Northwest Dive Club

I think it's a smooth velvet snail (Velutina prolongata), based on its shape and the coloring on the tentacles and edge of the foot. Not a nudie, but often mistaken for one.

The difference in spine length is not noticeable- one-fourth the test width in whites, one-fifth in greens. And this seems to vary somewhat with size, with little ones appearing to have proportionately longer spines. Whites have fewer spines than greens.

Definitely not a rectus- wrong color, shape, texture and habitat. They live in sand and mud and are all or mostly buried. This looks like a big gnarly Mytilus californianus- usually not in the sound but not unheard of.

Looks like a large Nucella lamellosa. They get over 3 inches long and are highly variable in terms of their frills, color, and shell thickness.

No. 2 is a baby Pagurus ochotensis. 3 is some type of gammarid amphipod, but I'm not any good with that group. 4 is a pair of hyperiid amphipods clinging to some sort of gelatinous critter. 5 is a scaleworm- I'd guess genus Harmothoe, but Leslie is the one to consult (though I don't know if she look...

It's a green urchin- you can tell by the dark tube feet. They aren't always this dark on greens, but are never dark on whites.

No. 4 is an eelgrass isopod, Idothea resecata. The divot on his butt is the giveaway (though clinging to eelgrass doesn't hurt, either).
The crab is Cancer oregonensis.

My name is Greg and I am NOT an octoholic. Sure, I look at 'em, sometimes for a long time. And take pictures whenever I come across one, even though I really don't need another shot of that same old pose. Maybe I suck a little extra air when I see a really big one, but it don't mean nuthin. And yes,...

Looks like a onespot fringehead. I shot one of these down in Monterey and had a hard time id'ing it, finally sent the picture to Gotshall. The fringe didn't show up in my picture either- maybe they lay it down.

The first one is Pagurus hemphilli- with the cool gold rings in the eyes. I.D. on the second is correct (for those of you with the older printing of my book, "Pagurus sp. 2" on pg. 67 is P. retrorsimanus. "Pagurus sp. 1" on the previous page is P. hartae). Although not 100% certa...

Actually I should revise that- the first of the last two pics is definitely a snubnose, the second doesn't look right- the scales aren't large enough and the snout isn't blunt enough. Maybe a small scalyhead.

Coralline and smoothhead are hard to tell apart, as it involves counting scales. I think it's probably a coralline, given the location and what scales I can count when I blow the picture up. There's also a subtle difference in the head. The second picture (in the second batch) is a smoothhead, not a...

I second Janna's i.d. on the snailfish, and the recommendation for Hart's book. The newer printings are paperback, which tend to cost less. If you go on Amazon and type in "Pacific fishes of Canada" you can find hard and softcover versions for as little as 10-15 bucks. Nice thing about a b...

Correct- first one's a Heptacarpus tridens, second is H. brevirostris.

Both species of snails are visible in this view.

Actually it's a mix of leafy hornmouth (Ceratostoma) and Nucella lamellosa egg capsules. The Nucella are towards the lower left, while the Ceratostoma are filling the upper right. You can see the flattened, curled shape.

Definitely a Loxorhynchus. Surface of the carapace looks like L. crispatus, but there appear to be some spines along the edge which are present only in grandis. Or it could just appear that way due to decorations. You may find crispatus up here in our area. Since my book came out, they have turned u...

Yep, it's a hirsutiusculus. Main reason most divers don't see it very often is because it's an intertidal species, living where we're putting on our fins rather than where we're looking.

yep, same thing as your previous post, except with its tentacles retracted.

Feeding tentacles of a sea cucumber, Cucumaria miniata.

I've been working on a new edition for quite a while- it will add about 60 more species, including several that I've described and named since the first edition came out, plus 'new and improved' pictures. The catch is that the present batch have to sell out before the publisher will do another editi...

Click on my website button and you might get some ideas

It's either a juvenile or a female. Females have small claws, as do males until they reach sexual maturity.
Like other spider crabs, once they molt to sexual maturity, they never molt again. But it's not clear what determines the size that they become sexually mature. Some do it at 5mm, some at 45mm.

No, it's an adult male sharpnose crab (Scyra acutifrons).

Yep, same thing.