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xenomatt.bsky.social
Matt
@xenomatt.bsky.social
620 followers 670 following 1.5K posts
Scuba, nerdery, science, and what makes people tick. Expat Brit in Canada.

Pics mine unless otherwise credited.
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xenomatt.bsky.social
A bunch of yellow-tipped phyllodesmium (Phyllodesmium briareum), an aeolid nudibranch. I have no idea why there were so many of them gathered together.

#Nudivember #MarineLife 🌿 #Invertebrate
The surface of a reef, with several small nudibranchs on it. All that can be easily seen of them is their cerata, which are light brown with yellow tips; they look like clusters of tentacles that one might normally associate with an anemone or similar creature. #NAture #Wildlife #UnderwaterPhotography #WildlifePhotography #Macro
November 11, 2025 at 3:03 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
I'm not sure *why* we're snailposting, but... okay! Here's a veliger of I know not what species. Pic from a blackwater dive in Balayan Bay, Anilao

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A snail veliger. The familiar-looking orange shell points towards the camera; three translucent tentacle-like structures protrude from the mouth of the shell (there are actually four, but one is hidden in this pic) #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #Nature #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography
November 9, 2025 at 6:54 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Goniobranchus aureopurpureus, Anilao

#Nudivember #MarineLife 🌿
A nudibranch (a kind of sea slug) moving over sand towards the camera. Its body is white with the top side covered in yellow spots; the edge of the mantle has a ring of purple spots around it. The gills and rhinopores are brown with white markings on them, and pushed to one side by a slight current. The mantle is lifted at the front so that the tentacles and mouth are visible; the underside of the nudibranch is white with no other markings. #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #Nature #NaturePhotography #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro
November 8, 2025 at 9:27 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
It's #Nudivember, so... here we go with the nudibranchs! This one is Hypselodoris apolegma, protographed in Anilao.

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A bright purple nudibranch crawling over coral, seen from the side. It has orange rhinopores and yellow gills, and a white marginal band with a speckled transition into the purple body. #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #Nature #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography #Wildlife
November 5, 2025 at 12:41 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Since it's #WorldJellyfishDay, here's one I saw on a blackwater dive in Balayan Bay, Anilao

#MarineLife #Invertebrates
A jellyfish. It has a long central stem under the bell and only a few tentacles. #Nature #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #UnderwaterPhotography
November 3, 2025 at 6:18 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
You're on a blackwater dive, drifting in darkness. A ghostly being emerges from the gloom... what could it be? Is it made entirely of ectoplasm?

I'm pretty sure it's a pteropod of some kind - I think this is a pelagic nudibranch

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A pelagic nudibranch, with its 'wings' spread out. A small portion of the gut is easily visible but the rest of it is translucent. #Macro #Nature #UnderwaterPhotography #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography A pelagic nudibranch. A small portion of the gut is easily visible but the rest of it is translucent. #Macro #Nature #UnderwaterPhotography #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography A pelagic nudibranch, with its 'wings' spread out. A small portion of the gut is easily visible but the rest of it is translucent. #Macro #Nature #UnderwaterPhotography #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography
October 31, 2025 at 10:04 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
TBH... I don't have many pics of them. I'm sure I've swum past a lot, but those decorations make for *very* effective camouflage.

But here is a hermit crab dressed up as a sea anemone :)
A hermit crab with sea anemones stuck to its shell
October 31, 2025 at 3:01 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Bonus #SeaSlugDay post: Nembrotha kubaryana, which is probably my favourite nudibranch. Pic from Lembeh.

#MarineLife #Invertebrate 🌿
A head-on view of a black sea slug with bright markings. It has green lines on its body and bright orange gills, rhinopores and tentacles #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography #Wildlife #Nature
October 29, 2025 at 10:30 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Apparently today is #SeaSlugDay! This nudibranch is (I think) Ardeadoris egretta. Pic from Anilao.

#MarineLife #Invertebrate 🌿
A white nudibranch; the only colour on it is a yellow margin on the mantle. It is crawling over coral rubble. #Nature #Wildlife #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #WildlifePhotograpy #NaturePhotography
October 29, 2025 at 10:21 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
It's a mantis shrimp kinda day, I think. This one is from Anilao. I'm not sure what it is - maybe a blue-spot mantis shrimp (Haptosquilla stoliura)

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A mantis shrimp in the entrance to its burrow in the sand. It has red antennae, white eyes, mottled red/brown raptorial appendages and a turquoise bit under the eyes (I'm not sure what that is) #UnderwaterPhotography #Nature #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography
October 29, 2025 at 12:04 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
I have no idea what this fish is... likely a juvenile of some sort. Pic from a blackwater dive in Balayan Bay, Anilao

#MarineLife 🌿🐟
The front half of an orange fish; the tail can just be seen in the background as it turns across the camera. The bright orange eye is very prominent and the pelvic fins are splayed out below its body. #UnderwaterPhotography #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography #Wildlife #Nature #Macro
October 26, 2025 at 6:27 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Friday night crab-posting... a very small crab sheltering between the spines of a radiant sea urchin. I have no clue what it is though.

#MarineLIfe #Invertebrate 🦀🌿
A small brown crab with some white markings. It is clinging on to the dark brown/red spines of a sea urchin; the urchin's red skin with vivid blue dots is visible around the crab. #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #Nature #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography
October 25, 2025 at 12:57 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
A very fuzzy critter that I nearly stepped on when leaving home the other day. Glad I noticed it in time!

#bugsky #Invertebrates 🌿
A black and red caterpillar crawling over a doormat. It is covered in coarse hairs. #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography
October 23, 2025 at 11:49 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
A jawfish, cautiously peering out of its burrow in Anilao. This is far and away the most common way to see them; they tend to be rather shy. I think this one is a yellowbarred jawfish (Opistognathus randalli).

#MarineLife 🌿🐟
The head of a small fish, protruding from a burrow in coral rubble. It is greyish with a white chin, has a downturned mouth, and prominent yellow marks on the top of its eyes. #Nature #Wildlife #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #WildlifePhotography
October 23, 2025 at 10:58 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Nope! They're going to be very cunning and send this guy so you won't suspect anything until it's too late.
French police, and a smartly-dressed man
October 22, 2025 at 1:45 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
A jellyfish, on a blackwater dive in Balayan Bay, Anilao. As is often the case, it has hitch-hikers - I think they're all crustaceans of some sort, but I don't know what they are beyond that. Maybe amphipods?

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A jellyfish, viewed from underneath. Its thin tentacles trail above the bell because it is moving downwards. Three small creatures are present around the edge of the bell. #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #Blackwater #Nature #NaturePhotography #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography
October 21, 2025 at 11:44 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
A filefish from a blackwater dive in Balayan Bay, Anilao

#MarineLife 🐟🌿
A silvery fish with indistinct brown spots. The dorsal spine is very obvious; the dorsal and anal fins are translucent and hard to see. The fanned-out tail is slightly yellow. #Nautre #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro
October 20, 2025 at 9:51 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Crinoid shrimp (maybe Laomenes sp.), Anilao

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A light brown shrimp with white stripes on it, perched on the brown and white arm of a crinoid. #Nature #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #UnderwaterPhotography #macro
October 17, 2025 at 9:38 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
A shortpouch pygmy pipefish (Acentronura breviperula), doing a very good job of pretending to be a stick. Pic from Anilao.

#MarineLife 🌿🐟
A small, wormlike fish. It is brown and holding itself straight to resemble a stick or the stalk of a plant. Its tail is curled around a piece of weed. #Wildlife #Nature
October 13, 2025 at 10:27 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
World octopus day, you say? Very well, then... here is an octopus (possibly a male argonaut). No clue what the jellyfish is. The jellyfish is swimming down to try and get away from the bright flashing lights.
Pic from a blackwater dive in Balayan Bay, Anilao.

🦑🌿 #Invertebrates
A jellyfish, upside down because it's swimming downwards. On top of its bell is an octopus; it is translucent/white with some visible brown organs. #Nature #Wildlife #Macro #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #UnderwaterPhotography
October 10, 2025 at 11:57 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Chromodoris magnifica, Anilao. Many nudibranchs can absorb toxins or stinging cells from the things they eat, and repurpose them for their own defences. The bright colours are... fair warning :)

#MarineLife #Invertebrate #Nudibranch 🌿
A brightly-coloured sea slug. It has orange rhinopores and gills. The body is covered in black and blue stripes; there is a white marginal band with a yellow stripe in the middle. Its head is raised slightly off the coral its moving over #Macro #UnderwaterPhotography #Wildlife #WildlfePhotography #Nature #NaturePhotography A brightly-coloured sea slug. It has orange rhinopores and gills. The body is covered in black and blue stripes; there is a white marginal band with a yellow stripe in the middle. It faces the camera and its head is raised so that the yellow mouth and tentacles are visible. #Macro #UnderwaterPhotography #Wildlife #WildlfePhotography #Nature #NaturePhotography
October 8, 2025 at 12:31 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Pseudanthias squamipinnis, Anilao. Its common name might be a lyretail anthias, or a scalefin anthias, or a sea goldie, depending on who you ask. But whatever they're called, they're always good to hang out with on the reef tops at the end of a dive.

#MarineLife 🐟🌿
A small colourful fish. Its body is orange, becoming purple-tinged towards the head and pale towards the tail. It has a prominent purple blotch at the base of its light purple pelvic fin and a purple tale with a dark margin. The erect dorsal fin has a yellow stripe at the base of the front part, a red stripe running into a black spot at the top of the rear half, and a long yellow spine rising from the front. There are plate corals in the background. #UnderwaterPhotography #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #Nature #Wildlife
October 7, 2025 at 12:25 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
It's already #CtenophoreDay in most of the world, so putting in a slightly early post :) Pic from Balayan Bay, Anilao. My best guess is it's Leucothea sp., but I could be entirely wrong about that

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A ctenophore in open water. the bottom of it is rather more solid than the top half. Iridescent lines descend from the top to the bottom of it #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #Nature #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography
October 4, 2025 at 12:12 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
I'm not sure what happened to her mouth... but she's still the boss of her anemone.
Anemonefish (Amphiprion sp.), Anilao

#MarineLife 🐟🌿
An orange-red fish looking out from between the brown tentacles of an anemone. It has a white bar from the top of its head to below the gills, just behind the eyes. Its mouth has been damaged and its lips are twisted to leave one side of its mouth permanently open. #UnderwaterPhotography #Nature #NaturePhotography #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #Macro
October 1, 2025 at 11:35 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Nudibranch time! Halgerda batangas. Pic from Anilao, which is in Batangas province.

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A white nudibranch covered in a network of fine orange lines, with red spots/tubercles. It has black and white gills and rhinopores #UnderwaterPhotography #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography #Nature #Wildlife #Macro
September 30, 2025 at 4:08 PM