Rudy’s Randalli (Sylvia and Tom’s too!)
As many people will tell you, the Twilight Zone on the slopes of Laha Ambon are pretty much full of frogfish. Not only do we have our very own species, the Maluku Frogfish, (Histiophryne psychedelica) which our team discovered in 2008, we have a huge array of other species ranging through clown, painted, striatus, hairy, giant frogfish to tiny, huge, fat, thin, lazy varieties. if you’re interested in seeing more, we have a dedicated residents page showing many of the individuals you’ll find here in Ambon, but of course we’re always looking for more. (click here to see our frogfish gallery)
As a rule, if you can think of a species of frogfish, we probably have it in Ambon. Often, they’re hanging around in groups, and as a result there are times when we can see multiple specimens on one dive. The resort record is 17 individual frogfish on one dive, but maybe with all of our dedicated dive team on the case, we can go for a record breaking dive!
Two Hairy Dudes, Marcel Hagendijk
Rather than us telling you all about our frogfish and how our experienced guides will go to any length to help you to find them, let’s have someone else take the stage today. Here’s a report from one of our repeat guests, Mr Rudy Hayat, who had a great froggie experience on his most recent visit to Maluku Divers in September 2011;
Antennarius Randalli (Randall’s Frogfish) and its little family touring in Ambon bay :
I have forgotten my mask at the resort and thought i could not go for the diving. I was already mad because I just came for the week end. But Stoner, one of the dive master, has been kind enough to lend me his mask.
Hence, i have been able to dive on this Saturday 17 September morning and thanks to Stoner i had one of my best exciting dive.
Indeed, I do like the muck diving but what I like the most is seeing some unforeseen critters.
We were diving with Tom & Sylvia from Netherlands and thanks to Sylvia’s extremely-sharpened eyes, we have been able to see a frogfish that we did not know was hanging around in Ambon Bay.
The story is really stunning : First, she has found a tiny baby frogfish. Not a regular one but at the time of the dive, we just were not sure about the species. Then, she found a bigger one which was probably the Mama and another tiny baby. This was already incredible because it is very seldom so see several of them at the same place, so there was a total of 3 frogfishes close to a soft coral (Goniopora sp.) and then few minutes later, she has found a 4th one ! I can guarantee you that she was very excited and we can understand her!!!
- Antennarius-Randalli, Rudy Hayat
These frogfishes belongs to a very cryptic species and is known under the latin name of Antennarius Randalli or Randall’s Frogfish.
It can be brown or cream but the very specific key-signs to recognize the species is that it is very thin (such as a leaf fish) and has moreover 5 little white spots & 1 larger black ocellus (that we cannnot always see).
So Thanks again to Sylvia for your skill and Stoner for his Mask, this has made a very enjoyable week end for me !
As you can tell Mr Rudy was as happy for Sylvia to find the frogfish as he would have been to find it himself. That’s one of the great things about Ambon, there are so many specimens to see, it’s a really enjoyable and social experience to scour the unique habitats with the experienced guides and other divers all searching for the best and rarest critters. As you can see from the images here, there is often a lot of success.
See you in Ambon!
