Viewing: Cnidaria
June 26, 2017
The comb jellies Bolinopsis and Mnemiopsis
I took this ‘one off’ shot of a clear jelly during my dive at Moonta Bay jetty in June 2017. While the photograph is enigmatic, my observations were sufficient for me to pursue a positive identification of the species. It turned out to be a comb jelly, and my interest in the animal was piqued and extended with help from the author of the books Stung! and Jellyfish: A Natural History, Dr Lisa-Ann Gershwin. I posted the photo on the…
Posted in Cnidaria, Invasive species, Jetties, Marine invertebrates | By Steve Reynolds
December 13, 2016
The Upside-down Jellyfish, Cassiopea ndrosia
The last thing that I expected to be doing on the first days of my recent retirement from work was studying jellyfish, but that’s exactly what happened! That’s just the way that things go sometimes. It all started over the Queen’s Birthday holiday long weekend last June though, as far as I can determine. That was the weekend that I decided to go kayaking alone at Garden Island. I think that I noticed an upside-down jellyfish in the shallow water…
Posted in Cnidaria, Marine invertebrates | By Steve Reynolds
May 5, 2015
Tube Anemone Sighting at Second Valley
During my Christmas break in January 2015, after not being able to dive for several months between early September and the end of December 2014, I managed to do three dives in the space of one week. Apart from making up for lost time, I was also preparing for a couple of dives that I had booked in Waikiki, Hawaii that same month (January 2015). My second dive that month was appropriately at Second Valley. Allan Horsfall was my buddy, as…
Posted in Cnidaria | By Steve Reynolds
December 21, 2014
The Swimming Anemone, Phylctenactis tuberculosa
The swimming anemone, Phylctenactis tuberculosa, may vary in colour from the usual dull orange-brown to olive, to red-brown, to orange, pale pink and light to dark grey-blue, and often combinations of these colours (according to “A field guide to the marine invertebrates of South Australia” by Karen Gowlett-Holmes). I took this photo of a swimming anemone at Port Victoria in February 2012: – Close-up shot of a swimming anemone (Photo: Steve Reynolds at Port Victoria ) Although these anemones…
Posted in Cnidaria | By Steve Reynolds
October 15, 2014
A Swimming Anemone’s mistaken identity
The unusual form of the Swimming Anemone was recently mistaken for a bubble coral. Fortunately the Marine Life Society of South Australia’s expert eyes picked up on the error and politely set the record straight. Invertebrate blogger and author of Aristotle’s Lantern Heather Lynn initially suggested on Facebook that the following photo was beyond its known range of distribution. Guerilla Bay in NSW, Australia (southeast coast). Photo copyright 2014 by Vera Kurz Heather’s post on Facebook read: “My lovely friend and…
Posted in Citizen Science, Cnidaria, Coral, intertidal zone | By Steve Reynolds
October 7, 2014
Aristotle’s lantern and other ‘invertebrate bits’ by Heather Robertson
Heather Lynn Robertson/Stoker writes a blog on marine invertebrates entitled Aristotle’s Lantern. As the title of her blog suggests, Heather seems to be particularly keen on sea urchins. In her own words, “Aristotle’s lantern… is a hard, calcareous feeding structure comprised of very intricate parts unique to sea urchins.” Here is a small excerpt from one of Heather’s recent blog posts: “So this is the underside or oral surface of Spike, a purple urchin (Arbacia punctulata) that I had in…
Posted in Cephalopods, Cnidaria, Coral, Creative writing | By Steve Reynolds
August 2, 2014
Velella velella, the By-the-Wind-Sailor
Society member, Geoff Mower, recently sent us a message as follows: – “A few years ago I was travelling in New Zealand, and wandered in the late afternoon along Keri-Keri Beach, just north of Auckland. Keri-Keri is one of NZ’s well-known black sand beaches, and is worth visiting for that reason alone. If you need another reason, this is the beach where Jane Campion’s “The Piano” was filmed. Anyway, what I found were thousands of cast up sails of Velella…
Posted in Cnidaria | By Steve Reynolds