Northwest Dive Club

Heath's (but it doesn't have the patch of dark spots in front of the gill plume)? Very pale nobilis?



Hairy orange hermit? There were two of these guys at the base of the jetty at Edmonds, and I have never seen a hermit crab a) so big and b) so hairy.

It's a heath's they don't all have that spot. As for the crab I'll let Greg do that one

Definitely Heath's. I usually identify them by their overall shape, because they always looks like they just got stepped on.

Lynne, here are some color variation I found here on Whidbey :

Interesting that none of those has the "blotch" the book describes, and the yellow one has a yellow gill plume.

The id factor I use is the texture. Each of the yellow nudibranchs has it's own distinct skin texture. Color, spots, can vary greatly and many of the books use examples form other areas which can be wildly different but the texture remains the same. Look at the leopard nudie described in Dave's book, it looks nothing like they do up here. There are many such examples.

Hermit is a hairy hermit, Pagurus hirsutiusculus. The blue markings on the legs don't show up very well on really big, old fuzzy guys like this one.

Thanks, Greg! This was HUGE crab, for a hermit -- probably 2 1/2 inches across, maybe more. First one I can remember seeing.

LCF wrote:Thanks, Greg! This was HUGE crab, for a hermit -- probably 2 1/2 inches across, maybe more. First one I can remember seeing.

I was wondering what kind of species that crab was too. The thing that I found unusual was its dark color and the fact that its body was so large that it could not fit it all inside that small shell. As Lynne pointed out to me:"It looked like an underwater tarantula"...I will always remember that!

Great pictures Lynne!

dwashbur wrote:Definitely Heath's. I usually identify them by their overall shape, because they always looks like they just got stepped on.

So what's the difference between a Heath's and a Monterey Sea Lemon?

Monterey dorids have "bumpier" tubercles and are more pickle-shaped than flat; Heath's have those color blotches on the skin, flatter tubercles, and the gill plumes match the skin color. At least that's what I'm getting from the feedback on these photos in various places.

Tubesnout23 wrote:So what's the difference between a Heath's and a Monterey Sea Lemon?

As I said earlier, Texture and general shape are the two main factors.

The Heaths will tend to be flat with thin frilly looking edges. They look like they have skin covered with tiny warts. Their rinophores are stubby and usually withdrawn and you seldom catch them with their gills out.
Heaths textureThe Monterey's are covered with tiny little cone shaped spikes and the body is very rounded in shape. The gills and rinophores will always be yellow and the black spots will cover the spikes which they do not on the heaths.

Dusty2 wrote:

Tubesnout23 wrote:So what's the difference between a Heath's and a Monterey Sea Lemon?

As I said earlier, Texture and general shape are the two main factors.

The Heaths will tend to be flat with thin frilly looking edges. They look like they have skin covered with tiny warts. Their rinophores are stubby and usually withdrawn and you seldom catch them with their gills out.
Heaths texture

Heaths.JPG

The Monterey's are covered with tiny little cone shaped spikes and the body is very rounded in shape. The gills and rinophores will always be yellow and the black spots will cover the spikes which they do not on the heaths.

montery.jpg

Thank you very much folks!