-known Gymnothorax robinsi. Too rare to be in fish books, perhaps the 3rd photo of a live specimen on the internet.
A first for BlueSky and maybe the internet: a live photo of the parasitic isopod Renocila loriae. Attached to an unfortunate Blackstripe Cardinalfish. Kindly identified on iNaturalist by Ernest Williams who co-described the species. Photographed by my partner Lyn on a dive near Padang Bai in Bali.
December 2, 2024 at 10:28 AM
A first for BlueSky and maybe the internet: a live photo of the parasitic isopod Renocila loriae. Attached to an unfortunate Blackstripe Cardinalfish. Kindly identified on iNaturalist by Ernest Williams who co-described the species. Photographed by my partner Lyn on a dive near Padang Bai in Bali.
The stunning eyes of Percnon guinotae (I think) briefly sitting in the open in the shallows of Ambon bay.
March 12, 2024 at 11:57 AM
The stunning eyes of Percnon guinotae (I think) briefly sitting in the open in the shallows of Ambon bay.
Does this Coconut Octopus understand transparency and that the glass jar offers security, despite light reaching the photoreceptors on its arm?
February 25, 2024 at 1:48 AM
Does this Coconut Octopus understand transparency and that the glass jar offers security, despite light reaching the photoreceptors on its arm?
Excuse me, I think you have a shrimp on your nose.
February 22, 2024 at 10:47 AM
Excuse me, I think you have a shrimp on your nose.
Underneath Linckia laevigata starfish you sometimes find a tiny & beautiful parasitic mollusc - Thyca crystallina. This one is 1-2 mm long. If it's female it'll grow to 10-12 mm. If it's male it will stay tiny and attach under the shell of a large female Thyca.
January 21, 2024 at 7:16 AM
Underneath Linckia laevigata starfish you sometimes find a tiny & beautiful parasitic mollusc - Thyca crystallina. This one is 1-2 mm long. If it's female it'll grow to 10-12 mm. If it's male it will stay tiny and attach under the shell of a large female Thyca.
Come any closer and I'll sting you - Lybia tessellata holds anemones in specialized claws, using them to stun prey, mop up food & defensively. They can't survive without the anemones. If they lose one they'll clone the other by splitting it, or steal an anemone from another crab.
January 12, 2024 at 1:37 AM
Come any closer and I'll sting you - Lybia tessellata holds anemones in specialized claws, using them to stun prey, mop up food & defensively. They can't survive without the anemones. If they lose one they'll clone the other by splitting it, or steal an anemone from another crab.
We planted a Banksia serrata in our tiny inner Sydney front yard when we moved in 10 years ago. A decision now applauded by local Rainbow Lorikeets.
December 27, 2023 at 7:30 AM
We planted a Banksia serrata in our tiny inner Sydney front yard when we moved in 10 years ago. A decision now applauded by local Rainbow Lorikeets.
Lovely weekend evening around old grain fields in the upper Hunter watching 20+ Barn Owls - posing for photos, flying almost within reach, and funniest: one walking clumsily towards my phishing. They bred inland with the double La Niña but now El Niño drying is forcing them to the coast.
October 23, 2023 at 9:34 AM
Lovely weekend evening around old grain fields in the upper Hunter watching 20+ Barn Owls - posing for photos, flying almost within reach, and funniest: one walking clumsily towards my phishing. They bred inland with the double La Niña but now El Niño drying is forcing them to the coast.
A grainy photo from a dawn walk this morning along the Cudgegong River in the middle of the small town of Rylstone - nice to see at least one of the Platypus population survived last year's big flood.
October 2, 2023 at 10:51 AM
A grainy photo from a dawn walk this morning along the Cudgegong River in the middle of the small town of Rylstone - nice to see at least one of the Platypus population survived last year's big flood.
Out and about on a hot day in late September showing its iconic red flanks
September 30, 2023 at 10:03 AM
Out and about on a hot day in late September showing its iconic red flanks