Chris Gug

The larval stage of a spotfin #flounder dancing to the music in its funky headdress.

#spotfinflounder #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #benthic #scubadiving #underwater #chrisgug #gug #gugunderwater #marinelife

Spyro-Gyra
From the SeaScapes Collection
60” x 40”
I’m trying to highlight the art, but SamSam The Ham Man keeps stealing the show!😍🐹
See it at gugunderwater.com/item/spyro-g...

#coralreef #coral #coralart #coralreefart #decor #fineart #chrisgug #gug #gugunderwater #gugunderwatergallery

A #squaretail #Tetragonurus #fish pokes out from the shelter of its drifting #pyrosome colony for just long enough to get a quick shot.

#squaretailfish #symbiosis #comensalism #tunicate #tunicates #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #chrisgug #gugunderwater #gug

Two very different types of #jellyfish. First, an extremely limey neon green specimen - unsure, but likely #Cunina sp., and then a wacky #Zancleopsis grandis, recognizable by its “two long, two short” layout of its tentacles.

#medusae #nematocysts #blackwater #chrisgug #gugunderwater #gug

The Sash Flounder (Trichopsetta ventralis) is seldomly one that I stop and focus on. But this specimen was unusually big & beautiful & chill, so it justified a bit of video love!

#flounder #sashflounder #larvalfish #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #gug #chrisgug #gugunderwater

In order, we have:
1) #Louvar
2) #swordfish
3) #flyingfish
4) #cuskeel
5) #ipnops
6) #siphonophore (don’t lick 👅)
7) #polychaete worm
8) sargassum #filefish

#deepseafish #larvalfish #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #blackwatervideo #scubadiving #ocean #gugunderwater #gug

Eels go through life stages, and this is the Leptocephalus stage of a #conger #eel, likely closely related to the specimen featured in the Aliens Collection print, “Alien #2”.

#congereel #leptocephali #larvalfish #conger#chrisgug #gugunderwater #gug #marinelife #blackwater #blackwaterdiving

Somebody is zooming in closely!!!🤙

Best way to get over that phobia - just let it wrap all around you and embrace the pain….🤣 in 2 weeks when the scabs heal and the itching goes away, you’re golden!

Thanks!🤙 much appreciated!

Thanks Rebecca!!! I didn’t know there was a blackwater operation in Bonaire (or did you just go out on your own boat?). Yeah, I could stare at these beauties all night!🤩

For my Aliens Collection, I’m diving and shooting in the top ~130’ of the water column, but there’s no bottom in sight - the water beneath me is thousands of feet deep

Sure! I’m not a super frequent BlueSky user - (just kinda stuff copied from my Insta), but that Feed looks like an appropriate fit, so let’s do it!🤙

2 weeks ago, I made the collage in photoshop of still photos that didn’t make the cut for actual use or posts, from my March 6, 2024 Aliens dive folder. Had a spare few minutes last night to finally get to the video clips shot from that same dive. There’s a few hundred folders still to go🤣

You can’t tell me worms aren’t beautiful!!!!🤩
This is a type of polychaete worm, and a very long one at ~12” long. I love their Muppet looking red eyes.

Shot on scuba, while drifting in the Gulf Stream Current, out I. The open ocean several miles offshore from West Palm Beach, at night.

Flash sale!!! All of my in stock pieces from my mobile art show display are now 25% off! Call or email for availability and prices!

The lookdown #fish is already one of my favorite species, but the only thing cooler might just be the larval stage of a #lookdown!!!

#selenevomer #lookdownfish #larvalfish #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #larvallookdown #chrisgug #gugunderwater #gug

Of the several different species of larval-stage #dragonfish that I occasionally encounter on my Aliens Collection dives, this is my fav. More distinct finnage, and super cool color dots.
#larvalfish #deepseafish #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #gugunderwater #chrisgug #gug

From my depth of ~5’ deep, I shot straight downwards at the edge of the world where the shallow coral meets the endless abyss.

#coralreef #acropora #acroporacoral #walldiving #fiji #chrisgug #gugunderwater #gug

I was just going back through my #Fiji Oct2024 folder to pick a particular shot as my July2025 print release (announced in the monthly newsletter in a few days), and found sooo many other beautiful scenes
#chromis #damselfish #acropora #acroporacoral #coralreef #gug #chrisgug #gugunderwater

Death net
Not much escapes from the sticky, stinging tentacles of a #siphonophore. Body of ~7”, and a net of tentacles extending >6’.
Yes, this creature is on the Do Not Lick list.

#forsakaliaedwardsi #nematocysts #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #chrisgug #gugunderwater #gug

Trying something new here…
Here’s a collage of images that didn’t make the cut; all the B and C-listers from one dive on March 6, 2024. Have fun zooming in and seeing how many you can ID!

#larvalfish #deepseacreatures #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #gugunderwater #gug

Six new art pieces were added to the ocean essence collection of fine art prints in June’s monthly email newsletter. View the whole collection at www.GugUnderwater.com/ocean-essence

The larval-stage Sharp-Ear #Enope #Squid. I’ve shot 10K photos of them, and 10K unique poses.

The same species featured in my Aliens Collection print, “Alien #3”.
#enopesquid #sharpearenopesquid #🦑 #cephalopod #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #chrisgug #gugunderwater #gug

The last moments of this fish’s life, as a jellyfish’s tentacles, armed with nematocyst stinging cells, does its work.

Two different #soapfish larvae from the same dive last week. The 1st is ~4mm, while the 2nd is ~6mm. They are indeed on the “no-lick list”, as the adults are well known for their ability to exude a white toxic goo (the “soap”) through their skin when stressed, (or licked).

Too cute to not post! This little behbeh #pufferfish is one of the few fish who seems attracted by the lights of my floating downline, rather than be repulsed by them.
#larvalfish #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #chrisgug #gug #gugunderwater

Love the way this type of #cuskeel larvae sometimes curls its little tail over its face - so freakin cute! 🥰 This guy is ~1.5 cm, and while I can’t be sure, it could be #Monomitopus agassizii.

#deepseafish #fishlarvae #blackwater #chrisgug #gugunderwater #gug #underwater #scubadiving #ocean

Salps, while not at all uncommon, are one of the most fascinating planktonic organisms seen while I shoot for my Aliens Collection.
#salp #salps #plankton #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #gug #chrisgug #gugunderwater #ocean #scubadiving

While not uncommon in any way, sometimes these #oxycephalus #amphipods pose soooo well that it’s impossible to not photograph it! It’s riding a colony of #salp clones

#oxycephalusamphipod #amphipod #salps #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #symbiosis #commensalism #gug #chrisgug #gugunderwater