Sabah by the Sea - Critters of Kapalai - Underwater Malaysia - Neville Coleman

 Kapalai is built on a submerged sandbank.  The entire resort is on stilts and from a distance the buildings appear as though they are sitting on the surface of the water. 
The bottom is sandy silt, a muck divers paradise. 
With a zillion stilt pylons surrounded by seagrass meadows, rubble, old pylons on the bottom and coral clumps, the amount of sheltered cover for critters is enormous..
the perfect place for scuba diving, snorkeling, underwater photography and underwater exploration.

Kapalai Water Village is as good as it looks. Built on a submerged sandbank it has the advantage of not only being a first class resort, but there are good dive sites right off the main jetty and all along the many pylons underneath the buildings.
(photo: Courtesy Kapalai Water Village)

It was my first experience at this dive location and not knowing the lay of the reef I was cautious at proceeding beyond the reef area as the seemingly flat bottom had few signposts and I was unsure how the pick-up boat worked in choppy waters.  However, now that everybody else was off exploring I could concentrate on finding critters.   The broken bottom was rich in sponges and ascidians with a few gorgonians, lots of coral colonies, algae and soft corals with a big anemone here and there.

Excellent diving is available right beneath the jetty at Kapalai Water Village. With hundreds of interesting and photogenic creatures living out their lifestyles beneath the shady, shallow waters, the opportunities to find new species is on every dive.
( photo: Courtesy Kapalai Water Village) 

I eased up a metre or so off the bottom and balancing on my wrist knife, slowly finned along the bottom, scanning every micro habitat for things I knew and even more important, things I didnt know; it was a critter smorgasbord.

Ever since Barry Andrewartha had told me how good this area of Sabah was and sent me the picture book on Borneo I had made plans to be there as soon as was possible. Possible came from an invitation from Michael Aw of Malaysias "Celebrate the Sea" dive convention in Kuala Lumpur to give some presentations on Nudibranchs at the 2004 program. After the convention I made my way to Kota Kinabalu, then to Towau, Semporna and out to the islands. 

Sporting a number of colour variations Bullocks Hypselodoris Hypseldoris bullocki is seen here in its commonest colour form.  This species feeds on sponges.
( photo: Neville Coleman)

Critters

Very common in the seagrass meadows around Kapalai Resort the Nodose Sea Star Protoreaster nodosus is a detrital feeder and is known to have several commensals.
( photo: Neville Coleman)

 

 Typical red colour form of the Sea Star Shrimp Periclimenes soror (female) when found on the Pincushion Sea Star Culcita novaeguinea.
( photo: Neville Coleman)

 

 Most specimens of the sea star shrimp Periclimenes soror found on the blue sea star Linckia laevigata are blue with a white dorsal stripe. (Male is the smaller).
( photo: Neville Coleman)
 

Many of the noduled sea stars at Kapalai have pairs of  commensal shrimps beneath their undersides.  Some of these sea star shrimps Periclimenes soror may be red, orange or have a single stripe down the centre of the dorsal surface.  However, regardless of the variations in colour they are all the same species.

Rarely seen in other regions in the Indo-Pacific this beautiful colonial ascidian Diazona sp. is particularly common around Sabah.
( photo: Neville Coleman)

Further investigation on the underside of the sea stars may reveal an extraordinary frilly worm which inhabits their ambulacral grooves (where the tube feet appear from).  In general, only the larger females of these sea star worms Asterophilia sp. are seen, as the males are only a third of the females size. 

Gorgonian sea fans Melithaea sp. grow on many of the stilt pylons and on these and surrounding reefs there are some really interesting commensal critters.  Normally where a gorgonian sea fan might be growing on a sunlit reef its commensal critters would be hidden away in nooks and crannies or in between the joints of multiple branches.  However, as those beneath Kapalai stilt village are in constant shade, their commensal critters are often much easier to recognise.

 The white markings on the legs of the Depressed Spider Crab Xenocarcinus depressus mimic the host gorgonian polyps when they are out feeding.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
 

Careful observation may turn up the small depressed spider crab Xenocarcinus depressus.  This little spider crab may be red or orange with a white, yellow or orange stripe down the centre of the back.  Females are always larger than the males and, generally, there are a pair or more on the larger fans.

Even more difficult to find are Sempers egg cowries Prosimnia semperi.  These obligate commensal molluscs only grow to 15mm (females) with males up to 10mm.  The shell of the mollusc is coloured by the animals feeding habits. As it grazes on the gorgonian it incorporates the pigments into its shell.  The mantle of the cowry-like mollusc is covered in papillae and what is really amazing is that the papillae on the mantle mimic the polyps of the sea fan, even having the same number of tentacles (eight) yet the animal cannot see. 
Quite often small capsules can be seen attached to the sea fan branches. These are Sempers egg cowry egg capsules.  The molluscs spend their entire life cycles on their host sea fan.

Nudibranchs

One of the most common species in the Kapalai area this very dramatic nudibranch Hypselodoris apologema is found mostly at muck diving sites.
( photo: Neville Coleman)

It is always amazing to me that muck diving sites have such a range of brilliant nudibranchs.  At first glance the rather bland landscape gives no indication that it hides rich sources of food for many species. Yet many of the smaller, often  unnoticeable species of sponges, ascidians, bryozoans and hydroids thrive on and around soft bottom dead reef and rubble habitats.

 Feeding on colonial ascidians, the Crested Nembrotha Nembrotha cristata can be found in a number of habitats.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
 

Nudibranchs rarely feed on the larger more colourful and prominent sponges.  Most prefer encrusting sponges that live under ledges or beneath rocks, or tucked away in some crevice.  Sometimes it seems that there are far more nudibranchs at muck diving sites than in conventional coral reefs and rocky reefs.  This is due only to them being easier to see because they stand out more in the open on a contrasting background.

 Dianas Chromodoris Chromodoris dianae is also known from Indonesia and the Philippines. It grows to around 30mm and eats encrusting sponges.
( photo: Neville Coleman)

Wherever one looked there were photographic subjects, even the fallen pylons had nudibranchs and worms and pleurobranchs beneath them.
Around the cavities and joins in the stilt support systems were beautiful specimens of Dwarf Lionfishes Dendrochirus brachypterus and White-lined Lionfish Pterios radiata, while Devil Scorpionfish Scorpaenopsis diabolis lay motionless on the bottom.  Demon Ghouls Inimicus didactylus were also present slowly creeping along in the silt on their modified pelvic fins. 

Hardly distinguishable from a sponge, this little painted anglerfish Antennarius pictus shows remarkable deceptive resemblance abilities.
( photo: Neville Coleman)

On one rubble slope a small orange sponge stood out.  I went over to check it out for nudibranchs and to my amazement it moved. My sponge turned out to be the painted anglerfish Antennarius pictus one of the best mimicry examples I had ever seen.

 With its breathing rate slowed down, there is hardly a perceptible gill movement to signify the whereabouts of the devil scorpionfish. Scorpaenopsis diabolus. Whenever diving on muck dive sites one must always keep an eye out for camouflaged, or buried scorpionfish.
( photo: Neville Coleman)

While most divers venture out further afield boat diving the various dive sites, few give thought to the amazing volume of sea creatures which inhabit the bottom beneath the stilt village.  However, for those keen on critters there is no doubt in my mind that many discoveries await amongst the hundreds of stilts and the area they shade. 

This small specimen of Forskals Pleurobranchus Pleurobranchus forskalii was discovered beneath a fallen pylon.
( photo: Neville Coleman)

Just to examine the bottom beneath Kapalai Resort would take many, many dives. To visually survey the area and record the many critters could keep me occupied for up to 20 dives and that would not be any guarantee that all could be found because species come and go with the seasons, tides and weather.  However, I was very happy with the results of my three dives there and will endeavour to visit again next time around. 

Now that I am aware of the region and the pros and cons of getting there, Sabah is not really as difficult as I had once imagined and with more direct flights to the region coming up from Australia, the lure will be even more irresistible for Australian divers.

Neville Coleman's diving expeditions, fauna surveys, photographic fauna surveys and marine life identification courses include every major group of marine life. 

Neville Coleman's expertise in marine life identification extends to the identification of Algae, Sea Grass, Forams, Sponges, Stony Corals, Soft Corals, Sea Anemones, Sea Jellies, Zoanthids, Corallimorphs, Black Corals, Flatworms, Segmented Worms, Crustaceans, Barnacles, Shrimps, Rock Lobsters, Hermit Crabs, Squat Lobsters, Molluscs, Chitons, Univalves, Bivalves, Cephalopods, Octopus, Cuttlefish, Squid, Opisthobranchs, Nudibranchs, Sea Slugs, Bryozoans, Sea Mosses, Echinoderms, Sea Stars, Feather Stars, Brittle Stars, Sea Urchins, Sea Cucumbers, Ascidians/Sea Squirts, Marine Fish, Sharks, Marine Reptiles, and Marine Mammals, all found in the waters around Mabul, Kapali, Sipidan and Malaysia.

( Copyright Neville Coleman)