Reef Safari stamps

Nautilus

Nautilus pompilius

The Nautilus is a distant cousin of squid and octopus, boasting many more tentacles (about 90) and a hard-outer shell. In fact, Nautilus species are the only remaining cephalopods (a particular class of marine mollusc including squid and octopus) with an external shell. Its tentacles are coated in a sticky substance that helps it to capture its prey, which is usually a crustacean.

To swim it sucks water into a chamber of its shell, then expels the water by pulling its body into the chamber, creating jet propulsion to thrust itself backwards. The Nautilus on the stamp is shown swimming towards a soft coral called Red Whip Coral.

Olive Sea Snake

Aipysurus laevis

Also known as Golden Sea Snake this is a highly venomous, true snake and breathes air. It spends its entire life on the ocean and its large lungs allow it to stay underwater for hours between breaths at the surface. This snake can grow up to two metres long and has a special light-sensing tail that enables it to remain totally hidden in the reef during daylight hours. In the stamp the Olive Sea Snakes swim among hard Acropora corals.

While the Olive Seasnake of the Great Barrier Reef is usually, as its name suggests, an olive to pale-brown colour, in other parts of Australia it varies in colour. It never leaves the water and feeds on small to medium fish, as well as invertebrates such as prawns and crabs.

Green Sea Turtle

Chelonia mydas

Six of the seven species of marine turtle are found in the Great Marrier Reef, including the Green Sea Turtle. Green turtles are found most commonly in seaweed-dense coral reefs and around sea grass pastures closer to the shore.

Remote Raine Island on the Great Barrier Reef is home to the world’s largest green turtle breeding ground. Breeding season is between late October and February, and female green turtles breed every two to eight years. Each female can lay anything from between 60 and around 150 eggs, and they don’t eat during mating season. Green turtle egg predators include birds, crabs and sharks. Green turtles migrate long distances between feeding grounds and hatching beaches. Adult green turtles feed mostly on algae and seagrass. However, they also eat jellyfish, so they are not completely herbivorous.

Emperor Angelfish

Pomacanthus imperator

Emperor Angelfish have bulky, strong jaws to feed on plants and small invertebrates. Its body is very thin, which allows it to move through the reef with ease. It grows to around 38 centimetres long and is strong enough to eat sponges which are made up of tiny, needle-like pieces of silica – the equivalent of a human chewing on small shards of glass!

The markings of the Emperor Angelfish change as it ages. Juveniles are dark blue with blue and white rings. Adults have yellow and blue stripes with black around the eyes. The stamp shows an adolescent fish with markings transitioning from rings to stripes. A juvenile fish can be seen in the background.

Grey Reef Shark

Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos

The inquisitive Grey Reef Shark is most often seen in shallow water near the drop-offs of coral reefs. The Grey Reef Shark is bronze to grey in colour on top and a paler shade on its under-side, with a black outline on its tail fin. The species looks similar to the Galapagos Shark, save for the colouration of the tail.

The Grey Reef Shark is usually just under two metres in length. When threatened, this shark species is known to raise its head, arch its back and lower its fins. It has an excellent sense of smell and can track prey from long distances. This species feeds mainly on bony fishes and hunt individually or in groups. A Giant Clam Tridacna gigas can be seen at the bottom right of the stamp.