Northwest Dive Club

Your top photo looks like a Blackbelly Eelpout. here's a link to another ID photo, unfortunately NOT showing the tail:

http://seahorsediveclub.com/Kens%20Crit ... 20Critters

And here's a link to a couple of photos that Tom Nic took at Redondo that he posted in our "The Eyes Have It!" game in the NWDC Critter Watcher section, (scroll about 2/3 down the page):

http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php ... c&start=60

As for your bottom photo......???? Looks like a worm of some kind, but I'm not really "up" on worms! Janna? Valerie? Anyone have their books handy and able to turn to the worm pages?

- John

Bassman and I ran into one of these at the end of our night dive at Three Tree North last night. It came straight at us as we were wading in the shallows and was fast as blazes! It moved in an undulating / wriggling fashion, and was definitely attracted to our lights! Kind of creepy actually, and had us wondering for a second about the worm proof nature of our dry suits!

I took some video of it that I will have to edit down... kind of like the first video I took of a young wolf eel coming right up to us poking between our legs and through our hoses and around our head looking for a hand out! Kind of fun and initially spooky all at the same time when you've never had the experience before! :rr:

The fish is a black belly eelpout Lycodes pacificus and the worm looks like an arrow worm. It is a bit hard to tell, but the shape is pretty close.

The arrow worms are often more clear but I found one online that is about the same coloration as yours. It doesn't have the paddles so that eliminates the polychaete from a choice and the polychaete are the ones that are most often seen swimming.

Tim

coachrenz wrote:The fish is a black belly eelpout Lycodes pacificus and the worm looks like an arrow worm. It is a bit hard to tell, but the shape is pretty close.

The arrow worms are often more clear but I found one online that is about the same coloration as yours. It doesn't have the paddles so that eliminates the polychaete from a choice and the polychaete are the ones that are most often seen swimming.

Tim

Tim, I don't think it's an arrow worm...I think it's one of the polychaetes that swim around really fast. I just think you can't see the appendages in the picture.

My thoughts, anyway...

Huskychemist wrote:
Tim, I don't think it's an arrow worm...I think it's one of the polychaetes that swim around really fast.
My thoughts, anyway...

I agree with Lowell; I've seen those worms before (creepy when they fly into you and your light) at Redondo and thought they were polychaetes too.

-Valerie (FWIW)

They definitely are fringed with a kind of "cilia" (I think that's the right word?) in a circle around the fringe of their bodies by which they swim. Fast little buggers, and creepy at night!

Those are actually parasites that come into your hood and enter your ear. They're also extremely attracted to p-valves and, for obvious reasons, prefer wetsuit divers to drysuit divers due to the increased entry locations. They're incredibly nimble and can make their way up a wetsuit without the diver being aware of their presence.

Their Latin name is "ichyus wormus inorficious"



From all the descriptions they remind me of leeches... just the thought of them makes my skin crawl. Anything that quietly sucks my blood like a leech or misquito just gives me the heebie jeebies!

I am glad that Valerie and Lowell disagree with me, but, in that particular picture, I just don't see the paddle like appendages that would put it into the polychaetes class.

I, too, have seen the swimming polychaetes. They have paddles for appendages, not cillia.

I disagreed with myself on the Arrow worm, but, after looking up some pictures, I found one that looked really close to Holly's. Check out the picture of this http://www.livescience.com/php/multimed ... 715&gid=46 found at livescience.com.

Granted a better picture would be helpful.

I will change my ID to Unidentified worm. And that is my final word. So, there!

GillyWeed wrote:Sounder you're not serious right? RIGHT?!?

BwaHaHaHaHA.....

Actually truth can be stranger than fiction, such as the parasite in the Amazon that travels up a urine stream and embeds itself in the unfortunate victim!

Tom Nic wrote:

GillyWeed wrote:Sounder you're not serious right? RIGHT?!?

BwaHaHaHaHA.....

Actually truth can be stranger than fiction, such as the parasite in the Amazon that travels up a urine stream and embeds itself in the unfortunate victim!

Makes a kidney stone sound down-right fun!

Tom Nic wrote:
GillyWeed wrote:
Sounder you're not serious right? RIGHT?!?



BwaHaHaHaHA.....

Actually truth can be stranger than fiction, such as the parasite in the Amazon that travels up a urine stream and embeds itself in the unfortunate victim!


Makes a kidney stone sound down-right fun!

I heard about the parasite in the amazon.. We don't have anything like that in the ol PS though right?

GillyWeed wrote:

Tom Nic wrote:
GillyWeed wrote:
Sounder you're not serious right? RIGHT?!?



BwaHaHaHaHA.....

Actually truth can be stranger than fiction, such as the parasite in the Amazon that travels up a urine stream and embeds itself in the unfortunate victim!


Makes a kidney stone sound down-right fun!

I heard about the parasite in the amazon.. We don't have anything like that in the ol PS though right?

If we did, that would be the one thing that could make me give up diving! ...or wear steel underwear ...or never pee in the water ...or ....

Ha,Ha,Ha You should of seen Tom and I jumpin' around as this thing squirmed toward us and litterally through our legs!
It realy seemed to enjoy our lights and would not leave us alone.
Yes there was that certain uncertainness that made us wonde,r how much would the dry suit protect us?

Gilly, you seem a little paranoid.

It was about 6 or 7 inches long and fast!

Holly,
Did I mention how much I like your Avitar?


But shouldn't it be a blond dive girl?

Thanks Bassman.. But as a typical girl, I change my hair color almost as much as my shoes.. So no.. I am a brunette.. =)

Got it.
Heres to "new shoes" then :occasion5:

...Hey, got these new shoes...actually, they are Nikes. Perfect for work!