After field work a couple of days ago, Eric caught up with a beautiful sculpin in the low intertidal zone. I love the patterning on the pectoral fin! Photographed along the Sonoma Coast on 12 May 2024. [You can click on the image for a larger version.]
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Sculpin in red
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Seeing stripes
Abby spotted a couple of very nice invertebrates in Marin County last week.
First, this beautiful flatworm (above), meet Eurylepta californica! Note the maroon streaks on the white background, and the red patches at the base of the tentacles (the two tentacles are upright, but pointing downward, in the lower right corner). This species is more often found from Monterey south. There aren't many northern records, and observations at higher latitudes might be associated with warm-water years.
Similarly, the nudibranch Polycera atra is more common south of Point Reyes. We've seen it in Bodega Harbor, and it's been documented as far north as British Columbia, but the northern records might be more frequent during El Niño years.
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Who's the culprit?
This is a scene we came across after finishing field work this morning (9 May 2024). Some empty-looking whelks (Nucella ostrina) on the sand...and upon closer inspection, their opercula nearby (the operculum is the "trap-door" on the bottom of a snail's foot that seals the opening to its shell when the snail is pulled in).
It looked like the snails had been eaten by a predator, but we couldn't recall seeing this before, so we looked around a little more.
We found even more evidence that something had been eating both whelks and limpets. Here are a few examples, including snail shells and overturned limpet shells with most of the soft parts missing, but with a thin ring of tissue, evidence that they had been eaten recently:
Monday, May 6, 2024
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Finding a way
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Blown in with the wind
Conditions were just right for bringing Bonaparte's Gulls (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) into Bodega Harbor this week — several consecutive days of steady gale force northwest winds.
Leaving work tonight (2 May 2024), there were over 50 Bonaparte's Gulls along the west side of the harbor — some resting on the tidal flats, and several groups diving on fish in shallow water:
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Monday, April 29, 2024
A long way to grow!
Close-up of barnacles on a Californa Mussel (Mytilus californianus) shell, photographed on 29 April 2024.
There are at least two age classes of barnacles here — the larger Little Brown Barnacle (Chthamalus dalli) adults and the very tiny newly-settled recruits. The recruits were so small they were actually hard to see in the field — just small specks scattered across the mussel shell. They have a long way to grow! :)
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Holding fast?
Friday, April 26, 2024
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Slender spur
Blue Toadflax (Nuttallanthus texanus) in the Bodega Dunes on 19 April 2024.
P.S. The "spur" is the long slender part of the flower (to the left of the petals) that's curving downward.
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Happy Earth Day!
Happy Earth Day!
Most of our recent photos our from Hawai'i, so here's one from the north shore of O'ahu to help celebrate our amazing planet.
Friday, April 19, 2024
Light-eyed?
I was checking on some wildflowers in the dunes earlier this week and was noticing it seems to be a good year for many of the annuals, including Dark-eyed Gilia (Gilia millefoliata).
I had seen hundreds of Dark-eyed Gilias, all with typical purplish petals, when I came across one with all white flower parts:
We've seen this phenomenon of white variants in other species, but I hadn't noticed it in Dark-eyed Gilia before, so I thought it was worth documenting.
The Jepson Manual says that Gilia millefoliata petals can be purple or "colorless," so perhaps this variant appears occasionally and we just hadn't seen it in the Bodega Dunes yet.
P.S. Should we call the variant Light-eyed Gilia? ;)
Monday, April 15, 2024
Lots of loli!
We saw at least 10 species of loli, or sea cucumbers, while snorkeling in Hawai'i. Eric made this great mosaic before we saw the 10th, so above you can compare 9 different species! [You can click on the image for a larger version.]
Top left: loli, or White-spotted Sea Cucumber (Actinopyga varians)
Top center: loli, or Teated Sea Cucumber (Holothuria whitmaei)
Top right: kohe lelewa, or Sand Sea Cucumber (Holothuria arenicola)
Middle left: loli, or Difficult Sea Cucumber (Holothuria difficilis)
Middle center: loli okuhi kuhi, or Black Sea Cucumber (Holothuria atra)
Middle right: loli koko, or Impatient Sea Cucumber (Holothuria impatiens)
Bottom left: weli, or Conspicuous Sea Cucumber (Opheodesoma spectabilis)
Bottom center: weli, or Tahitian Sea Cucumber (Euapta tahitiensis)
Bottom right: loli, or Light-spotted Sea Cucumber (Holothuria hilla)
And the 10th (not pictured) was a loli ka'e, or Stubborn Sea Cucumber (Holothuria pervicax).
Fun to see so many different species of loli!
Sunday, April 14, 2024
On the windward side
While in Hawai'i, we walked some east-facing beaches to look for pelagic invertebrates washed ashore.
Above, a small Portuguese Man O' War (Physalia physalis) on Kaua'i on 4 April 2024.
Below, a Purple Sea Snail (Janthina umbilicata). (Interestingly, the Janthina we found on Kaua'i were quite a bit smaller than the Janthina we observed in California back in March.)
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Birds of a different feather
A few more miscellaneous bird photos from Hawai'i for you...
Above, a kōlea, or Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva), all dressed up for the breeding season and departing soon for the Arctic tundra.
Thanks for tuning in for some special guests from Hawai'i!
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Bearing a clever defense
Sometimes it's hard to choose which photos to share, but I couldn't resist posting this Teddy Bear Crab (Polydectus cupulifer) from Hawai'i.
This crab is covered with dense setae (chitinous bristles), making it look very fuzzy.
And check out the area near the tips of its claws. Can you see how it looks a bit softer there and how it's a slightly different color than the crab (and lacks bristles)?
Teddy Bear Crabs carry a small sea anemone in each claw. [They usually choose Pleasing Anemones (Telmatactis decora).] I read that the sea anemones might be used to defend against predators or in feeding.
Photographed near Honolulu on 7 April 2024.
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Surfacing, sunning, and surfing
A few more photos of honu, or Green Sea Turtles (Chelonias mydas), from Hawai'i for you.
Above, two photographed in the Honolulu area. These turtles were only at the surface for brief periods. Most of the time they were under water, perhaps feeding near the bottom?
Below, two photographed on Kaui'i. One resting on the beach, and another riding a wave:
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Local spots?
We saw a lot of beautiful fish in Hawaii — this one is a Hawaiian White-spotted Toby (Canthigaster jactator).
The Hawaiian White-spotted Toby is a member of the pufferfish family (Tetraodontidae) and is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. This is a small species, generally less than ~9 cm (~3.5 inches) long.
Eric did a great job documenting its amazing green eyes. [You can click on the images for larger versions.]
Monday, April 8, 2024
‘ōhiki sampler
Here's a bit of an ‘ōhiki, or ghost crab, sampler from Hawaii.
Above, a Horn-eyed Ghost Crab (Ocypode ceratopthalmus) on the north shore of O'ahu on 29 March 2024. This is a large crab, with a carapace of ~4 cm (~1.5 inches) across.
Below, examples of Pallid Ghost Crabs (Ocypode pallidula), the first two from the north shore of O'ahu on 29 March 2024 on coarse sand, and the third from the south shore of Kaua'i on 3 April 2024 on fine sand.
[You can click on the images for larger versions.]