The lionfish is a common site in the Andaman and seen on all of the dive sites we go to, both by daytrips and liveaboards.
Nobody knows for sure how they got their name, and they are also known as turkey or dragon fish in some area’s. One thought is when they spread out their pectoral fins it sort of looks like a lion’s mane, and they are ferocious predators

They are beautiful and fascinating fish but due to their colouring, as is common in nature, most times bright and beautiful means dangerous. Its bright colours advertise its poisonous tentacles. The venom of the lionfish, delivered by up to 18 needle-like dorsal fins and is purely defensive. A sting from a lionfish is extremely painful to humans and can cause nausea and breathing difficulties, but is rarely fatal.
The scientific name for the lionfish is Pterois, and there are fifteen different species in the Pterois Genus of fish.

The largest of the lionfish species can grow to about 40cm in length, but the average is closer to 30cm, with the smallest around 6cm, and they weigh somewhere around 500 to 900g. Their lifespan in the wild can be around 15 years.

They are mainly active during the day and at night the Lionfish find crevices among rocks that they rest in, this is so they are not out of the open where they would be at risk of predators consuming them.

It relies on camouflage and fast reflexes to capture their prey which is mainly fish and shrimp.. Adult lionfish use their distinct pectoral fins to attract the prey. As soon as the prey comes within their reach, they swallow it in a single motion. Though not quite unique, this method of hunting is highly successful in regions where the lionfish is a non-native species as the native population of the area is not used to such traps. They are able to move around very quickly in the water. They are very good at using those long pectoral fins to herd fish and other prey into a confined area, trapping it making it simple for them to get their food. The lionfish’s stomach can expand to 30 times its normal size so they can really fill up, this is why it is such an invader in the Caribean.

They are solitary and they will become very aggressive if they feel that their home territory is at risk. The males tend to be more aggressive overall than the females. While adult lionfish are solitary creatures, juveniles are known to live together in groups. Over the course of time, they become highly territorial and don’t even hesitate to take on the other members of their group to capture and/or defend their territory.

The native habitat of lionfish spans the rocky crevices and reefs of the Indo-Pacific waters, but they can be found in the eastern coast of America. It is not clear how they have found their way there but it is thought that some specimens who were released by certain aquariums, and have begun to thrive in these warm waters without any natural predators. There is one documented case of lionfish escaping from an aquarium located in a house damaged by Hurricane Andrew – the fish were seen swimming nearby after the storm. The “on purpose” introductions are assumed to occur from hobbyists who dumped them into canals (not knowing any better) when the fish either got too large for their aquariums or became unwanted. Genetic evidence from recent scientific results suggests multiple introductions.

Learn more about marine life in the area with our AWARE Fish ID, Naturalist or Advanced open water courses.

Few months ago, I decided to leave Europe for my internship at Scuba Cat. As I had been told that I would have many opportunities to do diving here, I had become over excited because I could never image how the undersea lives looked like. However, I had felt very nervous at the same time.
My first dives DSD (Discover Scuba Diving) took places at Paradise Reef, a beautiful shallow site in the Patong Bay.

My instructor is Sean Porter, an incredibly optimistic English man. I heard that Sean was a very experienced dive instructor but I was still unable to hide my nerves.
I received a thorough briefing about mask, fins, pressure, breathing, etc before I jumped into the water. After putting on me a BCD and air tank, Sean did one more check to make sure that everything was well-setup. For this first dive ever, Sean would only take me down till 6 meters depth. Then now I was ready to explore the ocean.
Once being in the sea, I must breathe through the regulator. Although the air in the tank is similar to the normal air, I felt like it was the weirdest air I had ever breathe in my life. Being told to face down slowly into the water, I had feeling that my heart beat ten times faster to make it. Gosh! I felt water everywhere. I didn’t feel comfortable at all! As struggling few times with breathing and descending, I was now undersea.

Sean guided through reefs, show me fishes. He kept asking whether everything was ok with my ear, my mask and so on. He and I still remember how I was excited as I tried to catch the fishes with my hands. OMG! Fishes are everywhere surrounding me. My eyes opened as big as they can. I saw Sergeant Majorfish, Clark’s Anemone Fish, Longfin Bannerfish, Moorish Idol, Lined Butterflyish, Powder Blue Surgeonfish, Corals, Blue Sea Star, and that “ugly” Sea Cucumber and “scary” Black Diadema Urchin and many that I don’t know their names. I didn’t notice that 20 minutes had gone until Sean gave sign to go up. When we came back to the boat, Sean teased me that I could catch the fishes well but I should stop doing it next time.

The second dives would be the most unforgettable dive in my life. This time I didn’t have problem descending but struggling with breathing and water (again!). As water came into my mouth and my mask, I started feeling unsafe and wanted to go back but few seconds after that, I couldn’t resist anymore. I was shaking, trying to blow water out and somehow the regulator was out. In a second, I thought that I would end my life there but thank to Sean, he put the regulator in my mouth again, pressed the air button, the air flew into my lung and immediately I felt “alive” again. He inflated my BCD and I was already on the surface few seconds after that.
I went diving again a few days later, the feeling of being scared had disappeared and I felt more relaxed, and I guess it will feel like that more and more each time I do it.

It’s hard to believe that I just returned from a scary-but-interesting journey. In dedication to Sean, who made my first dive experience absolutely amazing. He has been doing a brilliant job as an hero undersea. How challenging it is to get over myself to see a wonderful world undersea but since that moment, I knew that I truly loved diving again.

I must agree with Dave Barry- a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author- as he said
“There’s nothing wrong with enjoying looking at the surface of the ocean itself, except that when you finally see what goes on underwater, you realize that you’ve been missing the whole point of the ocean. Staying on the surface all the time is like going to the circus and staring at the outside of the tent.”

Here at Scuba Cat Diving we have a long history of working to preserve our reefs for the future generations. We cannot do this alone, we need your help!

It is important that all divers have a good understanding of their roles in Reef Conservation and how their diving practices can affect the reef eco system.

Learn to Scuba Dive at a responsible dive centre, ensure you will be taught to the highest standards, remember the Cheapest price is not always the best service for you or for the environment!

Here at Scuba Cat we are a 5 * CDC which is the top rating any dive centre can get from and the course quality reflects this. The maximum group size is 1 instructor to 4 candidates, the instructors all work for Scuba Cat Diving on a permanent basis, all our equipment is maintained and serviced by our full time engineer and we operate our own boats with maximum number of divers on them MV Scuba Fun 20, Our own Liveaboard MV Scuba Adventure, 12 and MV Scuba Sport is only 10. we do not believe many other companies can offer you this quality. We recently received many awards from , Project Aware and Reef Check for our environmental work, including the  first Dive Centre in Thailand to be presented the prestigious  Green Star Award.

The quality of our courses means you learn in a calm, controlled manner and also means there is much less impact on the environment whilst learning. Our Instructors give particular emphasis to teaching good buoyancy skills underwater. If you are not in control of your buoyancy you can injure yourself and our precious reef systems. A responsible diver in control of their buoyancy will not interfere with the Ocean life by damaging Corals or breaking sea fans. Practice your buoyancy over sand away from the reef, after  you have mastered this you can conformably swim over the reefs.

Once you are a Certified Diver dont become complacent about your buoyancy. Every dive is different, some sites will be more challenging than others. Always dive within your limits, you have been trained to that limit for a reason both for your own safety and the safety of others.

We strive to ‘make a difference’ to the environment with our diving. With a maximum ratio of 4 divers to 1 guide, means that we can look after everyone and make sure they do no damage, dramatically reducing the impact of our divers on the reef. Ultimately as Certified Divers you are responsible, the Open Water Course certifies you to dive to you limits to a maximum depth of 18m, with a buddy. The guide will do exactly that, guide you… was your training adequate for you to be responsible?

If the answer to this is no, dont worry. We have a whole range of courses to help you become more responsible divers. Why not look at your Advanced Open Water Course, completing 5 more dives under the supervision of a Instructor. This course will teach you new skills required for different diving environments, two core dives will teach you about safe Deep Diving practices and give you basic navigation skills. Included in your optional dives are great skills to help you become a responsible diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Aware Fish Identification and Underwater Naturalist to give you a few examples.

Also there is a whole range of Specialities to enhance these skills further. The more that you learn the more you will see and enjoy, this will also make you a safer diver, for yourself, others and the environment. You could also look at becoming a Reef Check Diver, learning how to monitor the reef.

Always make sure that your skills are up to date, if you haven’t dived for a period of time make sure you take a “refresher” course or a Scuba Review to bring your confidence back as a diver, do this for your safety, the safety of your buddy and the safety of the environment.

Ask our staff on board the boat to help you with your ideal diving weight. The weights you will need will vary on different dives. Are you used to diving in Fresh Water? What type of exposure suit are you wearing? What type of tank do you have? Our qualified staff are there to ensure your days diving is aas enjoyable as it can be. If you are over weighted your legs and feet will be dragging downwards. Did you know even if you are not touching the reef,  kicking up sand can have a negative impact on the corals around you?

At Scuba Cat we have a no touching policy, remember the precious corals and Marine Life can be destroyed even by the gentlest touch. Many marine animals have developed a camouflage to help them survive along with a stinging defensive system, can you be sure that you know them all?

Please take photographs, this is a great way of sharing the underwater world with many friends and family. However  it is easy to become distracted when trying to get that perfect shot and accidentally kick the corals with a fin tip or lie on the rock/corals to get nearer your subject, please dont, would you like it if a giant stood on your house? Why not get our Professional Videographer to make a memory of your day for you.

All our instructors are aware of the importance of protecting the reef and they remove rubbish from underwater, if they see any. This doubles the effect as customers see us taking care of the environment and follow suit and show a good example by removing anything underwater that should not be there. Once a month we hold an Underwater Clean up event in conjunction with Project Aware and there dive for debris initiative, why not join in with us?

We want you to come and dive with us, enjoying the trip leaving us as a better informed, responsible, and environmentally aware diver.

Octopuses are the master of disguise on a reef. Many times someone may be pointing at apparently nothing and then as with a 3D photo and octopus appears!!!! This remarkable creature is compelling watching as it changes colour and texture. Camouflage is possible due to specialized skin cells that can change colour, opacity and reflectiveness of the epidermis. It is believed that the colour changing is a means of communicating with others and also to warn of danger. The muscles in the skin enables the octopus to alter the texture of it’s mantle so as to blend in with it’s surroundings, for example, the bumpy texture of a rock. There is also evidence to suggest that octopus living on a complex habitat such as a reef and are more active during the day have a more developed skin than the sand dwelling and nocturnal partners.

There are 300 recognised species of octopus worldwide. All are known to be venonmous, but only the blue ringed octopus is deadly to humans. Octopuses have 4 pairs of arms and 2 eyes and are bilaterally symmetric. There is no internal or external skeleton, which enables the creature to squeeze through small spaces if fleeing from predators. They are regarded as the most flexible and intelligent of all invertebrates having both having long and short term memory.  There is only one hard part of the body, this being the beak, or mouth that is found at the centre point of the arms.

Octopuses have very good eye sight and some species are able to distinguish colour. They are also able to distinguish the orientation of their body to the horizontal using two organs that are attached to the brain called statocysts. There is also an automatic reponse that keeps the eyes orientated, so that the pupil slit is always horizontal.

The sense of touch is excellent and the suction cups found on the arms have numerous chemoreceptors that enable the octopus to taste what it touches. The arms also show a variety of complex reflex actions. This is due to 2/3 of the neurons of the complex nervous system being located there. The arms also have tension receptors, so the octopus can determine if the arms are stretched out, but the receptors are not sufficient for the brain to determine the actual position of them.

This creature also has three hearts, two are branchial hearts that pump blood to each of the two gills and the third pumps blood through the body.  The blood contains a copper rich protein called hemocyanin, which is effective for transporting oxygen in cold conditions and environments where there is low oxygen pressure. The protein is dissolved in the plasma and gives the blood a bluish colour.

The life expectancy of the octopus is short from 6 months to 5 years. The death of the octopus is genetically programmed and results after reproduction. The male of the species may live for a few months after mating, but the female will die shortly after the eggs are hatched.  During reproduction the male will insert a specialised arm called a hectcotylus into the female’s mantle where it deposits spematophore (packets of sperm). Some species can keep the sperm alive inside the female for a few weeks until the eggs are mature. Once fertilization occurs the female will lay her eggs, which she hangs in strings from her lair or individually on the substrate. This varies depending on the species.  A female may lay upto 200,000 eggs. The incubation period is approximately a month. During this time she is the protector and will gently blows a current of water across the eggs providing them with enough oxygen. However, it is to her detriment as she will not hunt. It has been known for the female to ingest one or more of her arms for sustenance.  Once the eggs are hatched she will leave being very weak and defenseless thus dying.  The larval octopus will drift for a while in clouds of plankton where they feed. . Plankton eaters such as mantas and whale sharks are obviously a threat to the larvae. When they are ready they will descend to the ocean floor.

Octopuses move by crawling on their arms or by swimming. They swim in a horizontal position with the arms behind. Movement is by expelling a jet of water from a contractile mantle. This is one of the primary defense mechanisms as they are capable of fleeing at great speed. Another form of defense is the use of thick blackish ink, melanin, which is dispersed in a cloud. It is believed that the ink reduces the olfactory organs of some hunters that hunt by smell, for example, sharks. It is also known that an octopus is capable of detaching an arm as a distraction when under attack.  The mimic octopus is highly flexible and is able to change shape to look like other creatures. It has the capability of changing to look like a more dangerous creature than the one that is attacking.

These remarkable sea creatures are worthy of watching while on a dive. If you are lucky enough to see one then do not get too close as the octopus will hide in crevices and cracks in the substrate. It is better to observe from a distance away and slightly elevated. Be patient and wait motionless. The octopus will eventually gain confidence and gradually come out into the open for you to enjoy the moment!!!!

If you would like to know more about the identification of species why not sign up for on a  Underwater Naturalist Specialty Course, which will enhance your knowledge and highlight the key things to look for, or a cruise on board MV Scuba Adventure or MV Scuba Fun for a chance to see these for yourself.

The Seahorse is one of the “must see” critters amongst divers in Phuket.

They are found in tropical and temperate waters worldwide often in sheltered areas, for example, sea grass beds, coral reefs and mangroves.  Seahorses belong to the fish genus Hippocampus, a name derived from ancient Greek, Hippos meaning horse and Kampos meaning sea monster. The Seahorse has been named for its’ equine profile. Although the seahorse is classified as a bony fish it does not have scales, but has a thin layer of skin that is stretched over a series of bony plates.  There are fifty species of Seahorses worldwide ranging in size from 1.5cm to 35cm each having its’ own distinct number of plates.

Seahorses are poor swimmers and are found often resting with their prehensile tail wound round a stationary object. They are territorial with the male staying in a 1m square of their habitat, whereas the female may travel up to 100times that area. All species of Seahorses swim in an upright position with the dorsal fin moving rapidly up to 35 times a second!!!  The pectoral fin is positioned behind the eyes and this is used to steer. There is no caudal fin. Each individual has a coronet on the head that is unique to the individual. They also have eyes that move independently.

It is believed that Seahorses mate for life, but there is no data to prove monogamy. However, it is known that a breeding pair will be together for the breeding season.  The courtship between the male and female cements the bond between them and is a very important part of the relationship and may take several days. The courtship behavior synchronizes the movements, so when the female is ready she can deposit her eggs into the male brood pouch. One of the unique things about Seahorses is that the male incubates the eggs. The Courtship dance is also known as the “pre-dawn dance” They may change colour, swim side-by-side holding tails and spiral in unison. Once the pair have bonded and the female is ready to transfer her eggs a courtship dance lasting up to 8 hours will take place. During this time the male will pump water into his brood pouch, which is on the ventral or front facing side, expanding it.  As the pair drift upwards the female inserts her ovipositor into the male’s pouch depositing her eggs.  Once the eggs are transferred the pair sink and the female swims away.  The amount of eggs laid depends on the species ranging from 5 to 1500, but the average is 100 to 200.

Once the male has the eggs they are fertilized and are surrounded by a spongy tissue. The pouch acts an incubator and provides oxygen and a controlled environment where the salinity is regulated to prepare the young for life in the sea. By the end of the incubation period the male consumes a third more oxygen than before mating. The female energy expenditure while generating the eggs is twice that of the male during incubation. The gestation period is 2 to 4 weeks during which time the female will visit the male on a daily basis interacting for about 6 minutes.  When the fry are formed the male contracts the pouch releasing the young into the water column. The birth normally happens at night allowing the male to receive more eggs from his partner the following morning. Once the young are ejected into the water they are independent as there is no parental care.

It is estimated that less than 0.5% of the fry survive to adulthood. The survival rate is higher compared to other fish due to the protected gestation of the male. It is believed that the male takes the role of incubator because the female takes a long time to produce eggs. This reduces the time between clutches, thus increasing the amount of young.  When the eggs are ready they must be transferred to the male’s pouch within a few hours. If this is not possible the eggs are ejected into the water. Once the eggs are laid the female reduces in size. The eggs are equivalent to one third of her body weight!!!

The Seahorse has an unbelievable appetite and eats constantly. It is possible for an individual to eat 3000+ brine shrimp in a day. They will also consume minute fish, crustaceans and plankton.

Unfortunately, there is very little data on Seahorses, so it is impossible to assess the population and whether or not it is endangered. The use of Seahorses in traditional Asian medicine has put pressure on the population as this type of medicine will only use fish from the natural habitat and will not consider individuals from captive breeding. This combined with the deteriorating habitats and souvenir collecting does point to the extinction of some species.

"Take that purrfect shot"

The Seahorse is a prized treasure amongst underwater photographers, as getting the perfect shot can be a challenge due to the coyness of the creature. If you would like to capture “the shot” why not consider doing a Digital Underwater Photography Specialty Course, and now be able to spend more time learning to take the photographs why not take the theory for the Speciality with E learning?