Tag Archives: Gibbula umbilicalis

more macro rockpooling

Posted on by under molluscs, Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II, rock pooling

Another quick, brisk trip to the rocky shore in my village of Flushing today to practice my macro photography with the 60mm lens. I used the highest F-stop, varied the output of the flash and let the camera decide the shutterspeed and ISO. I did not find anything too special, but the very common organisms are just as pretty as the rarer species. Above and below juveniles of the Flat topshell Gibbula umbilicalis and the Grey topshell Gibbula cineraria on pink encrusting algae. Still not quite used to not having optical zoom as with my old Canon Powershot but quite happy with the shots, especially as all were hand-held. As I am lazy, these are JPEGs with some  tweaking using Windows photoviewer.

Below a Black-footed limpet Patella depressa, a more ‘atmospheric’ shot of a periwinkle, might be the ‘normal’ Littorina littorea but not 100% sure, and a baby Edible crab Cancer pagurus. Really looking forward to go into the water again, but not only is it still cold and grey, it is very windy and choppy so bad viz. Probably another rockpooling post next weekend!

iPhone macro photography

Posted on by under iPhone, molluscs, photography, rock pooling

I used to have an olloclip lens for my phone (see these old posts), but now I have a new phone (an iPhoneSE) I bought a much cheaper 3-in-1 clip-on lens set. I mainly bought it for the macrolens, which in this case magnifies 20x. This is actually a bit too much, as you have to almost press the lens on top of the subject and the depth of field is very minimal. The image size corresponds to 9 x 9 mm. I went rock pooling twice in Flushing and it was a lot of fun playing around with it. The photo above is a detail of the Flat topshell Gibbula umbilicalis, which I found quite revealing: the surface is very weathered and the stripes are not that regular anymore viewed up close. Below the first whorls of the same shell, a small Painted topshell Calliostoma zizyphinum, a chiton (believe Lepidochitona cinerea as the shell plates are granular, but it is not possible to make out the girdle due to the depth of field issues) and a tiny Littorina saxatilis (probably, there are similar-looking species).         Next, the invasive but very pretty bryozoan Watersipora subtorqata. Common in marinas and on boats but also under rocks on this site. Some colonies are red, others black with a red rim.  Finally, some barnacles (I have not given these much attention so far, which is a shame, as they are very interesting animals (and were an important inspiration source for Darwin). The first are very small Verruca stroemia, then Semibalanus balanoides (I believe; I need to check aphotomarine and the excellent flickr accounts by Ian Smith some more). Next, a tiny brittlestar and finally the funny face of a limpet Patella vulgata. I will be switching from snorkelling to rockpooling in the winter months and thus will use it a lot more. Most lichens are perfect for this little lens as they tend to be flat and have beautiful colours and textures so I will post about these soon.

Photography Update

Posted on by under anemones, Canon G16, eggs, molluscs, nudibranchs, seaweeds, snorkeling, sponges, tunicates

img_9033More photography practice lately. I have started to use Photoshop to post-process images, which is hard. I have sat with Thomas Daguerre for a session which was very helpful. For some images, the twiddling is of not much use; the image above of a Bull huss egg case for instance I am pretty happy with as is. Below I have pasted some before and after-Photoshop photo’s. Mostly adjusting highlights and contrast, cropping and playing around with sharpness (in the RAW files), most images tend to be a bit reddish. I have not bothered to tackle the ‘marine snow’ with the Spot Healing brush tool. First, Snakelocks anemones, next, Cocks’ comb Plocamium, then Harpoonweed Asparagopsis armata and an old kelp holdfast covered in feeding Grey topshells Gibbula cineraria.img_9739b img_9739cimg_9710img_9710cimg_9733 img_6792eimg_8662new2On and under the seaweeds I encounter many interesting tiny animals, but it is hard to take good photo’s without a macrolens. I have pasted a couple photo’s below (none have been edited in any way): the Stalked jellyfish Haliclystus octoradiatus (these can also be reddish or brownish, and can be found on a wide variety of seaweeds), a sponge, a juvenile Snakelocks anemone Anemonia viridis (next to a Flat top shell Gibbula umbilicalis) and the Star ascidian Botryllus schlosseri where I later noticed the fecal pellets underneath. Pooping tunicates, that is what we need more pictures of!img_8888img_8872img_8685img_9344Finally, some more before- and after- Photoshop images. The first is the nudibranch Rostanga rubra (‘Red doris’) which was only 5mm or so (see also the tiny Daisy anemone in the background). I shot it today, very cold: 4 degrees, and the water might have been only 8 degrees, brrrr! Next, a closeup of the seaweed Osmundea (see the first photo of this post) which shows its interesting pigmentation. The photo’s are nothing special yet, but I notice I am making progress. Excitingly, I just have ordered a macro wetlens and so hope to get some proper macro photography going soon!img_9761 img_6792cimg_9782img_9743img_9743b

sea gherkin

Posted on by under echinoderms, fish, rock pooling

Another ‘lifer’ yesterday: a Sea gherkin Pawsonia saxicola, at Castle Beach in Falmouth. It is a small sea cucumber (a relative of the Cushion star next to it); a very cool find indeed!

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The main aim though was to collect more snails to help out in the grazing project. This was pretty easy of course. I collected a couple more Painted top shells Calliostoma zizyphinum and many, mainly juvenile, Grey top shells Gibbula umbilicalis. I also picked up a beautiful small Spiny starfish Marthasterias glacialis; this fellow will go after the snails but as long as the predation is not too severe that will be OK, let’s see. Finally, using my little aquarium net, I went after some fish high up the shore and caught a tiny Two-spotted goby Gobiusculus flavescens. I need to catch a bunch more of those, hope to post about that soon

aquarium update: snails

Posted on by under algae, anemones, aquarium update, crustaceans, molluscs

Time for an update. The five Snakelocks anemones have settled and are doing very well (I have fed them some defrosted shrimps which they quickly devour). The Leach’s spider crab was sitting happily under one of the anemones until it decided to move behind a piece of slate and now does not show itself much anymore. Perhaps this has to do with a prawn I introduced, although I have not seen any scuffles. I have to see what I’ll do about this. If it is really shy then I perhaps have to choose between keeping it or introducing fish. In any case I have seen it munching on some algae and a dead Cushion star and it seems to do OK.

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The main problem I have is the dreaded return of algae…There is quite a diversity of them: fuzzy green ones, darker green blotches, slimy purple ones, brown diatoms and more. All interesting organisms surely but I do not want them to take over the tank! I have used food sparingly and used the skimmer most nights, but now have also removed my daylight lamp, to leave a single actinic lamp (see this post about lighting). I still have to get used to this new look, but less light must surely help. Most interestingly, I have enlisted the help of 80 or so grazing snails. Mainly the Common periwinkle Littorina littorea and the Flat top shell Gibbula umbilicalis but also some other species, including two very small Painted top shells Calliostoma zizyphimum. I never had many snails in my aquarium, as they were always eaten by Shannies, but hopefully they will survive this time. I will dunk in a lot more snails, and keep an eye out which species does best. A Flat top shell (picture taken using my olloclip macrolens for the iPhone):

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One returning encrusting red algae is actually a seaweed, with new ‘leaves’ growing from the round crusts. I suspect it is Devil’s tongue weed Grateloupia turuturu. I have been scraping it off the glass, except from the corners where the scraper is of no use, but will let the rest sit and see how it grows:

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I also noticed that Sea lettuce Ulva has started to grow from the slate. The aquarium does not look that nice yet, but with the new animals there is plenty to watch in any case!