A stunning shot of a tiny fish sheltering among the tentacles of a jellyfish has put Constable Alex Stammers in the running for a prestigious award.

The photo – taken while Alex was diving off the Poor Knights Islands – is a finalist in the wildlife category of the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year competition.

A juvenile fish shelters inside a jellyfish. Photo: Constable Alex Stammers.

Alex, a photographer with Auckland Forensic Imaging Unit, took the picture while diving at Cave Bay on the ocean side of the islands.

'The next stop was pretty much South America,” he admits.

Alex says he had swapped his wide-angle lens for a macro lens but was struggling to find any suitable subjects until he spotted the large moon jellyfish, with the fish – possibly a juvenile cod – in attendance.

On the way back up he found another of the jellyfish, with another juvenile fish, near the surface.

Some fish species are known to hide among the stinging tentacles of jellyfish to avoid predators.

Alex was using a Nikon D200 camera with a 60mm macro lens and an Ikelite strobe kit.

New Zealand Geographic observes that the Poor Knights Islands enjoy an unusual mix of temperate and sub-tropical marine species because of their position close to the East Auckland current, which has its origins in the tropics.

Some 29 finalists were announced from more than 5800 entries in five categories: society and culture, wildlife, landscape, photo story and timelapse.

Winners will be announced in October. In the meantime, you can vote for Alex's image in a sixth ‘people's choice' category. Click here to see all the finalists and vote for your favourites.