Didemnum

Pinkpadigal · Post by **Pinkpadigal** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 10:23 pm

I was curious...I thought I saw quite a few patchs of this invasive species under the Narrows bridge on Wednesday. One patch I saw was at least 3 feet around. It was most prevailent on the concrete blocks and other man-made structures. What is the latest on Didemnum?

Janna-I took some video and I will forward it to you so you can look.

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 10:53 pm

I saw the same thing and it looks like a random sponge. It looks like what we're seeing off Elephant wall on the last HCDOP dives too. We're waiting on the BIG BOSSES to get back with a response as to what it was...

I'm sure Janna will post something when it, (pardon the pun) surfaces!!!

coachrenz · Post by **coachrenz** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:27 pm

My understanding is that the specimen that have been found so far have all been pretty shallow. Shilshole Bay they were found on a dock, and we all know how shallow Edmonds Underwater Park is where it was found and eliminated.

I have never seen it, but, apparently the only way to ID it without taking a sample, which is not recommended, is to take photos, and lots of them. I think they need to be pretty high res so that they can be blown-up, zoomed, etc.

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:38 pm

Tom Nic, Jackie, and I were on the dive, and Tom Nic took LOTS of high res photos (1000mp) pictures of them. It was considered "weird" for all of us... I found it first, then everyone else started seeing the "crap." Tom started snapping pictures upon Jackie's instruction and we got some good ID's on what it was.

It was WEIRD!!! Not from around here - weird, type stuff. I'm a REEF guy and Janna NEVER taught this stuff!!! I'm the FISH-O Champion!!!

It'll be interesting to see what it turns out to be!!!

coachrenz · Post by **coachrenz** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:10 am

Sounder wrote:Tom Nic, Jackie, and I were on the dive, and Tom Nic took LOTS of high res photos (1000mp) pictures of them. It was considered "weird" for all of us... I found it first, then everyone else started seeing the "crap." Tom started snapping pictures upon Jackie's instruction and we got some good ID's on what it was.

It was WEIRD!!! Not from around here - weird, type stuff. I'm a REEF guy and Janna NEVER taught this stuff!!! I'm the FISH-O Champion!!!

It'll be interesting to see what it turns out to be!!!

Hey Tom, why don't you post one or two of your best.

Let the rest of us take a look.

Pinkpadigal · Post by **Pinkpadigal** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:00 am

I haven't downloaded my video yet, but I will try to do that tomorrow. What I saw on Wednesday could have just been random sponges but it looked very unusual, like it didn't belong.

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 8:01 am

coachrenz wrote:
Sounder wrote:Tom Nic, Jackie, and I were on the dive, and Tom Nic took LOTS of high res photos (1000mp) pictures of them. It was considered "weird" for all of us... I found it first, then everyone else started seeing the "crap." Tom started snapping pictures upon Jackie's instruction and we got some good ID's on what it was.

It was WEIRD!!! Not from around here - weird, type stuff. I'm a REEF guy and Janna NEVER taught this stuff!!! I'm the FISH-O Champion!!!

It'll be interesting to see what it turns out to be!!!
Hey Tom, why don't you post one or two of your best.

Let the rest of us take a look.

Hmmm.... let's see... First a disclaimer... I make no representation that any of the pics are of evil invasive critters or that I remotely know what I'm talking about!

That is beyond my paygrade and strictly Janna's call! That being clear...

All the photos from the day of HCDOP diving that we did are HERE The photos of said weirdy looking sponges are near the end, and it's not one of my usual sets of a bazillion pics so you shouldn't have trouble finding them. For now, without Janna's blessing, I won't put any up here and risk miscommunication / misidentification.

I did take a couple of shots of random sponges under the bridge... they were kind of cool looking, and did not appear, to me at least, to be of the invasive variety. Of course I'm not sure if they are the same ones that PinkPadiGal is making reference to since I was not diving with her. In any case, here they are.
<a href="" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1126/121 ... c7e150.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="CIMG8208"></a>
<a href="" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1091/121 ... 93f7e3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="CIMG8210"></a>

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 10:40 am

I'd say most of it looked more like the top picture here. It also vaired in color from these more yellow-ish icky things to a more bronze colored icky thing.

coachrenz · Post by **coachrenz** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:55 pm

Tom's photos look like sponge to me.

This photo is of Didemnum. It was taken by Roda Green at Shilshole.

Notice the ropey/drippy appearance. Didemnum also has white spicules. They aren't seen in this photo.

Tangfish · Post by **Tangfish** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 1:01 pm

Those look like they'd require quite a large spatula.

coachrenz · Post by **coachrenz** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 2:14 pm

Calvin wrote:Those look like they'd require quite a large spatula.

If you are talking about removal, apparently they peel right off. Janna and I think Valerie removed a large chunk and it just peeled right off like a carpet.

Problem is that when you touch it and it breaks, it reproduces and makes more.

I think they ended up wrapping up the Triumph at EUP and killed it that way. I think JD Rowe was a part of that removal.

At least this bad guy seems to be fairly well contained at this point. But, I am not on the front lines of the monitoring and/or removal effort. Gretchen Lambert is the expert on this stuff.

Good that we are all out there with our eyes open looking for it.

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 4:23 pm

Some of it looked like that and others didn't.

It appeared to be some form of sponge or similar tunicate to the Didemnum. I must admit it was a bit disconcerting when Jackie (as one of our resident critter queens) shrugged her shoulders during the dive and even more-so when Janna didn't know what it was either back on the boat.

Tangfish · Post by **Tangfish** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:58 pm

We have to convince some trendy restaurant to start serving it as a delicacy. Then it will catch on as a fad and the food industry will take care of the rest.

nwscubamom · Post by **nwscubamom** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 10:52 am

Hi guys,

I'm back from the survey project I was doing in the San Juans, and just checked in and saw this thread.

Looks like we're talking about two different things here.

First, Tom, the stuff I think you saw on the HCDOP dives (and the stuff I saw, so I think we're talking about the same thing) I suspected were Botrylloides violaceous, and when I sent the photos off to Erin Grey, who's a grad student specializing in the species, she confirmed it. While it's considered an invasive species, it's not nearly on the same threat level as Didemnum.

This stuff you saw under the bridge - both photos are of just sponges, not Didemnum.

The more I look for the invasive stuff, the more I realize just how many types of sponges there are - and how totally weird looking some of them are!

Keep looking out for them, and Tim's right - keep getting photos and closeups and such. That helps a TON and can narrow it right down.

Good job guys!

- Janna

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 11:17 am

Thanks Janna, for the clarification as usual!

That is precisely why I didn't want to speculate on what they might be... if I'm sure I'll stick my foot out there, otherwise I will happily defer to the experts! $\:D/$

Pinkpadigal · Post by **Pinkpadigal** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 11:44 am

The sponges look yellow, and like they don't belong. I am not going to touch anything but I did want to know what I was looking at.

Thanks!

nwscubamom · Post by **nwscubamom** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 11:48 am

Amy, you mentioned some video that maybe I could look at? I'd really like to see it.

- Janna