CRITTER CONFIDENTIAL Critter compilation
To celebrate his column ’ s 10-year anniversary , Paul Naylor lists the top ten animals that have given him the most intrigue and underwater enjoyment over the years
Just as it ’ s often said you can tell the quality of a football team from its substitutes ’ bench , the animals that didn ’ t make the cut show the level of competition here . It ’ s certainly a surprise for me to discover there ’ s no room for hermit crabs , seals , sharks , gobies or pipefish ! In the age-old format , here are my ten in reverse order . It ’ s just my personal choice of course ... what ’ s yours ?
Long-spined sea scorpion , well camouflaged and waiting for passing prey
10 . Long-spined sea scorpion – Taurulus bubalis
Coming in at number ten is a superb colourchange artist and ambush predator that I think is under-appreciated and probably under-recorded because they are usually so well camouflaged . I was recently astonished to watch a lobster walking across a kelp-covered seabed and see several of these fish fleeing as they were disturbed . Without the lobster ’ s intervention , I don ’ t think I would have spotted any of them ! Sea scorpions seem to be highly territorial and I have encountered the same one in exactly the same spot several months apart .
12