Tag Archives: Helcion pellucidum

a very low tide at Falmouth part 1

Posted on by under echinoderms, fish, molluscs, rock pooling

Low tides over the weekend, see the previous post for the trip on Saturday in Flushing. On Sunday the wind resulted in the water being swept up quite high on the shore unfortunately (the next very good tide I will make sure to check the wind a bit better, probably would have been a good idea to have gone to the north coast). Also the rain made swiping my iPhone very difficult and I was absolutely drenched. Luckily I had already taken a long lunch break on Friday when it was sunny! As I found a good number of species I will divide them up over two short posts instead of a very long one. In this post some species that have featured before, but that I now have taken better pictures of: a Shore clingfish (or Cornish sucker) Lepadogaster lepadogaster, a particularly purple Spiny starfish Marthasterias glacialis, a particularly orange Painted topshell Calliostoma zizyphinum as well as a close-up of the ‘normal’ colour variety, Blue-rayed limpets Helcion pellucidum, Seven-armed starfish Luidia ciliaris and a Bull huss (Nursehound shark) Scyliorhinus stellaris mermaids purse. Nice colours all around:IMG_6064

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low tide

Posted on by under crustaceans, molluscs, rock pooling, seaweeds

The tides were good this weekend and so we went out to Gylly (Gyllyngvase) Beach in Falmouth, specifically the rocks to the west of the beach (I normally go to Castle Beach to the east):

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Although the tide was quite low, no special sublittoral species were encountered, but everything time you go out you still see something new. For instance, a newly moulted Furrowed crab, Xantho incisus pink and soft next to its old brown carapace: IMG_5469

There were very many small Blue-rayed limpets Helcion pellucidum (see also here) on the kelp:IMG_5412

A tiny Rissoa parva snail:IMG_5409

and a Painted top shell Calliostoma zizyphinum:IMG_5457

Some dark green Cladophora rupestris:IMG_5437

A fine red seaweed (I do not know which one) growing on top of Dulse Palmaria palmata growing in turn on top of kelp: IMG_5455

castle beach

Posted on by 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:

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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:

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

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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:

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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:

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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.