castle beach

Posted on May 27, 2013 by An Bollenessor under algae, crustaceans, eggs, fish, molluscs, rock pooling, seaweeds

Although cold and rainy on the bank holiday Monday, the weekend weather was glorious (and low tide was ‘low’), so it was off to Castle Beach in Falmouth:

To me this looks as good as a coral reef! Loads of Harpoon weed Asparagopsis armata, Thong weed Himanthalia elongata and Oarweed or Tangle Laminaria digitata (there are two similar kelp species, but these remain more erect when above water my guide tells me). Also quite some of my favorite Bushy rainbow wrack Cystoseira tamariscifolia shining blue:

Also iridescent: a tiny (<5 mm) Blue-rayed limpet Helcion pellucidum. Normally found on Laminaria kelp, this one sat under a rock:

Especially on the middle shore, there was quite some change in seaweed composition, with lots of Ulva and similarly bright green, slimey algae in the rock pools. The abundant Shore clingfish Lepadogaster lepadogaster had been laying eggs under rocks everywhere:

You can even see the embryo eyes, I am very happy with my olloclip macrolens (although photography in the bright sun is difficult, especially if you do not want to disturb the animals/eggs too much). There were a couple of quite big Edible crabs Cancer pagurus around. The combination of a trembling crab and a trembling hand resulted in a sub-optimal macro photo of its carapace but it is still a neat pattern:

Strangely (and mostly, annoyingly), the second pump of the aquarium broke down before the weekend and I ordered two new ones. The aquarium has not improved without filtration of course. I will be traveling quite a bit over summer so I will not experiment much with it in the near future.

Mud pooling

Posted on May 8, 2013 by An Bollenessor under anemones, crustaceans, eggs, fish, molluscs, rock pooling, sponges

When it was very low tide last week, I decided to skip the ‘rock pools proper’ on my local beach in Flushing and to check out the zone just below where the rocks and the sandy bottom of Penryn River (an arm of the Fall Estuary) meet. All common rock pool inhabitants – winkles, top shells, edible crabs, worm pipefish and shannies – still live here, but some other organisms are more abundant here than in the rock pools.

Sponges are very common in this silty environment, especially the Estuary sponge Hymeniacidon perleve:

The Breadcrumb sponge Halichondria panicea:

In addition to sponges, I noticed quite a lot of the colony-forming ascidian Botrylloides leachi (see previous post). That explains why I could also find a couple of European cowries Trivia monacha, their predator. Also very common here are the Variegated scallop Chlamys varia and the Thicklipped dog whelk Hinia incrassata (top right picture). I am not sure what the slimy beige stuff is!

I spotted a couple of new things as well, the Red speckled anemone Anthopleura ballii:

Also a first, a Sea spider Nymphon (gracile?):

I found a large patch of these beautiful eggs:

and someone guarding them, a rock goby Gobius paganellus:

A Butterfish Pholis gunnellus:

Very common were little Squat lobsters Galathea squamifera (no picture), rapidly swimming backwards to escape. Even more abundant were these little Hooded prawns Athanas nitescens:

mystery eggs

Posted on April 17, 2013 by An Bollenessor under eggs, fish, rock pooling

I saw a couple of these egg clusters some time ago and asked my friends at the British Marine Life Study Society Facebook page what they could be. Unfortunately I have not had any suggestions yet. Do you know who laid these eggs?

Aha, Bert Roos from the Dutch ‘Noordzee en Koud Zeewater Forum’ reckons these are eggs laid by the Long-spined Bullhead Taurulus bubalis!

rock pooling from the comfort of my home

Posted on March 27, 2013 by An Bollenessor under anemones, bryozoans, crustaceans, eggs, molluscs, rock pooling, seaweeds, tunicates

It was too cold and windy to spend a lot of time on the beach, so I took a closer look at my seaweed catch back home. I was amazed at the diversity of organisms growing amidst the weeds. A lot of them are easily overlooked when rock pooling as you need some time (and preferably a comfortable seat) to find them. Below Bushy rainbow wrack with epiphytic False eyelash weed and Pink plates Mesophyllum lichenoides (I will not give the Latin names of species described in preceding posts for brevity). Some bright green sea lettuce Ulva, a grey topshell Gibbula cineraria, a snakelocks anemone Anemonia viridis and in the middle a bright orange colony of the tunicate Botrylloides leachi: I found many large Breadcrumb sponges Halichondria panicea but the picture I took did not turn out to be in focus. I do not know what the organism below is, perhaps a bryozoan (please feel free to comment!). I am not sure what this is either! Dog whelk Nucella lapillus eggs (I now also notice a tiny brittle star in the middle): Egg cases of the thick-lipped dog whelk Hinia incrassata: A small snakelocks anemone; interestingly enough all of these were the green variant (with purple tips) and there were none of the pinkish ones. I have read some interesting notes about aggressive behaviors between the two types, something to look into for a future post. A Marbled Crenella Modiolarca tumida, a tiny bivalve typical of seaweed holdfasts: A tiny White tortoiseshell limpet Tectura virginea: I saw something creeping out of the seaweeds on the floor out of the corner of my eye: a small Long-legged spider crab Macropodia rostrata. This species adorns itself with seaweeds for camouflage: