Over 600 entries were narrowed down to a shortlist of two for the Young Photographer of the Year award and a shortlist of 11 for the Photographer of the Year award, with the winners announced as part of Biology Week 2017.

The winners were announced last night on Thursday 12th October at the Royal Society of Biology Annual Awards Ceremony at The Hatton, London.

The prestigious title of RSB Photographer of the Year was presented to Duncan McNaught, who photographed the often overlooked world of fungi and insects in his submission “Welcome to my humble abode”.

Welcome to my humble abode by Duncan McNaught, taken in Galloway, South Scotland

Duncan said of winning the title of RSB Photographer of the Year: “I'm highly delighted and honoured my image was selected, the competition was high and I appreciate the difficulty the judges must have had in choosing the winner, I feel proud to have been part of this year's competition and look forward to sharing my amazing news with my family and friends in Scotland.”

17 year old Dheeraj Nanda has been awarded the RSB Young Photographer of the Year prize for his submission “Coleman on Fire”, which captured the symbiotic relationship between the Coleman Shrimp and the Fire Urchin in Indonesia.

Coleman on Fire by Dheeraj Nanda (Aged 17) Taken in Ambon, Maluku, Indonesia

The coleman shrimp and fire urchin share a symbiotic relationship where the coleman shrimp seeks refuge among the spines of the urchin and here the female is the larger one with the male being smaller just like in the case of spiders and a few other insects.

Dheeraj said of winning the title of RSB Young Photographer of the Year: “It’s a great honour to win the Young Photographer of the Year award. Being an underwater photographer, I have always loved shooting tiny critters of the sea. Hence, this year’s theme - “Hidden World” made this competition more exciting to me.

“There are plenty of macroscopic critters beneath the sea surface and they never cease to impress us. I’ve always felt that these creatures should not be unnoticed and showcasing their images in these events would do justice for their beauty.

“I would like to thank RSB for this opportunity and this is for sure a lot of encouragement for my work.”

The entries featured a wide variety of species from across the globe, from as far as Indonesia and Madagascar, and ranged from microscopic insights into the development of frogspawn, to the incredible emerald hues of an Indian lake photographed from 30,000 feet.

Held annually, the Photographer of the Year Competition is open to amateur photographers aged 18 and over, and has a top prize of £1000. The Young Photographer of the Year competition is open to amateur photographers aged under 18, and has a top prize of £500.

This year, the competition theme was The Hidden World. The natural world harbours a wealth of secrets and surprises, and photographers were invited to uncover this hidden world of biology.