Northwest Dive Club

Hi Laura,

Thanks so much for this link - Fascinating information!

Hi Jan, Terrific photos as always: Thanks & keep up the good work! I don't know why but, no matter how many times I see it happening, I'm always surprised at how many things eat jellyfish. Rockweed trivia: I've been told that the slimy stuff found in the rockweed's floats is essentially the same...

Greetings,

I normally only participate on the Critterwatchers forum but I thought the following might be of interest to a wider group:
http://www.seadocsociety.org/seadoc-fin ... l-economy/
My apologies if this is the wrong place.

Financially yours,
Alex

Hi Taryn,

I think that your I.D.'s are correct except that the Stubby Rose has been renamed to Urticina clandestina. Check out this site: http://actiniaria.com/urticina_clandestina.php

Semanticly yours,
Alex

Hi Jan,
Wonderful images and fascinating information!
I've got a question about the anemones - What is the structure that they're growing on in the image and do you have any sense of how long it has been there?
Agedly yours,
Alex

Hi Jan,

More amazing images and terrific information! Thanks for all your good work.

Sycophantishly yours,
Alex

Hi Taryn, You might try the Sea Slug Forum - http://www.seaslugforum.net/ They have information on and images of just about any nudibranch imaginable. Searching for a photo match can be daunting because there are so many species covered but, if all else fails, you can send your photos to them for an...

Hi Carl, I agree completely with Jan. Just wanted to add that the "feelers" are actually modified feet - barnacles are crustaceans that are standing on their heads and kicking food into their mouths. More information can be found by doing a Google search on Balanus nubilus. Additively your...

Hi Jan,

Wow! What an amazing and stark contrast. Any ideas about what might have changed in the environment of that rock?

Changeably yours,
Alex

Hi Jan,

Your photos are always terrific but that first image of the leafy hornmouth & eggs is truly a cut above!

Gobsmackedly yours,
Alex

Hi Jan,

That 'colorizing' panel was very neat!

Question - In the areas you survey, are you seeing the number of stars (especially juveniles) growing?

Appreciatively yours,
Alex

Hi Jan, While I am always impressed by your photography, I'm even more impressed by your ability to find sources of information about your subjects! Here's something to add to your library about the Shaggy Mouse: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.2307/1543542 The gist of the paper is that...

Hi Jan,

Cool Find!. Repeated observations of the same site(s) pays off again. It will be interesting to see if this population sustains, expands, or collapses.

Invasively yours,
Alex

Hi Jan,

Please forgive my poor memory but was Langley Harbor (and Coupeville) clear of the disease prior to this year or is this outbreak 'round two'?

Sickly yours,
Alex

Hi Jan, Gorgeous images! Several years ago the Feiro Center hosted a talk on nudibranchs by Dave Behrens. I asked him about D. albolineata eating snails and he basically called BS and said that their primary diet is actually bryozoans (which seem to be in these photos). I just looked at Sea Slug For...

Greetings,
That appears to be the egg mass of a parasitic copepod.
http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20868
Nastily yours,
Alex

Hi Jan, Very cool images! I found this in the abstract of the paper describing this species - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/19082575_Kronborgia_pugettensis_sp_nov_Neorhabdocoela_Fecampiidae_an_endoparasitic_turbellarian_infesting_the_shrimp_Heptacarpus_hincaidi_Rathbun_with_notes_on_its_l...

Greetings,

Most likely, it's the Six-Lined Ribbon Worm (Tubulanus sexlineatus). If you've got a copy of Andy Lamb's "Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest" it's on page 119.

Vermiculturally yours,
Alex

Hi Jan,
Lovely detailed images as always - congratulations!
Pardon my ignorance but, in the upper photo of the red rock crab panel, what is the crab walking across?
Curiously yours,
Alex

Hi Dan,
J. fuscus is parasitized by the copepod Ismaila belciki - apparently the copepod lives inside the slug but its eggs (if present) are outside.
http://www.seaslugforum.net/message/9060
Could this be the reason for the hump that you show?
Parasitically yours,
Alex

Hi Jan,

Last Tuesday a friend witnessed (in one hour) three instances of young Ochre Stars being eaten by Seagulls. On the bright side, at least there were stars to eat (Ochres have been making a comeback in Port Angeles recently).

Optimistically yours,
Alex

Hi Jan,

Congratulations on finding the baby six-rays - those puppies are hard to pick out under the best of circumstances!

Observationally yours,
Alex

Hi Dan,

I'm guessing it's a parasitic isopod; it seems to be the right shape and that's where they often show up on a shrimp.
OTOH: Greg is the expert.

Speculatively yours,
Alex

Hi Jan,
Very cool find! I've never heard of this behavior but it is a great idea in terms of giving the larva the best chance possible for dispersal.
I seem to recall Greg J. talking about aggregations of Dungeness crabs but I think that the circumstances were different.

Innovatively yours,
Alex

Hi Carl, I agree that it's an anemone; based on color and skin texture it looks like a partially retracted Giant Plumose Anemone aka Metridium farcimen . We have an animal of roughly the same size and color at the Feiro Center - when fully expanded it's a bit over a foot tall and maybe 10 inches acr...