It's getting late, but here are a couple of quick photos of phoronids (Phoronopsis harmeri) from pools on the tidal flats in Bodega Harbor this week:
I've always been impressed by the elegant feeding tentacles (lophophores) of these fascinating animals. For more information about phoronids, you can review the post called "Ebb and flow" on 26 July 2017.
Smiled when I saw these as my husband & I used to look for them while exploring the mudflats at the end of Doran for moon snails and finding them was always a special treat. The delicate sea green tentacles would be feeding in a shallow pool, often with a few small Hermissenda, sometimes surrounded by eel grass wearing beautiful patterns of some kind of bright orange (still unidentified!) ascidian. Gives you a whole new appreciation of mud! Thanks for this and the links to detailed information about their fascinating circulatory system
Smiled when I saw these as my husband & I used to look for them while exploring the mudflats at the end of Doran for moon snails and finding them was always a special treat. The delicate sea green tentacles would be feeding in a shallow pool, often with a few small Hermissenda, sometimes surrounded by eel grass wearing beautiful patterns of some kind of bright orange (still unidentified!) ascidian. Gives you a whole new appreciation of mud! Thanks for this and the links to detailed information about their fascinating circulatory system
ReplyDeleteThey are so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHI!!!!
ReplyDelete