The Rhinopia is without a question the undisputed king, top of the Holy Grail List critter find in the world and we have them here in Anilao, the trick is finding them. There is no real season to finding them but when they do turn up you can almost feel the excitement sweep through the local community.

Rhinopia eschmeyeri

 Found in depths ranging from 3 - 40 meters on seaward facing slopes and most active just before a current change. The Rhinopias frondosa are commonly found with the R. eschmeyeri.

Rhinopias eschmeyeri (purple variety)

The purple R. eschmeyeri is  amazingly beautiful and a gaudy for sure. Despite the bright coloration they remain cryptic and very difficult to see. The large paddle flap eye brows conceal its ever watching glare while the white decoy eye spot distracts its prey as well as it distracts the viewers eye.

Rhinopias eschmeyeri (Smooth purple)

Gape strike feeders like the Rhinopia excite their victims into the strike zone while expending very little energy. They Rhinopia will only leave the bottom in extreme circumstances spending their entire life-cycle on the substrate.

Rhinopias frondosa

The R frondosa  is not only colorful but has an intricate mottled color pattern on its skin, along with skin tags and appendages. This creature is so amazingly beautiful that its nearly impossible to swim away from

Rhinopias frondosa

Join us at Crystal Blue Resort and learn the Natural History of these amazing critters and many others as we guide you through the odyssey of Anilao....

Let your adventure begin here..

Adapted for Crystal Blue Website and not for any other use without the exclusive permission from Mike Bartick, Sport Diver/Bonnier Cooperation and Crystal Blue Resort. All content of this article photos and script herein are owned and copyrighted by Mike Bartick- Saltwaterphoto.com