Fancy

 

Appleseed Erato (Hespererato vitellina), a marine snail photographed recently in the low intertidal zone.

P.S.  I wrote about this species back in 2014.  To learn more about them, see the post called "Appleseed and leopard skin?" from 13 April 2014.

Let it shine

During this past week while conducting surveys in Bodega Harbor, I heard Eric say quietly, "You're not going to believe what I found."  I turned to look and could see this animal attached to the rock (it's ~3 cm wide):

 

The shells of these animals look like those of clams or scallops at first, but they have a distinctive shape that provides a hint that you're looking at something different.

This is the first time we've seen a live brachiopod in the Bodega Bay area.  Meet the North Pacific Lamp Shell (Terebratalia transversa)!  They're more common in deeper water (e.g., we've seen then come in on nets removed from Cordell Bank), but we found this one in the low intertidal zone.

Outwardly they look like bivalves, but internally brachiopods are more similar to phoronids.  Just like phoronids, they have a lophophore — a ring of coiled tentacles for feeding (see photos of phoronid lophophores here).  In brachiopods, the lophophore is not extended into the water, but is nestled between the two valves.  This body plan is unique, so these animals belong to their own phylum (Brachiopoda).

Here's another view:

 

P.S.  Brachiopods are sometimes called lamp shells because they're thought to resemble ancient Roman oil lamps.  Although you can't see it in these photos, one of the valves has a hole in it through which a stalk extends to attach to the rock.  The shape of the valve along with the hole look similar to a discus lamp with a hole for the wick (see examples here).

No octopus here

Okay, there's more to yesterday's octopus story.  After Eric spotted the first octopus, a few minutes later I looked down and noticed a second one!  The first octopus was fairly large for a Red Octopus, but the second one was quite small — only ~2.5 cm across (with its arms pulled in).

Spread out on a cobble:

 

Among shells and stones:

 

 

Pretending to be a snail.  The octopus tucked in its arms, then crawled (slowly) across the rock, as if to say, "Nothing to see here...only a snail gliding along...no octopus in sight.  (Wink!)"

 

Gr-eight-ful

After some field work this morning, Eric joined me at a different site, and no joke, within a minute he said, "Octopus!"  We hadn't seen an octopus since 2018, so we were excited to see one.  Below are several of my favorite shots from today (25 June 2020).  [You can click on the pictures for larger versions.]

Stretching out:

 

"Eye" see you (check out the beautiful chromatophores!):

 

Blending in (with coralline algae):

 

Tentacle spiral:

 

Suckers up-close (and once again, check out the amazing chromatophores just below the pink suckers — they look like freckles in this photo): 

 

We are feeling very grateful for a few moments with a Red Octopus (Octopus rubescens) this morning.

Blues off Bodega Head

Wonderful views of the Pacific Ocean today (24 June 2020), with Blue Whales as a bonus!  Tall spouts were visible approximately 1.5-3 miles (2.5-5.0 km) offshore of Bodega Head.  They were far enough out that it was hard to tell which species of whale was involved, but I took some photos with a zoom lens, and most of the images showed Blue Whales.  The photos aren't great, but they're representative of what you might see with binoculars:

The Pacific:

 

Examples of tall spouts:

 

 

Examples of long gray backs and small (often pointed) dorsal fins:

 

 

 

Example of flukes: 

 

 It's always a treat to see Blue Whales, especially from shore!

Graceful

 

A new nudibranch species for me — Abronica abronia (formerly Cuthona abronia).  It was pretty small (only ~15 mm long) and it was on some red algae that was moving around quite a bit, but I managed a couple of photos for the record.

 

I love the beautiful red color at the base of the cerata — a nice match with the surrounding seaweeds!  There are also some pretty purple bands on the rhinophores and oral tentacles.

The genus and species names are apparently from the Greek habrós, meaning "graceful or delicate."  Sometimes you'll see this species referred to by the common name Graceful Aeolid.

Photographed on Bodega Head on 23 June 2020. 

The tunicate with a twist

Eric and I had a funny experience with a little mystery animal this morning.  We were doing a survey in Bodega Harbor when we encountered something unfamiliar.  At first it looked like a small tunicate (sea squirt):

 

But something didn't feel right about it, so we kept wondering about it in the back of our minds.  Here's a view from above:

 

And then we found another one that looked just like it.  Hmmmphh.  Puzzling.  Another small reddish-orange tunicate?

While continuing our survey, I thought to myself, "Well, if it's a tunicate, it should be attached, so if we find another one, I'll push it a little and see what happens."

We did find a third individual, and as soon as I touched the little mystery lump, it just slid away from where it had been.  

Okay, it wasn't attached, so it probably wasn't a tunicate...but then what was it?  We were distracted by something else for several seconds, and when I looked back, the little orange mystery animal was moving!  It had started crawling away.  When we looked closely, we could see a snail-like foot underneath.

Now I was confused.  It looked so much like a tunicate!  Was it possible that a tunicate was growing on top of a snail or a limpet?  But all three of the little mystery animals looked exactly the same...same shape, same color, same patterning, same texture.  (An aside: The interesting angles that are visible from the side and the coloration reminded me of a pomegranate seed, so that's what I started calling them.)

We decided to look at it under water and with a microscope, and here's what we saw:

 

Aha!  Two tentacles, a long foot trailing behind, and a rolled-up siphon (visible between the tentacles).  It had to be a snail...but which species?  

We worked on this for a little while and finally identified it as Hainotis sharonae (formerly Marseniopsis sharonae).  They feed on tunicates, and they have evolved incredibly effective camouflage to look just like them.

Here's another view, this one from below.  The snail is upside down, looking up.  In this position you can see how much it looks like a snail, but return to the first picture of this post and I'm guessing that snail is not the first thing you think of!

 

There's always something new to learn!

When the sun stands still

 

Sunset from Cotati on 18 June 2020.  Summer solstice is tomorrow!

Resting on the Yarrow

 

A warm, relatively calm day brought some butterflies to Bodega Head today (18 June 2020).  Two views of an Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon) on Yarrow (Achillea millefolium).

 

 P.S.  To compare Anise Swallowtail with Western Tiger Swallowtail (note the different patterning of yellow and black), see "Welcome to May" on 1 May 2020.

Opening up

 

Ithuriel's Spear (Triteleia laxa), photographed 17 June 2020.

 

Sun, sand, and seal

 

Molting Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris) sleeping in the sun.

Oriole views

The Hooded Orioles have continued to visit our yard, so I've compiled some recent shots of the juveniles (there are three).

They seem especially attracted to the flowers of the Pineapple Guava tree:

They young orioles are also drawn to the water bath, but they're still trying to figure it out:

This is one of my favorite views (below), perhaps because you don't often get to watch songbirds sleeping and because the light on the feathers is interesting.  

Sometimes the juvenile orioles find a quiet place to take a nap.  Here's a zoomed in view of one of the juveniles with its head turned and its bill tucked under the feathers on its back:

 

It's been a treat to watch and listen to this family in our backyard!

Spouts offshore

 

Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) have been visible offshore of Bodega Head recently.  They've been pretty far out, but the sun lights up their spouts at the end of the day.  Photographed from Bodega Head on 13 June 2020.  I hope you've enjoyed World Oceans Week!

Sparkly and magical

 

There are a lot of juvenile sculpins around right now.  This one looked like it had just been sprinkled with fairy dust — all sparkly and magical.  :)

The colors of the ocean

We had to try to get some long-term surveys done along the Mendocino Coast today (11 June 2020).  Afterwards, Eric noticed this intense pale blue-green color in tiny waves close to shore.  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]

 

This was a very dynamic site in a surge channel, with waves washing around in different directions.  The color was hard to capture, but I just kept pressing the shutter and hoping it would show up in one of the photos.

Coralline camouflage

Did you spot the isopod clinging to the coralline algae?  Such amazing camouflage, with wonderful matching colors and patterns.  Even the segments on the isopod match the shapes of the segments on the coralline algae.

Meet Pentidotea schmitti!  I encountered a few of them in the low rocky intertidal zone recently.

Here's a view from the side.  Notice how well the leg color matches the algae:

(I think the algae is Calliarthron, but perhaps Kathy Ann will confirm or correct me if I'm wrong.)

In the morning sun

 

Pyropia gardneri, a pretty little red seaweed that grows on the blades of kelps.  In our area, it's often found on Laminaria setchellii (see the brown blade at the bottom of the photo).  It's fun that the two seaweeds involved are named after important phycologists — William Albert Setchell and Nathaniel Lyon Gardner — who made significant contributions to our knowledge and appreciation of West Coast seaweeds and were instrumental in establishing and curating the University Herbarium.  (Both were professors at UC Berkeley in the early 1900s.)

Golden and groovy

 

This weekend we photographed some beautiful peanut worms (sipunculans).  This is Themiste pyroides, a local species that can be found in the low intertidal zone of rocky shores.  They nestle in crevices so they can be hard to see, but when their crown of tentacles is fully extended, they're pretty spectacular.

Eric photographed one individual with mostly golden-colored tentacles (above).  This individual also retracted its tentacles, revealing its introvert with dark hooks (see below; the hooks look like tiny chocolate chips).  (Peanut worms can withdraw their tentacles completely.)  We haven't been able to find any information about how these little hooks might be used in this species.  Do you have any ideas?

 

Then I photographed a different Themiste, this one with purple tips on many of its tentacles.  Here's a close-up:

 

Themiste uses this array of branched tentacles to capture food from the water.  In the next photo (below), look for the grooves in the center of the branches (especially on the right side of the image).  The tentacles are covered in cilia and mucous, and the grooves are probably involved in food gathering, but we haven't been able to locate a detailed description of the feeding behavior.

 

World Oceans Day 2020

 

Epiactis handi, a beautiful green and white-striped sea anemone, to help celebrate World Oceans Day on 8 June 2020.  Stay tuned for more local marine life photos throughout the week. 

P.S.  This species was named after Cadet Hand, founding director of the Bodega Marine Laboratory and an expert on sea anemones.

 

Looking like a sponge

While doing a little tidepooling this morning, I came across several nudibranch egg ribbons attached to the rock:

 

When you find egg ribbons, the nudibranch that laid them is often still in the area, so I started scanning to see if I could locate the species that produced these eggs.

I was looking around, noticing coralline algae, sea squirts, sponges, and not finding any nudibranchs, but then I paused.  Something looked a little different here:

 

Aha!  Two nudibranchs!  They were so transparent and blended in so well with the general background community that I hadn't seen them at first.

Zooming in for a closer look, I realized this isn't a species that we see very often.  Meet Chan's Dorid (Hallaxa chani):

 

Eric got the best picture (above), where you can see the translucent coloration, bumpy dorsal surface, rhinophores (sensory appendages at the front end) with subtle reddish-brown tips, and an unusual gill plume (that to my eye looks like a little pom-pom). 

Hallaxa chani feeds exclusively on the sponge Halisarca.  It has a more northern distribution, and it's apparently relatively rare at the southern end of its range.

Here are a couple more pictures for the record: