Northwest Dive Club

No Jan, They get up to ping pong ball size. Yours is just a baby. I'm surprised you even saw him with the viz the way it's been and all that growth this time of year. As everyone sez though last winter at Redondo they were out in force. It was the only time I have even heard of a place where you could almost count on seeing at least one every time you went there.

There were quite a few lumpies along the rope between the pilings and the jetty at Keystone the last time I was there this year. Early May if I recall correctly. Most people in our group saw several.

Thanks for the info Dusty, it would be nice to see them little bit larger..
Dan, I found another tiny Lumpie near the rope trail between Pilings and the jetty, so maybe I broke the spell .
While snooping around the jetty last week I found a tiny PS King Crab, so young that it doesn't show the prominent tubercles on the carapace yet. the larger juveniles are not that rare at Keystone, but never saw an adult there, the one in the composite is from Sares Head. We do have Scaly crabs at Keystone, juveniles and adults. BTW, King and Scaly are relatives

Oh, that baby PSKC photo is priceless!

I still remember the first time I saw a scaled crab. It was at the rock fingers off Bainbridge, and I was completely struck by the fascinating pattern on the legs. I looked it up when I got home and figured out what it was, but the one I saw was much larger than the size range the book lists. I still don't completely understand that, but I'm quite sure of the identification.

I know I might be over doing it with the Lumpies, but it is a special thing for me right now :luv:
My second baby Lumpsucker from Keystone braving the underwater world....

OK, I've gotta say that close-up is as cute as a puppy! :luv:

Jan, would you mind sharing with us what camera, lens and strobe setup you used for that (and presumably a lot of your other recent macro work)?

Oh, Jan, those are amazing pictures! When I realized what kind of sculpin he was sitting underneath, I suddenly appreciated what a tiny fellow he was. How you ever spot these things just baffles me. It is SUCH a treat to get my serial tour of the tiny and underappreciated critters of the Sound.

with a critter THAT CUTE, I don't see how one could overdo it.

more lumpsuckers plzkthx!

SeattleYates wrote: Jan, would you mind sharing with us what camera, lens and strobe setup you used for that (and presumably a lot of your other recent macro work)?

I am using Canon G-10 and Inon Z-240 strobe for most of them. Sometimes I reach for my old set-up, the Olympus C-8080.
Since they are Point & Shoot cameras, the lens is fixed, wider on Canon. Auto focus is a must for my old tired eyes

Back to critters, Langley seems to start having plenty of Bicolored nudibranchs crawling around, many with the parasites on their backs ..

*shudder*

"Parasitic Castration" - now there's a mental image I could have lived without!

Sorry I didn't want to induce nightmares....
Maybe shrimp munching on crab will chase these terrible visions away..
And replace them with others

Thanks for something to take the worm wrapped around the nudibranch's internal organs out of my head (ugh!)

I love the coonstriped shrimp at night, when you find hundreds of them with their eyes all glowing green.

Yesterday's rain sure messed up the visibility at Deception Pass today. Lots of silt in the
water, about 8 feet visibility, little better once I got under the bridge. But I am happy
to add another new critter to my list ! Granular Claw crab

that guy is just whacky-weird... yet totally-rad looking. grats on new find!

Great stuff, Jan!

That's a species of crab that I've never seen....you can color me GREEN with envy!!!!

- John

Great photos of the Granular Claw Crab Jan - I've had trouble getting them to stay put for me - they always want to hide away. They are all over in Deception Pass, and I've also seen them on the pilings at Keystone so keep an eye out for them there too.

Though they can filter feed, these guys are very effective predators that crush mussels with their big claw and grab things like amphipods and worms with their small claw. The often-repeated claim in the literature that they are strictly filter feeders may have started with them being confused with thickclawed porcelain crabs (Pachycheles rudis) which also have greatly unequal claws, live in holes, and ARE only filter feeders. And Oedignathus do occur in some high current areas within Puget Sound (e.g, Agate Pass).

p.s.- great shot! Hard to catch them out in the open like that. Did you notice the second, smaller one on the left side of the first picture?

Thank you Greg, I was wondering why a filter eater needed such big claw...
Hopefully this correction will help to clear up some of the misinformation which I gathered
from a reputable site That is why I appreciate when an expert helps me out
when I goof. Sorry fellow critter watchers, I did not mean to mislead...

Wow! Lots of good info and great pix as usual Jan. Thanks for doing all that research for us little sponges out here soaking it all up.

Thanks. And some more scenes from the three days of Deception Pass dives, the visibility was not that great, but it sure was beautiful weather topside

Love the cartoon of you clinging to the kelp with the Ling cod!

Those are some very pretty proliferating anemones. All the ones I see are a dull blue/green.

One of these days I'm going to stalk you, and follow you in the water, and find out how you do such amazing things with your camera!!!

And I agree, love this set of cartoons!

Jan, as always, just stunning . . . Don't ever, ever stop posting these wonderful pages!

Best diving thread on the internet.

Your feedback, especially the positive ( :luv: ) is appreciated, thank you.
The hordes of Sunflower stars at Langley Tire Reef never fail to provide some entertainment.
In their everlasting search for food, some of the other inhabitants are not so willing to
become the fare ... This cucumber made the successful escape