We met up with friends in Anglesey (Cymru/Wales) last week. The weather was beautiful, but the viz was milky and the rock pools quite bare. However, there were some interesting animals to see in the pools on the upper shore: rafts of springtails (Anurida maritima). These are tiny but fascinating animals that hide in crevices or under seaweed at high tide but that live in groups on the water surface when it is still. This is helped by bristles that make them highly hydrophobic, a circatidal rhythm and pheromones that allow them to aggregate. Springtails are extremely abundant and important in terrestrial ecosystems but have made a home in the sea as well (and fun fact: although they have six legs, they are not insects). Anurida scavenge on dead animals but themselves fall prey to mites. This tiny raft (the larger springtails are only 3mm) houses two species: a Red Snout Mite (Neomolgus littoralis) a Bdella species (thanks for ID Matthew Shepherd!) and several smaller Halotydeus hydrodomus. The raft in the photo is about the size of a stamp but there is quite a lot going on!

These photos were taken with the 60mm macro lens and the Raynox 250D macroadapter and a cygnustech diffuser (dipping into the water).