Some pics from today at Flushing Beach. Above, a pair of Green shore crabs Carcinus maenas, below two Furrowed crabs Xantho hydrophilus. (I probably should have gone for a whole crab series, as I saw several other common species…) Instead I took loads of random photos, of things that were 150 mm to things that were only 5 mm, with varying success. For instance of a Painted Topshell Calliostoma zizyphinum on the invasive Bryozoan Watersipora subatra. Also the underside of the urchin Psammechinus miliaris, showing its mouth (Aristotle’s Lantern). Photobombing top left is the commensal worm Flabelligera affinis (which I noticed as well the last time I took a version of this picture). Bit random but it was fun practicing. It actually is more difficult to take photos abovewater compared to underwater due to the glistening and the awkward position kneeling on wet gravel/rocks. Next time I might try a tripod (ideally remote flash would be used but I do not think I am going to invest in that). Btw, if you are on instagram, I also post pics as @an_bollenessor.
Tag Archives: bryozoan
a very low tide at Falmouth part 2
On to some of the more tricky species to identify. The rock overhangs, the home of the Painted top shells, are covered in sponges, tunicates and bryozoans. These are organisms I need to spend some more time on, as they are diverse, pretty and easy to photograph (they do not scurry away or give any macro depth-of-field problems). First two pictures of the large, nicely textured sponge Ophlispongia papilla. After that, the cream-coloured sponge Dysidea fragilis and the yellow sponge Aplysilla sulfurea. Side-by-side the bryozoan Disporella hispidata and what might be the sponge Clathrina coriacea.
There were quite a lot of other sponges and bryozoans to see as well, so I’ll definitely investigate more the next low tide. Some other species: the tiny polychaete worm Euphrosine foliosa (first two pics). Next, Chaetopterus variopedatus, a quite large polychaete worm (thanks to David Fenwick for the ID), a tiny glossy bivalve Kellia suborbicularis (thanks to David again) and what is probably a Chameleon prawn Hippolyte varians.
st. agnes
Last Sunday I ventured to the north coast for a rock pool ramble with Matt Slater of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust (see this great blog) and the local marine conservation group (who also have a nice blog). I actually had never rock pooled at the north coast before (shame on me) and so it was nice to see this exposed habitat, quite different from my main haunts at Castle Beach in Falmouth and Trefusis Point in Flushing:
The rocks were much more bare and the number of animals a lot lower. However, there were quite some seaweeds. I finally saw (the edible) Laver Porphyra spp (probably Black laver Porphyra dioica):
Another edible species, Dulse Palmaria palmata, was incredibly common here:
I won’t add too many seaweed pics in this post, but I liked this shot of Serrated wrack Fucus serratus:
Brown and yellow Flat periwinkles Littorina obtusata (or possibly Littorina mariae, I did not bother to check) where common:
We found a Shore cling fish Lepadogaster lepadogaster and a Five-bearded rockling Ciliata mustela:
I found a couple of pieces of a branched seaweed covered in the bryozoan Electra pilosa:
All in all a good session. I hope to go back soon to take better pictures of the seaweeds!
rock pooling from the comfort of my home
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: 
An Bollenessor 