Northwest Dive Club

Hello Everyone!

As a scientific diver who is new to this club, I am hoping to tap into your wealth of knowledge as local dive naturalists.

I am looking for rare colorful amphipods known as Podocerus cristatus (see pictures in poster below). These critters are small (~2-5mm) crustaceans that are often camouflaged against subtidal habitat. However, some divers (including me!) have spotted individuals with remarkably bright color patterns along the west coast of North America. Coloration can range from exciting red fluorescence to neon patterns that mimic local nudibranch species (e.g., Flabellina trilineata).

Both colorful and camouflaged individuals are rarely documented and I need help documenting the location of these animals. At my sites in the San Juan Islands (WA), I typically find them at depths from 20-100 ft in hard bottom areas that experience low to high current. They use their spider-like body to cling to red algae, branching bryozoans, hydroids, sponges and tunicates while they extend their antennae into the water to filter feed. You probably won’t be able to spot the camouflaged individuals, but the colorful ones should be more obvious and are a super exciting find against the dark blue/green background of our waters.

If you see such an amphipod, please:
1. Take a picture or video, if possible.
2. Note date, time, site, habitat, and appearance of individual.
3. Contact me, at bmc825@gmail.com.

I am excited to hear from you all soon!

Best,
Brittany

Hi Brittany, I was under the impression that no invertebrates may be collected in Washington waters without a collection permit from WDFW. Can you clarify how that would work, or if that's even the case anymore?

Hi
Welcome!
We've seen them at Alki Junkyard, Point Hudson and Skyline. You can search on this site for some images.
That purple one is really cool, where did you see that?

The main thread with images of some of our finds is here:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=27934

A couple more snaps:

**STATEMENT OF RETRACTION**

I wish to thank the knowledgeable divers who brought to my attention an important oversight in my collection request. As a recreational diver, you CANNOT collect invertebrates without an authorized permit. As a scientific diver and PhD student at a museum, I am covered under my advisor’s permits and have permission to collect these specific amphipods after extensive training and approval of dive plans from my institution’s dive safety officer. Unless you are in a state which allows recreational collection of invertebrates with a fishing license (e.g., Florida), please do NOT collect animals.

However, photography or videography of these animals (“Step 1” in the poster image) will still be super helpful toward research endeavors. Please send along any observations that you make to my contact info.

My apologies for the confusion. I have updated the original post accordingly.

Sincerely,
Brittany

Thanks for looking into that detail and clarifying, Brittany!
- Janna

If they are rare, is it wise to collect them for science?
What happens to the collected individuals?
Can they be alternatively studied in situ?
How does one estimate a safe number of collections that will not adversely affect the distribution of a rare population?
Can they be easily sexed or aged?
Are the mating and molting seasons/behaviors known?
If a rare individual is taken, how long might it take for another to take its place?
Do commercial interests exist for such rare species? (e.g. aquarium trade)

My observation is that there are a lot of the drab ones at certain times of the year at certain sites. So perhaps only rare as in rarely noticed. I heard elsewhere there was an interest in studying if the color variants are separate species, not sure if that's the case here.