Above the horizon

  

This one is from last weekend, but I haven't had a chance to share it yet.  A crescent moon and fog bank with offshore rocks at sunset on 5 December 2021.

A festive evening?

  

Not much time tonight, but here are a couple of quick shots of Tritonia festiva, a nudibranch we haven't seen that often in Sonoma County.  

Eric got a better view of the dorsal surface with the nice diamond-back pattern:

 

 

This one was photographed in the low intertidal zone along the Sonoma Coast on 5 December 2021.  I wrote more about Tritonia festiva back in 2012, so for more photos and information check out the post called "Cape Mendocino and Tritonia" from 10 May 2012.

A pop of color

  

It feels like every time we're out looking at intertidal fish, I'm blown away by the diversity of colors and patterns.  Here's another example from our recent tidepool adventure on 5 December 2021.  [You can click on the image for a larger version.]

A beautiful speckled sculpin, primarily in gray, black and white, with a brilliant orange and yellow highlight above the eye.

Here's the entire fish:

 

 

How cool is that?  

 

How to become invisible

If you're a resident shrimp in a tidepool filled with hungry sculpins, you might find it advantageous to be invisible.  So how do you become invisible?

Step 1: Become a color that matches things in the background of the tidepool, e.g., pink like coralline algae:

 

 

 

Step 2: Add highlights — spots and bands of different colors that show up in the background.  For example, white stripes that match the white tips of the coralline algae, and some darker reds that match the shadows:

 

 

 

 

Step 3: Make some of your body parts look like algae.  For example, you could make your head appendages, or the sides of your abdomen, or the tip of your tail look like the branches of coralline algae.  And you could hold your abdomen and tail in an upright position:

 

 

 

Step 4: Adapt your behavior to make it hard for a fish to spot you.  For example, stay very still, and only become more active at night.  (Shhhh...no shrimp here!)

 

 

 

Meet the incredible shrimp, Lebbeus lagunae!  Eric spotted this amazing shrimp while we were tidepooling during the exceptional low tide on 5 December 2021.  It was hard to believe what we were seeing at first.  It's a fantastic example of crypsis — avoiding detection by predators via use of colors and patterns and shapes that help to blend in with the background. 

The geographic distribution of this species is typically described as Baja California, Mexico to Monterey, California.  However, we are looking into a possible record from Mendocino County (thanks to Jim!). So this shrimp could be a primarily southern species that is rare here, or it might just be rarely seen here given that it's almost invisible and more active at night.

 

 

 

Many thanks to Eric for his excellent observation skills!  Now you can imagine these shrimp hiding among the coralline algae in the local tidepools.

Looking out and looking in?

 

 

Wow!  Sometimes it's hard to believe the colors and patterning on our local intertidal fish.  Although the markings on the head and around the eye really draw you in, don't miss the beautiful fin!  Photographed by Eric this weekend in a low zone tidepool.  The fish (a sculpin?) was just emerging from below a rock ledge.

 

Here's a close-up so you can check out the patterning, including that wonderful eye!

 

 

 

Stay tuned for more photos from our recent low tide adventures!

Sonoma County classic

  

We've been busy with field work recently, but I couldn't help pausing to take this photo tonight.  A classic view of the Sonoma County coast.  Photographed 4 December 2021.

Pastel pink

 

 

A nice view at the end of field work today, 2 December 2021