Today we have photos and videos of the California intertidal taken by math professor Abby Thompson of UC Davis. Her captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Just a few more great low tides for the summer. By August the kelp is so lush, it becomes harder to find interesting creatures, so I’m enjoying June and July. These photos were taken during the full moon at the end of June.
Amblyosyllis anae (marine worm- it seems to be a summer of worms). This genus is relatively rare (or at least hard to find) here. I had picked up a piece of sponge to look at under a microscope, and this guy crawled out, so I was lucky. It was about ¼” long, and lively, as you can see in the video which follows.
Amblyosyllis anae video:
Megalorchestia corniculata (beach flea)- part of the beach clean-up crew.
Dirona picta (nudibranch):
Genus Eudendrium (hydroid):
Class Hydrozoa; this is the medusa (baby jellyfish) form of a hydroid, possibly of the Eudendrium in the previous picture (they were in the same dish). I don’t know what the yellow blob it’s attached to is; in the video following you can see it trying to detach itself:
Hydrozoa video:
Family Phoronidae– yet another type of marine worm, a “horseshoe worm”:
Genus Haliclona (sponge) – it takes an expert and/or a microscope to determine species for sponges. This type is very widespread, and a great color:
Ancula pacifica (tiny nudibranch):
Dendraster excentricus (Sand dollar) This is the “test” (internal skeleton) of a kind of flattened sea urchin. The live urchins stay below the low tide line, and they live in big clusters, sometimes propped up perpendicular to the sand. Sort-of like the drawing of the oysters in Lewis Carroll’s “The Walrus and the Carpenter”, but underwater, and without the little shoes.
Mussel tracks- not tracks, of course, but for some reason mussels release droplets (presumably seawater?) when they’re exposed at low tide:
Anthopleura artemisia (moonglow anemone):
Moonset over Tomales Point. Moonset on June 30 was just before sunrise, making for some cool lighting:
Ooo I love the mussels’ “tracks” – love those fascinating things that happen at the shore when I start paying attention – one favorite example : beach grass waving in the wind etching “tracks” on the sand – time-lapse video of these is particularly good…
… I can almost smell and hear that mussels photo …
Your posts are always a treat. Thank you!
A very enjoyable batch of pictures! Thank you for sharing.
So great to see these little creatures wriggling around under our noses. Look at the orange eyes on that worm!
Love the moon over the point photo, Abby. I can imagine myself sitting there.
Fabulous pictures and videos! That 1/4 inch worm is a thing of beauty.
The moonglow anemone is beautiful.
Damn. They’re incredible photos, thank you.
La vita bella: life.. is beautiful.
D.A.
NYC
As always — top-shelf stuff
Nudibranchs are easy to love, but your photography makes even beach fleas enchanting. And as others have said, capturing the magic of mussel “tracks” is a wonderful piece of shared observation.
Thanks everyone!