Marine camouflage:

these colourful underwater

creatures are masters of disguise

These underwater creatures are masters of deception

so cleverly adapted to their environment that many

would never be found without expert knowledge.

Brandon Cole, a photographer from Washington

state on the west coast of the US, uses his

 expertise as a marine biologist to hunt for

 the almost invisible animals.

A Coleman's shrimp camouflaged among

spines of a poisonous fire sea urchin in Indonesia

"My pictures show hidden marine life blending

into the background of the reef or seabed,"

said Brandon. "They're hard to find - you don't

see them straight away. Sometimes you happen

 upon them - but many of them require a search

 pattern. For example when hunting a cowrie

snail on a soft coral you have to know it lives in

association with that particular coral. So you look

for the host and then look for a needle in a

hay stack - but you have to know which hay

 stacks to look for first."
A ridged egg cowrie snail hidden among soft coral in Indonesia

Brandon explains why these creatures take such

 trouble to remain hidden. "It has to do with

survival," he said. "They adapt to their

environment through natural selection.

Most of these animals are camouflaged

 against the background of their natural

habitat. This increases their odds of

survival so they are less likely to be f

ound by predators. Many are small and

 defenceless so rely on this trick to survive."
A leafy sea dragon in South Australia

The double-ended pipe fish not only looks like

 the sea grass it lives within but also mimics

the swaying motion of the grass as it is moved

by sea currents.
A double-ended pipefish among sea grasses in Indonesia

Brandon has travelled the world to capture

his pictures, and says: "I think a great place

to go to see mimicry in action is Lembeh Strait

in Sulawesi, Indonesia. It's an especially

critter rich habitat where lots of camouflage is present."
A bearded scorpionfish hides in a coral garden in Indonesia

Another bearded scorpionfish camouflaged against a reef in Thailand

A harlequin crab on a sea cucumber in Indonesia

A peacock flounder camouflaged on sand in Dominica

A hairy frogfish in Indonesia

An octopus camouflaged against sand near a

 sea grass bed in a shallow bay in Australia

A devil scorpionfish well camouflaged in Hawaii

A speckled sanddab in California

A crocodilefish in Indonesia