Greg, Greg, Greg.... When are you going to get over your little exoskeleton fixation? It's time to bristle up and face facts.... If I had meant the second most wonderful group of animals in the whole wide world I would have said so!
Search found 76 matches
- Mon May 09, 2011 2:10 pm
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Strange creature?
- Replies: 38
- Views: 4619
- Thu May 05, 2011 10:37 am
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Strange creature?
- Replies: 38
- Views: 4619
Re: Strange creature?
I am so, so, SO creeped out right now. The photos on that page were Just. Too. Much. At least all in one place. Yeow. Fascinating and skin crawling at the same time. I'm sitting at my desk and had just eaten a hard boiled egg. This is not good, folks, not at all. What! Are you actually dissing the ...
- Fri Apr 02, 2010 4:24 pm
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Giant Crab?
- Replies: 5
- Views: 2519
Re: Giant Crab?
They're actually getting wiped out on some islands as too many are taken for food to successfully replenish the population.
- Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:24 pm
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: And the rest of the cast
- Replies: 5
- Views: 954
Re: And the rest of the cast
1 & 2 are great shots. In the first one you can really see why this genus was named Schizobranchia which means split branchiae. The feathery crowns are made up of radioles (the individual branches) which all carry 2 rows of fine pinnules that filter food particles out of the water & absorb o...
- Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:14 pm
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: From Hood Canal--what are these??
- Replies: 12
- Views: 2069
Re: From Hood Canal--what are these??
Fish spine seems much more reasonable. Even if it was a polychaete and a new species just a picture doesn't do much. To have your name immortalized you need to either collect some & forward them to a taxonomist who can describe it or contact one of the programs that will allow you to choose a na...
- Tue Mar 30, 2010 7:16 pm
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Interesting worm shot
- Replies: 2
- Views: 813
Re: Interesting worm shot
It's not really inside. The Arctonoe is a juvenile and juveniles are almost always translucent. The colors of the two animals are so similar it's hard to tell where one starts & the other ends.
- Tue Mar 30, 2010 7:01 pm
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Mystery worm ID
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1043
Re: Mystery worm ID
I'd go with Sipunculus - that reticulated pattern in the skin is typical for the genus
- Tue Mar 30, 2010 6:28 pm
- Forum: Dive Recaps & Trip Reports
- Topic: DIW
- Replies: 10
- Views: 1173
Re: DIW
That Arctonoe is long past the point where it should have found a cuke or something else to ride. Kinda like a baby bird that doesn't want to leave the nest!Dusty2 wrote:Nice shots. that Clown nudie is in re.al trouble. That scale worm is wrapped over his gills and restricting his breathing.
- Tue Mar 30, 2010 6:22 pm
- Forum: Dive Recaps & Trip Reports
- Topic: Redondo Again!!!
- Replies: 8
- Views: 1291
Re: Redondo Again!!!
I agree that they are very wormy indeed but creepy? Beautiful, majestic, sexy - those are better words to describe one of these magnificent creatures. As to what it is, it's a polychaete in either the genus Nereis or Neanthes in search of sex. It's a good picture - you can clearly see that there are...
- Tue Mar 30, 2010 6:12 pm
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: From Hood Canal--what are these??
- Replies: 12
- Views: 2069
Re: From Hood Canal--what are these??
Leslie's a little puzzled herself. If it is a polychaete it would be a syllid but there's something about it not quite right. Kelly, did you see it move or was it just lying there?
- Mon Mar 29, 2010 7:36 pm
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: 12-inch light-edged ribbon worm?
- Replies: 3
- Views: 913
Re: 12-inch light-edged ribbon worm?
We get Cerebratulus that are over 12' contracted which may mean over 10 feet when extended. I really think they should be called rubber worms, not ribbon worms.
- Sat Jul 04, 2009 3:03 pm
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: ID query's for the Experts
- Replies: 2
- Views: 744
Re: ID query's for the Experts
The critter is a polychaete scale worm in the family Polynoidae.
- Sat Jul 04, 2009 10:47 am
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Anyone know this feather duster?
- Replies: 3
- Views: 887
Re: Anyone know this feather duster?
No clue and I can't tell if they're the same or not. All the important characters for both genus & species are either hidden by the tube or can only be seen under a microscope. Great pics though!
- Fri Jul 03, 2009 11:15 pm
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Anyone know this feather duster?
- Replies: 3
- Views: 887
Re: Anyone know this feather duster?
Greg alerted me to this one. There are a few feather dusters whose color is diagnostic (like Eudistylia vancouveri) but that's not always true. With luck he may manage to find a couple so I can figure out exactly what it is.
- Wed Jun 24, 2009 9:23 am
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Whidbey Island Critters
- Replies: 5420
- Views: 996280
Re: Whidbey Island Critters
Looks like a bunch of vultures fighting over a carcass.....
- Wed Jun 17, 2009 11:28 am
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Few critters from Alki
- Replies: 8
- Views: 1491
Re: Few critters from Alki
Hi Greg - Is H. abdomiinalis a specialist on tridens or does it parasitize other species as well?
- Tue Jun 16, 2009 10:14 pm
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Few critters from Alki
- Replies: 8
- Views: 1491
Re: Few critters from Alki
Easy on genus anyway - Phyllodoce in the family Phyllodocidae. Someday I'll get a specimen & figure out the species name but until then....
- Thu Jun 11, 2009 4:33 pm
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Couple critters from Redondo
- Replies: 7
- Views: 1386
Re: Couple critters from Redondo
Flatworm is a perfectly good id, short, to the point, avoids unnecessary waffling about why you can't identify it! Greg's not bad for a crabby kind of guy. it's a sabellariid, probably an Idanthyrsus. Those long thin brown sausages at the base of the tube are strings of poop. They disintegrate rapid...
- Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:19 pm
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: A crabby ID question from California
- Replies: 10
- Views: 1982
Re: A crabby ID question from California
The short answer is that I don't know, Nancy. It takes an extreme macro shot to show the apertures but here's what they look like for arcuata & subtorquata: http://www.bryozoa.net/cheilostomata/watersiporidae/watersipora.html Apertures in the new species look like those of subtorquata. Between m...
- Thu Jun 11, 2009 9:13 am
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: A crabby ID question from California
- Replies: 10
- Views: 1982
Re: A crabby ID question from California
We've got 3 species of Watersipora in California - W. arcuata (an eastern Pacific native), W. subtorquata (invasive), and another species that's undescribed (also thought to be invasive). Subtorquata & arcuata can be distinguished by the shape of the aperture of the individual zooids while the n...
- Sun Jun 07, 2009 8:38 am
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: A Diamondback Hitchhiker
- Replies: 2
- Views: 656
Re: A Diamondback Hitchhiker
True. The most common hitch hikers on nudis seem to be Arctonoe pulchra and Arctonoe vittata. Both are in Lamb & Hanby. Color is variable and the pigment patterns that are supposed to characterize them (a red band in vittata and red marginal circles on the scales for pulchra) are often not there...
- Wed Jun 03, 2009 8:38 am
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: a couple of micro critters for Greg and Leslie
- Replies: 6
- Views: 884
Re: a couple of micro critters for Greg and Leslie
It's not anything I recognize. Was it acting in some way that made you think it was a worm?
(edit) Just saw Greg's post. I'll pass the photo onto some pod-loving friends.
(edit) Just saw Greg's post. I'll pass the photo onto some pod-loving friends.
- Thu May 28, 2009 8:08 am
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Poacher Parasites
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1094
Re: Poacher Parasites
Leeches, doing what leeches do best.... or worst, depending on your point of view. At least they will drop off once full unlike many other parsites which stay with the host until it dies.
- Mon May 18, 2009 11:27 am
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Bad day to be a squid! (and other photos)
- Replies: 18
- Views: 1852
Re: Bad day to be a squid! (and other photos)
Most likely some sort of scale worm. I can't see enough detail to go past a "kinda sorta ish-ish" id, sorry.
- Mon May 18, 2009 8:08 am
- Forum: Critter Watchers - PNW Marine Life
- Topic: Bad day to be a squid! (and other photos)
- Replies: 18
- Views: 1852
Re: Bad day to be a squid! (and other photos)
Kelp is pretty much restricted to the big browns - Macrocystis, Nereocystis, Laminaria, Alaria, Agarum, etc. Anything smaller is just brown algae.
Aren't those parasitic copepod egg sacs coming out of the nudibranch?
Aren't those parasitic copepod egg sacs coming out of the nudibranch?