2014 Philippine Biodiversity Expedition

A Return to Devil's Point Pinnacle

Yesterday we returned to the deep pinnacle off of Devil’s Point to collect live fish for the aquarium.

Yesterday we returned to the deep pinnacle off of Devil’s Point, with the intent of collecting live fish for the aquarium. I had my eye on a particularly colorful species from one of my favorite families of fish, the anthias.

Pseudanthias fasciatus, the one-stripe (or red-stripe) anthia, is found on deep reefs in harems of several dominant males and larger groups of females. The males are a gorgeous orange with pink and yellow highlights, and they have a thick, red stripe running down the length of their body.

In order to get fish like this to the surface safely, Steinhart Aquarium biologists Matt Wandell and Richard Ross constructed a fish decompression chamber. The fish are sealed in the hard, plastic container, which prevents a rapid decrease in pressure as they're brought to the surface. Once on land, they're slowly "brought up" to surface pressure by decreasing the water pressure on the pump loop.

In a similar manner, in order to get the mesophotic divers to the surface safely, we must spend one to several hours making a long sequence of progressively shallower decompression stops. These stops, which can last from one minute to more than an hour, are a great opportunity to pause, get out the camera, and spend some time snapping photos of the amazing creatures that live in the center of marine biodiversity—like this one I took of a commensal shrimp living on a Stichopathes wire coral.

— Bart Shepherd, Director of Steinhart Aquarium