SCUBA News 310
(ISSN 1476-8011)
May 2026

Hello. This month we've teamed up with AquaMarine Diving Bali to offer you 10% off their published prices, free rental gear and an AquaMarine Goodie-Bundle when you use code ScubaTravelUK2026. They are an excellent dive company and Bali is a stunning place to dive. Make sure you don't miss the mantas at Nusa Penida and Tulamben's fabulous USAT Liberty wreck.

What's New at SCUBA Travel?

Marsa Alam for Dolphins, Dugongs and Guitar Sharks What with the seagrass beds giving homes to dugongs, green turtles and guitar sharks, plus dolphin house reef and of course the beautiful Red Sea coral, Marsa Alam has it all. READ MORE Bonaire: the Shore Diving Capital of the Caribbean The dives around the island are all helpfully marked by a stone painted yellow on which the name of the dive is written. Most of the dives are on the more-sheltered west coast. DIVE BONAIRE

Liveaboard Deals and Destinations

Get up to 50% off at some of the best diving spots in the world. A number of boats are also offering extra reassurance through flexible rescheduling options or future travel credit if plans need to change. Plus, make sure you have diving travel insurance from the moment you book your flight or liveaboard.

1. Ambai, Halmahera or Raja Ampat (Indonesia), SAVE 30% in 2026 and 2027. Halmahera is a little dived heaven for those liking the smaller stuff - nudibranchs, frog fish, pygmy seahorses, whilst Raja Ampat needs no introduction. Eight cabins accomodate up to 16 divers.

   
   PRISTINE DIVING

2. Horizon 3, Maldives. HALF PRICE. Explore the central or northern atolls of the Maldives, with up to 50% off.

   

   HALF PRICE

3. Almonda, Five Corals & Seven Sisters (Saudi Arabia), SAVE 35%, Price from USD 2598 1688 per trip per person for luxury 5-star liveaboard.

   
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4. Nautilus Under Sea, Socorro and Sea of Cortez (Mexico), GUARANTEED NO FUEL SURCHARGES.

   

   “In 34 years of running expeditions, we have never issued a single fuel surcharge - and we are not about to start now. Your charter fee will not change post-booking, regardless of fuel price fluctuations. You have my word on that.”
   Captain Mike, Nautilus Fleet

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5. Ocean Lovers, Red Sea (Egypt), SAVE 20%. Choose Brothers and Elphinstone or Northern wreck and Ras Mohamed.

   
   SAVE 20%

See more liveaboard deals to some of the best diving in the world - Micronesia, Philippines, Galapagos, Indonesia, Socorro, Cocos Islands...

The sudsy toxic Lined Soapfish is our creature of the month

Lined soapfish, Grammistes sexlineatus. Jill Studholme/SCUBA Travel

Although small, the lined soapfish belongs to the grouper family. Like groupers, they are aggressive predators, eating small fish and invertebrates.

Soapfish are aggressive predators. Jill Studholme/SCUBA Travel

Live throughout the Indo-Pacific

They live from the Red Sea and the coast of East Africa all the way to French Polynesia, stretching as far north as Japan and as far south as New Caledonia and Australia. From shallow reef flats and lagoons just 1 metre deep down to seaward reef walls dropping to 130 meters.

Bitter, soapy, toxins make other fish spit them out

They are called "soapfish" as when agitated they produce a toxic body mucus that forms a bitter, slippery, soapsuds-like froth. This mucus contains a toxic called grammistin, which gives the soapfish its scientific name Grammistes sexlineatus. If a larger grouper tries to eat the soapfish, it immediately spits it out because of its terrible-tasting, poisonous, slimy coating.

Ingo Rogalla/(CC BY-NC 4.0) via iNaturalist

Change from spots to stripes

The Lined Soapfish grows to around 27 cm, and changes colour as it grows. The smallest have pale yellow spots with red-edged fins. These spots elongate into three lines as the soapfish mature. When fully grown they have several yellow or creamy colour broken-stripes.

Juvenile lined soapfish, less than 17 mm long. Yordan Koshev/CC BY-NC 4.0

Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes) > Order: Perciformes > Family: Serranidae (Groupers and sea basses) > Genus: Grammistidae (Soapfishes)

Sources and References

Lieske and Myers, Coral Reef Guide Red Sea (2012)
Britannica
Diamant, Ariel, and Daniel Golani. "Coloration and Probable Toxicity of Juvenile Soapfish Grammistes Sexlineatus (Pisces: Grammistidae)." Copeia, vol. 1984, no. 4, 1984, pp. 1015-17.

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Diving news from around the World

Australia mapped over 1000 new reefs. Where were they hiding? Scientists have discovered and mapped more than 1000 previously uncharted coral reefs in northern Australia

Seals get their hearts racing to detox after foraging trips at sea Diving is physiologically challenging for marine animals. They increase their metabolic rate on land to remove lactic acid and restore oxygen stores in skeletal muscle after diving for food.

DNA floating in seawater is now enough to let scientists monitor the health of America's dolphin populations Mitochondrial DNA in water sampled near dolphins contains enough information to measure their local effective population size and monitor the health of these populations.

Researchers decipher beluga calls to bolster conservation efforts Vocal communication and echolocation, a navigational strategy used by bats and some whales, have allowed them to survive in extreme environments, but human noise presents a newer challenge.

The Southern Ocean is key to our planet's future - we have a chance to protect it this year The wildlife-rich Southern Ocean is home to a third of the global krill population, which sustains large populations of whales, penguins, seals, seabirds, fish and more.

Global trade in sea cucumbers alarming with many species at risk The global trade in sea cucumbers continues to decimate the populations of many species, according to a recent study that cites escalating impacts and calls for stronger conservation measures.

6 Things you didn't know about Blue Spotted Stingrays At what are females better than males? How long do they live? Why are some pregnancies are nearly twice as long as others?

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SCUBA News is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. This means we are happy for you to reuse our material for both commercial and non-commercial use as long as you: credit the name of the author, link back to the SCUBA Travel website and say if you have made any changes. Most photos though, are copyright the photographer. Please get in touch for details.

Photo credits: Tim Nicholson, Jill Studholme, Kelly Wong Johnson, Pete McGee/CC BY-NC 4.0, DepositPhotos, divebooker.com

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CONTACTING THE EDITOR
Please send your letters or press releases to:
Jill Studholme
SCUBA News
The Cliff

DE6 2HR
UK
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SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011)

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