Today Chris and I decided to have a late afternoon dive on Swisscare house reef. Sarah precisely explained us where to look for Oliver the newly discovered freckled frog fish. We both headed to the coral block when we saw two mating reef octopi sitting on top of it. Apparently Chris got too close because one of the two left his beloved one and headed straight out to Chris’ strobe, wrapping all its arms around it and his arm! The other octopus left behind changed colour and really seemed pissed off! It followed its unfaithful lover and eventually took him back to the coral block and pursued what they had started…
We were both laughing and continued then the search for Oliver… suddenly I saw Chris waving at me! Did he find the froggie? No…he was shooting something tiny in a hole…when I came closer I couldn’t believe what I saw! A couple of Harlequin Shrimps sat there and showed off their beautiful claws in every possible pose!

The harlequin shrimp (Hymenocera Elegans) is found throughout the Indo-Pacific, including the Red Sea. They mostly occur in couples and feed on sea stars. It’s not easy to spot them and for most underwater photographers count in the famous Top Ten or Holy Grail List.
So you can imagine our surprise!
….Ah yes, did I mention that we never found Oliver 🙂 ….maybe next time….