Reef Life Survey volunteers learn to spot cryptic creatures in the Encounter Marine Park.

Hidden treasures of rocky reefs have been uncovered in a biological survey and volunteer training exercise at Rapid Bay and Yankalilla in the Encounter Marine Park.

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Hidden treasures of rocky reefs have been uncovered in a biological survey and volunteer training exercise at Rapid Bay and Yankalilla in the Encounter Marine Park.

Wildlife photographer and volunteer diver Chelsea Haebich, of Brighton, has a soft spot for “cryptic fish and invertebrates that like to look like something else”.

“The favourite for me on this trip was the velvetfish, an animal that sits on the bottom, doesn't move much and just looks like the surrounding environment,” she said. “Most people wouldn't know it to look at it, they wouldn't even see that there's a fish there.”

Reef Life Survey volunteers are trained to identify more than 100 species of fish and invertebrates and collect data underwater.

The information is used globally to help monitor near shore rocky reefs.

Ms Haebich says she especially enjoys finding the “weird and wonderful” animals on our reefs.

Amy Young conducting a macro-invertebrate search. Picture: Supplied

“They are actually quite charismatic creatures, some of the cryptic animals that are down there, it's a real highlight for divers to find them,” Ms Haebich said.

“So that's part of the excitement with Reef Life Surveys, we count all the fish that we know quite well but we've always got our eyes peeled for that special creature that you have a personal attachment to, or it's on your hit list of the fish you want to see.”

Another favourite is the western blue devil.

“They are just grumpy and loveable, they live for 70 years, you can go back to the same spot for 70 years and so long as nothing has happened to that fish, it will still be in that little hole that it's living in,” Ms Haebich said. “We get a kick about going back and visiting our friends.”

Scientific officer and survey co-ordinator Jamie Hicks said eight volunteers joined four marine scientists on the latest expedition, which surveyed 28 transects over seven sites in four days. The project was funded by the Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board and the Department for Environment and Water.