PRO DIVE Lord Howe Island

Marine Life

INTERESTING AND ENDEMIC SPECIES FOUND IN THE LORD HOWE REGION

SPANISH DANCER

A large nudibranch that camouflages itself upon the reef and can display bright red coulour with a white "mantle" around its edge as a defense mechanism. The Spanish Dancer can grow up to 60cm long and dances its way to the waters surface in a beautiful display when disturbed.

BALLINA ANGELFISH

The Ballina Angelfish is a deep water angelfish mainly found in depths in excess of 100 meters.
The Ballina Angelfish can be seen around the base of Ball’s Pyramid and its two surrounding islands, Wheatsheaf and Observatory Rock, in approximately 25 meters. This is the only known area that you can regularly see the deep water Angelfish on recreational scuba.

McCULLOCH'S ANEMONE FISH

The McCulloch's Anemone fish is endemic to the Lord Howe & Norfolk regions and is found inside the islands lagoon as well as in the surrounding island reefs.
The clownfish uses its anemone not only as a home but also for protection. It coats itself in a protective film from the anemone that is poisonous to other fish life making the fish and the anemone poisonous to other marine life.

The McCulloch's Anemone fish is one of the few varieties in the anemone family known to regularly stray away from its host anemone.

McCullochs Anemone fish. By Frank Baensch

They have small teeth that can bite the intrusive diver. They have been known to bite the end of a 5mm glove off a diver.

Small Periclimenes shrimp can also be found sharing the home of the anemone.

COLEMAN'S PIGMY SEAHORSE Endemic to Lord Howe and found only in Escortt's hole in 3 meters. Dicovered by Neville Coleman while diving with Tas 8 years ago. The seahorse live in sea grass meadows and are extremely hard to find. Approx 20mm in size

TURTLES

Around the Island you will find two types of turtles, the Green Turtle and the Hawksbill. The Green turtle is more common and can often be found while snorkelling off Old Settlement beach in Sylph's Hole, feeding on the sea grass. Hawksbill turtles are endangered and were hunted for their shell. As Lord Howe Island is a marine Park they are protected.

BOOKFISH

Otherwise known as the banded scalyfin, these fish are very territorial especially once they have laid eggs over the reef. They can be a little aggressive to the intrusive diver or snorkeller.

CLAM SHELLS

Clamshells exists throuout the waters surrounding the Island. They have a variety of beautiful colours and can been seen at low tide on the reefs of Middle beach by reef walkers.

COWRIE SHELLS

There are close to one hundred varieties of cowries shells around the Island. They are often targeted by Octopus who punch a neat small hole through the shell to feed to the animal inside before discarding the shell.

While alive on the reefs the Cowry Shell has a mantle that can vary in colour protecting the shell. When found alive or very shortly after the animal has died, the shell it has a very shinny almost polished shell.All shells found around the Island are protected within the marine park and are not allowed to be taken live.

BUTTERFLY COD

A beautiful to look at but poisonous to the touch fish. The butterfly cod will display its spines when in defence mode. It is a nocturnal hunter and feeds on smaller fish passing by. When feeding it floats graciously through the water in a head down position and snaps up it’s prey in a flash.

CROWN OF THORNS

A beautiful looking starfish that has created near unrepairable damages on reefs in the northern region in Australia. The crown of thorns moves slowly over coral reefs killing large areas of Acropora corals. In large numbers this sea star can cause devastating damage to a reef system or even wipe it out entirely.

Sharp pointy spikes covered in venom, if injected into a human can cause nausea, vomiting and swelling.This particular type of starfish requires extended periods with the water temperatures above 25'C for it's eggs to hatch and thrive.

On Lord Howe we have a small population that will be monitored closely.Today scientists believe that the Crown of Thorns may effectively weed the reef of the faster growing Acropora corals, giving the slower growing corals a chance to thrive as well i.e. Brain and Boulder Corals.It doesn't seem to feed on these.

BLACK COD

Greatly hunted by spearfisherman and local fisherman the Black cod is beginning to return to the Island after becoming almost extinct. In 1999 when the marine park was first introduced to the island numbers had dwindled to almost non-existent and only now in 2008 are we starting to see them around dive sites. The Black Cod is very slow growing and reproducing. They can grow to and average of 6ft.

DOUBLE HEADER WRASSE

The Double header wrasse can grow up to 3ft long. They use the bump on their head to knock sea urchins off the reef to feed.
Some Double Header wrasse inside the lagoon are so tame they can be hand fed.