Wilderness Portraits by Lloyd Paul Aiello

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  • A foot-long fire lionfish (Pterois radiata) glides over a colorful reef encrusted with corals, sponges and bryozoans 45 feet below the surface of the Red Sea at Ras Mohammed, Sinai, Egypt. The fire lionfish is a deceptively passive predator with 11 dorsal spines each capable of delivering an extremely toxic venom. Although they rarely attack humans, a wound caused by these spines can result in excruciating pain and shock. Lionfish, due to their potentially lethal defense, demonstrate indifference to all predatory species including man. They are known to hunt primarily at dusk, blending effectively with their surroundings where they slowly approach small fish and other prey which are then aggressively devoured.
    P-000166-fire-lionfish-red-sea.tif
  • The ahermatypic Orange Cup Coral (Balanophyllia elegans) extends its 2-inch-long yellow-spotted tentacles to feed at night 50 feet below the surface of the Red Sea at "The Temple", Sinai, Egypt.  Although this organism closely resembles in an anemone, it is actually a true hard coral. Corals are carnivorous animals which feed upon microscopic zooplankton by trapping them with their tentacles. Most corals possess a symbiotic relationship with a class of algal cells known as zoozanthellae and are thus termed hermatypic.  Since algal cells undergo photosynthesis, hermatypic corals can also obtain energy from sunlight. In addition, zoozanthellae reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide within the cells of the hermatypic coral and thus help precipitate calcium carbonate from seawater. Calcium carbonate is a chemical from which a corals calcareous skeleton is made. However, Balanophyllia elegans is an ahermatypic coral and does not associate with algal cells. Consequently, these corals consist of a single polyp and secrete only a simple thin skeleton. Unlike their hermatypic counterparts, ahermatypic corals may be found in all oceans of the world and at depths beyond the reach of sunlight. The white soft coral at bottom (Xenia) exhibits a slow, rhythmic opening and closing movement of unknown function.
    P-000169-orange-cup-coral-red-sea.tif
  • A Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shimp (Lysmata amboinensis) rests atop a Giant Moray Eel (Gymnothorax javanicus)  while lyretail coralfish (Pseudanthias Squamipinnis) swim amongst the colorful corals, sponges, and bryozoans 50 feet below the Red Sea, Sinai, Egypt
    P-000171-giant-moray-cleaner-shrimp-...tif
  • A purple Sea Fan (Gorgonia ventalina) graces the top of a coral head covered in the red encrusting sponge Clathria (Microciona) spinose at a depth of 47 feet off the Riviera Maya in the Gulf of Mexico. Although they may look like plants, both sea fans and sponges are colonial marine animals.  Sea Fans are salt water invertebrates and belong to the order Alcyonacea.  Closely related to corals, they are found throughout the tropical and subtropical oceans of the world. They mostly prefer shallow waters with constant current, but have been found several thousand feet deep.  Each gorgonian polyp has eight tentacles which catch the plankton upon which they feed.  To facilitate this “filter feeding”, the "fan" is always oriented across the prevailing current to maximize the water flow and food supplied to the gorgonian. Sponges are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them.  There are 5,000 to 10,000 known species of sponges.  Sponges do not have nervous, digestive or circulatory systems, relying instead on a constant water flow through their bodies to obtain food and oxygen and to remove wastes.
    P4100126-2-Edit-sea-fan-red-sponge.tif
  • A juvenile basket starfish(Astrophyton muricatum) clings to a sea fan (Gorgonia ventalina) at night 46 feet beneath the “Division” at Lighthouse Reef, Belize, Central America. The Caribbean basket star is primarily a nocturnal creature. During daylight hours, the animal coils itself into a tight mass and seeks shelter amongst coral crevices or within vase sponges. However, at night the basket star sends to the top of sea whips or sea fans and spreads its netlike arms into the current to entrap drifting plankton and other organic particles upon which it feeds. Arm lengths of over 15 inches are often obtained when fully grown. This young individual is in the process of scaling a sea fan at dusk in preparation for an evening of feeding.
    P-000206-juvenile-basket-starfish-se...tif
  • A Red Hermit Crab (Petrochirus diogenes) peers out of a Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) submerged 48 feet below Horseshoe North, Turniffe Islands, Belize, Central America. The Red Hermit Crab is the largest hermit crab species found from North Carolina to Brazil. Also known as the Giant Hermit, it tends to preferentially inhabit discarded shells of the Queen Conch as shown here. The Queen Conch shell attains length of over 12 inches, feeding almost exclusively on algae. Its meat is utilized extensively as food and fish bait throughout Puerto Rico and the West Indies. The Red Hermit Crab generally inhabits sand bottoms and seagrass flats to a depth of over 300 feet. While many hermit crab species have their left claw substantially larger than the right, the Giant Hermit possesses a right claw that is slightly more massive than the left. Fertilized eggs are carried attached to the underbody of the female crab before hatching into larva which float has plankton when young. The Giant Hermit derives its Latin genus name from its hard and stony fingertips (petro = stony, chirus = finger).
    P-000170-red-hermit-crab-queen-conch...tif
  • An adult 14-inch Queen Angelfish (Pomacanthus maculosus) glides over a reef outcrop covered in colorful soft corals under the shadow of the shipwreck Jolanda prior to its being lost into the abyss of the Red Sea, Ras Mohammad, Sinai, Egypt in 1985.  The Jolanda was a 72 meter Cypriot merchant ship owned by the Sea Brother Marine Shipping company. During a severe storm on April 1, 1981 the ship hit a southern reef mount at the tip of the Ras Mohammad peninsula where after 4 days she rolled over onto her port side, her bow awash, and her stern hanging over the edge of the reef.  During a storm in 1985 a wire holding the wreck on the reef snapped and the wreck plunged into the abyss, lost until its rediscovery two decades later on May 26, 2005 in 145 - 200 meters of water.  Today the only evidence of its brief shallow water presence are the remains of its cargo of toilets shown in the lower left of the photograph.
    P-000211-Edit-shipwreck-anglefish-co...tif
  • A fully grown checkerboard wrasse (Halichoeres hortulanus) swims 45 feet below the surface of Ras Muhammad National Park, Red Sea, Egypt.  <br />
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Checkerboard wrasse can reach a maximum length of 27 centimetres (11 inches).  They are native to the Indian and central Pacific Oceans, preferring clear lagoons and seaward reefs at depths of up to 30 meters (100 feet).  Checkerboard wrasse feed on small crabs, shrimp, clams and worms.  Like many other wrasses, the checkerboard wrasse starts life as a female and later becomes male, changing sex at maturity when it is about 12.8 cm (5.0 in) long. It's appearance also changes with age, being white with three black and dark red vertical patches when juvenile.
    Scan-101211-0002-Edit-checkerboard-w...tif
  • An adult 14-inch Queen Angelfish (Pomacanthus maculosus) glides along Shark Reef at a depth of 50 feet in the Red Sea, Sinai, Egypt.
    P-000209-queen-angelfish-red-sea-ree...tif
  • A cloud bank on the western horizon hides half of the sun while the remainder glows red, lighting the Gulf of Mexico below and the clouds above.
    _LPA5176-sunset-sun-gulf-of-mexico-o...tif
  • The spotted moray (Gymnothorax moringa) is a medium sized moray eel also referred to as conger, spotted eel, red moray, speckled moray, white cong, white-jawed moray, and white-chinned moray. Spotted moray eels are commonly 24 inches (60 cm) in length but can grow to more than 6.5 feet (2 m) and weigh 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg).  They inhabit the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina and Bermuda to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. They are also found around the mid- and eastern Atlantic islands as far south as St Helena.   Although spotted moray eels have been reported as deep at 660 feet (200 m), this individual is hiding 54 feet below the surface off the Riviera Maya in the Gulf of Mexico. Spotted morays are solitary animals, and usually hide in narrow crevices and holes in reef structures with only their heads peeking out as shown here.  They have double rows of teeth and are active during the day, feeding on crustaceans and fish at or near the sea bottom. Their bite can cause damage due to the rearward slanting teeth and potential toxins that may be released into the wound.
    P4110585-2-Edit-spotted-moray-eel.tif
  • A 20-inch terminally differentiated male Stoplight Parrotfish (Sparisoma viride) glides 80 feet below the surface admist red cup corals (Tubastrea coccinea) and grey fire corals (Millepora alcicornis) now adorning the wreckage of the Royal Mail Ship Rhone.  The RMS Rhone sunk in the hurricane of 1867 after missing her mark by less than 30 feet and took her cargo of mail, cotton and supplies to the bottom of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands.
    P-000217-stoplight-parrotfish-shipwr...tif
  • The spotted moray (Gymnothorax moringa) is a medium sized moray eel also referred to as conger, spotted eel, red moray, speckled moray, white cong, white-jawed moray, and white-chinned moray. Spotted moray eels are commonly 24 inches (60 cm) in length but can grow to more than 6.5 feet (2 m) and weigh 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg).  They inhabit the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina and Bermuda to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. They are also found around the mid- and eastern Atlantic islands as far south as St Helena.   Although spotted moray eels have been reported as deep at 660 feet (200 m), this individual is hiding 54 feet below the surface off the Riviera Maya in the Gulf of Mexico. Spotted morays are solitary animals, and usually hide in narrow crevices and holes in reef structures with only their heads peeking out as shown here.  They have double rows of teeth and are active during the day, feeding on crustaceans and fish at or near the sea bottom. Their bite can cause damage due to the rearward slanting teeth and potential toxins that may be released into the wound.
    P4110582-2-Edit-spotted-moray-eel.tif
  • A Christmas Tree Worm (Spirobranchus giganteus) buried within Brain Coral (Diploria strigose) extends its two “crowns” 45 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Riviera Maya. Christmas tree worms are widely distributed throughout the world's tropical oceans, residing from the Caribbean to the Indo-Pacific.  The two Christmas tree-shaped multicolored spiral “crowns” per worm that protrude from the tube-like body are mouth appendages highly specialized for both feeding and respiration. These animals possess a complete digestive system, a well-developed closed circulatory system, and a nervous system with a central brain and many supporting ganglia.  The worms have two eyes that can detect light which are tucked under the crowns.  The eyes can be partially seen in this image as two brighter red oblong structures between the crowns at their base.  These adaptations allow Christmas tree worms to rapidly retract their crowns into their burrows at any sign of danger.  Interestingly, the nerves from these eyes do not go to the usual section of the brain associated with vision, and the light-sensitive proteins in the eyes called opsins are not the typical eye variety.  Christmas tree worms come in a wide variety of bright colors and are generally about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) in length.
    P4120992-2-Editchristmas-tree-worm-b...tif
  • On August 21, 2017 the path of the first solar eclipses over the Unites States in 38 years traversed approximately 2,500 miles of the country from Newport, Oregon to McClellanville, South Carolina.  Just outside Shoshoni, Wyoming, the path passed over Boysen Reservoir and these Cotttonwoods (Populus deltoids), as seen here from the western shore.  At this location, totality lasted 2 minutes and 22 seconds, being at its maximum about 11:40 am.  During totality, there was approximately as much light as during a full moon night, and the sunset like appearance of the horizon extended for 360 degrees surrounding the area.  The totally occluded face of the sun surrounded by the sun’s corona can be seen in the upper right of this single exposure image.   <br />
<br />
Boysen Reservoir is located at 4,732 feet above sea level and was formed after the Wind River was dammed repeatedly in 1908, 1947 and 1952, ultimately creating a 20 mile long, 5.5 mile wide, 19,560 acre lake with 76 miles of shoreline.
    _LPA0362-Edit-total-solar-eclipse-bo...tif
  • The sun sets over the Gulf of Mexico behind a mangrove at Rabbit Key in the Everglades as storm clouds approach.
    _LPA5163-sunset-everglades-gulf-of-m...tif
  • Just after dawn, the rising sun begins to disappear behind dense storm clouds floating just above the white-cap strewn ocean horizon at Harbor Beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
    _LPA0225-sun-sunrise-ocean-storm-whi...tif
  • The rising sun lifts above the ocean horizon at Harbor Beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
    _LPA0222-sun-sunrise-ocean-florida-r...tif
  • The sun dropped below storm clouds off Big Sur California and, for only a brief moment, illuminated the Pacific Ocean in blazing color to mark the beginning of Halloween night.
    P-000214-sunset-big-sur-red-pacific-...tif
  • Parrotfish owe their name to the shape of their mouth where instead of teeth they have two beak-like plates.  The Redband Parrotfish (Sparisoma aurofrenatum) grows to 28 cm (11 in) and is common to a depth of 20 m (66 ft) in Florida, Bahamas and the Caribbean.  Especially during younger stages, the fish’s color is highly variable and they can rapidly fade, intensify or change color and markings. Normally as seen here, an orangish-pink color band is present starting from below the eye and connecting to the corner of the mouth.  Redband parrotfish swim about reefs using their pectoral fins.  The tail is only used for bursts of speed. They use their 'beaks' to scrape algae and polyps from corals and rocks.<br />
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Even though the Parrotfish is colorful, they can still be well camouflaged on the reef as seen here nestled between the rust-colored encrusting sponge and green algae on the rock, and the brown tubulate sponge (Agelas tubulata) above.
    Image 005-Edit-redband-parrotfish.tif
  • A Christmas Tree Worm (Spirobranchus giganteus) extends its two “crowns” 49 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Riviera Maya. Christmas tree worms are widely distributed throughout the world's tropical oceans, residing from the Caribbean to the Indo-Pacific.  The two Christmas tree-shaped multicolored spiral “crowns” per worm that protrude from the tube-like body are mouth appendages highly specialized for both feeding and respiration. These animals possess a complete digestive system, a well-developed closed circulatory system, and a nervous system with a central brain and many supporting ganglia.  The worms have two eyes that can detect light which are tucked under the crowns.  These adaptations allow Christmas tree worms to rapidly retract their crowns into their burrows at any sign of danger.  Interestingly, the nerves from these eyes do not go to the usual section of the brain associated with vision, and the light-sensitive proteins in the eyes called opsins are not the typical eye variety.  Christmas tree worms come in a wide variety of bright colors and are generally about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) in length.
    P4131263-2-Edit-christmas-tree-worm-...tif
  • A Rock Hind (Epinephelus adscensionis) peers from his hiding place in the reef 47 feet below the surface off Riviera Maya in the Gulf of Mexico.   Rock Hinds are widespread in the western Atlantic from Massachusetts to Bermuda, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and southern Brazil. The Rock Hind attains an average length of 14 inches (36 cm), although they have been reported to 24 inches (61cm) and a maximum weight of 9 pounds (4 kg).
    P4100075-2-Edit-rock-hind-fish-mexic...tif
  • A Rock Hind (Epinephelus adscensionis) shows a toothy grin as he peers from his hiding place in the reef 47 feet below the surface off Riviera Maya in the Gulf of Mexico.   Rock Hinds are widespread in the western Atlantic from Massachusetts to Bermuda, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and southern Brazil. The Rock Hind attains an average length of 14 inches (36 cm), although they have been reported to 24 inches (61cm) and a maximum weight of 9 pounds (4 kg).
    P4100073-2-Edit-rock-hind-fish-mexic...tif
  • Multiple flocks of migrating Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) are silhouetted against the evening sky as the sun sets over Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the Eastern shore of Maryland, Halloween night, October 31, 1990.  Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, encompassing over 27,000 acres of wetlands, is a major stop on the Atlantic Flyway for many types of waterfowl and other birds.  The refuge, established in 1933 as a waterfowl sanctuary, has been designated of “International Importance" by the Ramsar Convention as it supports over 250 bird species, 35 species of reptiles and amphibians, 165 species of threatened and endangered plants, and numerous mammals.  During winter migration, Blackwater Refuge is home to approximately 35,000 geese and 15,000 ducks. Fed by the Blackwater River and the Little Blackwater River, it consists of numerous freshwater impoundments, brackish tidal wetlands, open fields, and mixed evergreen and deciduous forests. The Blackwater name refers to the tea-colored waters darkened by tannins leached from the marsh peat soil through which they drain.
    P-000215-Edit-goose-sunset-bird-blac...tif
  • Nudibranchs are soft-bodied marine mollusks which shed their shells after their larval stage.  The word "nudibranch" comes from the Latin nudus "naked" and the Ancient Greek βράγχια "gills".  Nudibranchs are often informally called sea slugs, <br />
<br />
All known nudibranchs are carnivorous with some feeding on sponges, hydroids, bryozoans, tunicates, barnacles, anemones, other sea slugs, sea slug eggs, or even their own species.  During evolution, nudibranchs lost their shells and developed alternative defense mechanisms. Some evolved to be well camouflaged, while others as seen here have intensely bright color patterns. Some sponge-eating nudibranchs concentrate the chemical defenses of the sponges in their bodies, rendering themselves distasteful to predators. Certain species produce their own protective chemicals, or release an acid mucus from the skin if physically touched.  <br />
<br />
Some nudibranchs that feed on prey which protect themselves with stinging cells called “nematocysts” can pass the intact nematocysts through their gut without harming the nudibranch or triggering the nematocysts.  The cells are then brought to the tips of the creature's “gills” (cerata).  The colors within the cerata are extensions of the digestive tract, often with a whitish tip where the nematocysts are concentrated, which now protect the nudibranch itself.<br />
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Nudibranchs are hermaphroditic but cannot fertilize themselves. They typically deposit eggs within a gelatinous spiral resembling a ribbon. The number of eggs varies from 1 egg to 25 million!   The nudibranch lifespan ranges from a few weeks to a year depending on the species.<br />
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The nudibranch (Flabellina salmonacea) pictured here is crawling on dulce (Palmaria palmata), an edible alga.  This nudibranch grows to 3.8 cm (1.5 in) with cerata that are colored either brown or orange depending on their prey. The orange color in this case results from a diet consisting of Goniactinia anemones. The whitish tips contain the nematocysts
    Scan-101211-0015-Edit-red-gilled-nud...tif
  • The Coney (Cephalopholis fulva) is found from Bermuda and South Carolina to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and Atol das Rocas.  They are common in the Caribbean and less common in southern Florida and the Bahamas. <br />
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The Coney weighs about a pound (0.5 kg), although occasionally it can weigh as much as 3 pounds (1.4 kg). Their average length is 6 to 10 inches (15-25 cm), with a maximum length of 16 inches (41 cm).  Coney’s feed primarily on small fish and crustaceans. <br />
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As with many other groupers, the females transform into males when they reach about 8 inches (20 cm). The Coney also has many color phases including a common phase shown here, a bicolor phase in which the upper body is dark and the lower body is pale, and a bright yellow phase with few spots.
    P4120902-2-Edit-coney-coral-fish-spo...tif
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