In Photos: 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Glass-house guard by Wayne Jones, Australia. Highly commended, Underwater On the sandy seabed off the coast of Mabini in the Philippines, a yellow pygmy goby guards its home – a discarded glass bottle. It is one of a pair, each no more than 4 centimetres (one and a half inches) long, that have chosen a bottle as a perfect temporary home. The female will lay several batches of eggs, while the male performs guard duty at the entrance.

Photograph: Wayne Jones/2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Eye to eye by Emanuele Biggi, Italy Highly commended, Animals in their environment Fed by the sea, the desert coast of Peru’s Paracas National Reserve teems with life. A colony of South American sea lions supplies the corpses. The decaying flesh sustains insects and crustaceans, in turn drawing larger predators. A young male Peru Pacific iguana (distinctive black chevrons on its throat) had joined the feast within, sheltered from the harsh sun and wind.

Photograph: Emanuele Biggi/2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Simple beauty by Theo Bosboom, The Netherlands Highly commended, Creative Visions In a shallow tidal pool, a colourful cluster of detached fronds of egg wrack and bladder wrack form an abstract pattern against white sand. They have been washed off the rocks surrounding Mangersta Sands, on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. The air-filled bladders of these marine algae keep their fronds floating and exposed to light so they can photosynthesise.

Photograph: Theo Bosboom/2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year