Ruffled?

An intriguing scaleworm on a Giant Sea Star (Pisaster giganteus):

 

I think the worm might be a Ruffled Scaleworm (Arctonoe fragilis).  This species of scaleworm is often associated with sea stars.  

I was struck by how closely it matched the colors and patterns of the sea star — especially how the white spots along the sides of the worm matched the white tubercles (short rounded spines) of the sea star.

When the worm turned sideways along the side of an arm, you could see it if you knew where to look, but it was amazingly well camouflaged (see below).

 

Here are two more close-ups of the worm.  I'm not sure if the "ruffles" visible in the next picture led to the common name, Ruffled Scaleworm?

 

Below, the worm's white head with its pointed, transparent appendages is facing left.  It was fun to think about the scaleworm crawling among the sea star's spines like a maze.

 

A stiff challenge

Ready for your next mystery close-up challenge?

 

You may have seen a picture somewhat similar to this before.  Note the small, oblong, densely packed objects throughout.

Here's another view, a little further zoomed out.  All of these pictures were taken under a microscope.

 

The next image has slightly different lighting, and extends the view to show those long, slender tube-like structures. (Hint: "tube" is a clue!)

 

 

Do you have a guess yet?  

Warning: The next picture will reveal most of this organism.

 

And the answer is...the one that's been on the tip of your tongue...the one that you've been shouting out loud...a sea cucumber!  

This is a Stiff-footed Sea Cucumber (Eupentacta quinquesemita).  I couldn't fit the whole animal in the microscope view, but below is one more image showing almost the entire sea cucumber.  It was ~2.5 cm (~1 inch) long.

 

Eric spotted this distinctive sea cucumber in a Bull Kelp holdfast washed up on Salmon Creek Beach last weekend.  They're found along the West Coast from British Columbia to southern California.

The eye-catching football-shaped structures in the first few photos are called ossicles.  Remember that the skeleton of sea cucumbers has been reduced to these tiny perforated plates.  Stiff-footed Sea Cucumbers have so many ossicles that they're known for being rigid.  I don't know if anyone has proposed an adaptive explanation for why this species of sea cucumber has such densely-packed ossicles.  Do you have any ideas?

You can see more magnified views of ossicles (in a different species) and review information about another local sea cucumber in this post from 16 April 2013.

Shopping for fruit

Sometimes I like grocery shopping, but other times it can feel a bit like a chore, something I have to do rather than want to do.  But it helps when there are interesting things to look at outside of the stores.  At this time of year, many of the trees in the parking lots have fruits that attract birds.

Recently, the trees near the Fiesta Market in Sebastopol have been very active.  It's been fun to look up and see these species in between errands:

 

Female Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana).  Do you think she's perched in a crabapple?  

There were male bluebirds nearby, too (see next image).

 

Then I followed a very high-pitched call and found these birds sitting high in a bare-branched tree:

 

Here's a closer view of a Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum):

 

And one from behind that highlights the lemon yellow tail band and the crimson red tips on the wing feathers for which the species is named.

 

Although I had to dodge some cars in the parking lot to get these bird pictures, it was nice to have a little natural history mixed into my chores last weekend.  And in this case, we were all "shopping" for fruit!

The Green...

...Flash!

 

I owe these pictures to Lewis.  Yesterday he asked me if I had ever seen a Green Flash.  We joked about how we had both been involved in discussions about whether Green Flashes existed or not.  But I have been around a few people who claimed to have seen them.  

So we looked on the Internet and quickly found multiple pages that described the very real optical phenomena behind Green Flashes.  It's very complicated!  It involves dispersion and atmospheric refraction and mirages.  (Have I mentioned that I did very poorly in Physics?)

But because of this conversation, when I happened to be walking by an ocean view near sunset, I decided to walk out the door to watch.  And what do you know, a Green Flash appeared as the sun dipped below the horizon!  I tried to take pictures but was disappointed that they didn't come out.

Because the conditions were similar tonight I decided to try again.  This time I had looked up some recommendations for photographing Green Flashes. 

 

It doesn't look as green as it did while I was watching, but I hope you can see the potential.  

I don't think I'm going to try to explain Green Flashes myself.  But I'll vouch for the existence of them and point you to these web pages by Andrew Young (Astronomy Department at San Diego State University) which I found very helpful for starting to learn about Green Flashes.

 

These cold, clear nights offer prime conditions for seeing Green Flashes.  But heed all of the warnings about not looking at the sun until it has set — you won't see the green until then anyway!

Sun-lit spouts

Today the ocean was flat calm and blue, the air was crisp, visibility was good, and the sun was shining bright in the western sky.  Perfect conditions for seeing whale spouts from shore!

 

Quite a few Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus) were making their way south past Bodega Head.

 

It's likely that they're en route to southern California or Baja California for the calving season that occurs between December and March.

 

Weather conditions look similar for the next day or two, so keep your eyes open for these sun-lit spouts if you're at the coast!

A first for California

If you've been following this blog, you may recall the spectacular hydroid called Candelabrum fritchmanii that I reported last March.

 

To our knowledge, Candelabrum fritchmanii has only been seen twice in California — once in 1950 at Pigeon Point (in San Mateo County) and then on 17 March 2013 when we found it at Salmon Creek Beach.  [The link to the original post is here if you haven't read it yet.  I also described the fascinating feeding behavior of Candelabrum here.]

The 1950 specimen wasn't reproductive.  The 2013 specimen was, but it never produced any larvae.

We've been very interested in learning more about Candelabrum, so this winter we were determined to search for more specimens.  Yesterday, on 8 December 2013, Eric discovered two more colonies in Bull Kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) holdfasts!

And they were releasing larvae!  As far as we know, these are the very first Candelabrum fritchmanii larvae ever recorded in California.  These images were taken under a microscope.  The larva (called an actinula) was ~1 mm long.

 

Note the two types of tentacles.  Both types have capitate, or rounded tips.  The primary tentacles are very long and are found throughout the body, while the secondary tentacles are much shorter and are clustered at one end of the body (they just look like little bumps).

 

Some of the larvae were just beginning to emerge from the capsules where they developed.  You could see a few of the tentacles extending outward, while the rest of the larva was still inside.

 

 

We're very excited to have found Candelabrum again and to have a chance to study this little-known species.

P.S.  Some of you know that I often hear songs at somewhat random moments.  When I saw these larvae emerging from their capsules, I heard Diana Ross singing, "I'm Coming Out."  Some of the lyrics are a perfect match:

The time has come for me

to break out of the shell

I have to shout

that I'm coming out

I'm coming out

I want the world to know

Got to let it show

I'm coming out

I want the world to know

I got to let it show

I've got to show the world

All that I want to be

And all my abilities

There's so much more to me

 

December light

 

Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya) in December light on Salmon Creek Beach, 8 December 2013