Bali. Who lives under the pier: the sea port Tanah Ampo

From the book "Bali Island", part 5 "East", episode 31.

8°30'29.81"S 115°31'8.07"E

Tanah Ampo – sea port in the East of Bali, large cruise ships come here from Singapore and Australia. But we are interested by the pier, there are a lot of unique characters under it.

We added to our collection such kind of nudibranchs :


Phyllidia multifaria Yonow	Chromodoris reticulate


Jorunna finebris	Hypselodoris krakatoa


Hypselodoris nigrostriata	Flabellina rubrolineata

The pier is filled by fishermen in the evenings, they throw baits and sometimes fish guts into the water, and it attracts marine predators. Sea snakes, for example..

Sea snake - Hydrophiinae

Pipefish - tubular seahorses are not rare here.

Pipefish - Syngnathinae

Boxer shrimps – of cause, here you are..

Boxer shrimp

Harlequin mantis shrimp, it also called as luxurious mantis shrimp. Well, it is just beautiful :-)

Harlequin mantis shrimp - Odontodactylus scyllarus

Large cuttlefish, mollusks of the cephalopod class, is a desired catch for fishermen...

Cuttlefish - Sepiida

Monoceros or trigger fish (Monacanthidae). It is clear why they got their name – horn over the head is noticeable..


Filefish Stephanolepis hispidus	Filefish Acreichthys tomentosus

Boxfishes, they are various, often they different from each other..

Papuan toby - Canthigaster papua

Roundbelly Cowfish - Lactoria diaphana

Longhorn cowfish, Horned boxfish - Lactoria cornuta

And this is their close cousin - the pufferfish.

Flatfish (Carpet Sole) is a master of disguise.

Cornetfishes are hiding between the pillars of the pier..

Cornetfish - Aulostomidae

Striped blennys make their nests in bottles and fragments of pipes..

Striped blenny - Meiacanthus grammistes

There are a lot of interesting things here. But at night you should be very careful, because there are many scorpionfish here, a variety of them, and there is a danger to run into their poisonous spines.

Lionfish Parapterois heterura