After a couple of weeks of rumors in the area, we can confirm with these awesome shots by Atmosphere’s marine biologist Daniel Geary that we do indeed have Rhinopia here in Dauin. Still a baby, this weedy rhinopia (Rhinopias frondosa) hopefully has many friends around. We also hope that he or she will find a nice colored sponge or coral to sit next to and take on a bit of color – as they expertly do.
Rhinopias are among the holy grails of macro diving – very rare species within the scorpion fish family. There are 6 different Rhinopias and this is the first time one is found and photographed here.