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Of all the marine creatures found in the Andaman Sea,
possibly the tiger tail seahorse carries the most mystique.
The seahorse finds a suitable holdfast,
such as this black sun coral,
and anchors itself to it using its striped tail.
Here at Shark Cave a seahorse has become stuck to a worm sea cucumber.
The seahorse struggled for several minutes
before finally freeing itself from the sea cucumber's adhesive body.
Perhaps the most interesting fact about the seahorse
is that it is the male of the species that becomes pregnant.
The gestating fetuses are carried in a pouch on the seahorse's belly.
Typically, litters comprise 100 or more perfectly formed babies,
each just a few millimeters in length.
Seahorses are generally monogamous,
and it is not uncommon for the male to become pregnant
several times per year with the same female mate.
The bluespotted cornetfish, sometimes known as the smooth flutemouth,
is seen hunting for small fishes here in the canyon at Shark Cave.
Its slim profile is both streamlined for high speed,
and minimizes the chances of it being seen as it approaches prey.
The long thin snout bears a resemblance to its seahorse cousins.
Staghorn coral is found in abundance on the east side of Racha Yai island,
and this hard coral is one of the favored habitats of the trumpetfish.
It's elongated body gives it a much larger turning circle than fellow reef fishes.
Amongst coral the trumpetfish often has to make three-point turns,
relying on it's tiny pectoral fins to reverse out of a corner,
before propelling itself forward again.
The trumpetfish's dorsal and *** fins are right back on its tail
and give it a great turn of speed when attacking prey.
The bright yellow variant of the trumpetfish
can sometimes be spotted in the Similan and Surin islands.
A visit to the island of Koh Tachai
often provides a special treat for divers:
a large and easily approached school of teira batfish.