Viewing: Marine invertebrates
July 9, 2017
The Branched Feeding Tentacles of Dendrochirotid Sea Cucumbers
I recently posted this photograph on the “ID Please (Marine Creature Identification)” Facebook page, asking “Are these sea cucumber tentacles? Taken at Port Stanvac, South Australia.” I soon received a reply from Frédéric Ducarme saying “Yes, dendrochirotid sea cucumbers.” Frederic provided me with a link to Wikipedia where it read ““Dendrochirotida are an order of sea cucumbers. Members of this... Read morePosted in Marine invertebrates | By Steve Reynolds
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... Read morePosted in Cnidaria, Invasive species, Jetties, Marine invertebrates | By Steve Reynolds
May 22, 2017
Nudibranch name change
According to the web page found at http://www.urgdiveclub.org.au/scientific-names-do-change/ , “two-part scientific names contain a hierarchy which can change if an organism is re-classified”. I wrote about this topic in my article titled “Changes to Seastar Names” at http://mlssa.org.au/2010/10/07/changes-to-seastar-names/ . It can be difficult for ‘hobbyists’ such as ourselves to keep up with the changes for projects such as our Photo... Read morePosted in Marine invertebrates, Molluscs, Nudibranchs | By Steve Reynolds
March 25, 2017
FURTHER DISCOVERIES AT THE SHIP’S GRAVEYARD
In addition to my recent discovery of an Oyster Blenny at the Ship’s Graveyard in the North Arm of the Port River, I also found this bivalve mollusc shell there: – I checked it out further when I got home. I thought that it was a Venus shell, Tapes literatus. I photographed it with my mobile phone at home and... Read morePosted in Bony fishes, Invasive species, Marine invertebrates, Molluscs | By Steve Reynolds
December 14, 2016
Acorn worm’s ‘Wolverine’ style healing powers
According to a recent report in the Sunday Mail (4/12/16), acorn worms can apparently regrow any of their body parts from nothing. The report was written by Harry Pettit from Washington, USA. He says that “researchers hope that unravelling the worm’s DNA could lead the team to human limb regeneration”. The researchers involved are from the University of Washington and... Read morePosted in Marine invertebrates, Research, Worms | 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... Read morePosted in Cnidaria, Marine invertebrates | By Steve Reynolds
November 27, 2016
The Predatory Behaviour of an Eleven-armed Star Fish
During our recent dive at Rapid Bay jetties, I recorded a large eleven-armed star fish attacking an abalone. I have to admit that I set the whole thing up though. I was swimming along the side of the new jetty’s piles when I came across this abalone at the base of a jetty pile. It was attached to a small... Read morePosted in Marine invertebrates, Molluscs, Seastars | By Steve Reynolds
September 8, 2016
What Is CIGESMED for Divers?
In November 2013, I hosted Vasilis Gerovasileiou from Greece during his visit to South Australia. We only managed one dive together though. We managed a dive at Rapid Bay jetty on16th November 2013. Vasilis had only brought a 5mm wetsuit with him for his dives in Australia. This suit probably served him well for dives in WA & Queensland, but... Read morePosted in Citizen Science, Marine invertebrates, Molluscs, Research, sea urchins | By Steve Reynolds
July 19, 2016
Follow-up re Sea urchin barrens and mini-barrens
Further to my article titled “Sea urchin barrens and mini-barrens” (http://wp.me/p4BvtZ-pZ ), Society member, David Muirhead commented, “Magazine Bay looks so nice Steve. I can see why you dived that day rather than sat on the beach reading a magazine (or waiting for one to explode)!” David then added, “PS: the only barrens or minis I’d seen in my early... Read morePosted in Marine invertebrates, sea urchins | By Steve Reynolds
July 3, 2016
Victorian marine worm I.D.
Early April 2016, we received an email message with the subject heading “Possible new species”. The message read (in part), “I was just went down Shoreham Beach with my family for a walk through the reef and stumbled across a strange creature. We were able to get a good quality video of it and thought I could send to you.... Read morePosted in Coastal species, intertidal zone, Marine invertebrates, Worms | By Steve Reynolds