Critter ID Help

[CajunDiva]

Hey gang -

I am in the process of checking out our pictures and videos from our Key Largo trip. I have come across something I can't identify. Wondering if it's some type of anemone? The footage is not the best, but it's the thing inside the little cave area under the cleaning shrimp...any help?

 

[reefman]

Hey gang -

I am in the process of checking out our pictures and videos from our Key Largo trip. I have come across something I can't identify. Wondering if it's some type of anemone? The footage is not the best, but it's the thing inside the little cave area under the cleaning shrimp...any help?

wow! with those not so steady hands, I suspect this dive was Thursday AM after the invasion party wed evening or was it just surge? a Pederson shrimp residing in a corkscrew anemone(possibly a knobby),,,,,,,,


reefman
key largo

 

[CajunDiva]

OK smarty pants...it was NOT Thursday. Let's see who's memory was affected by the party Wednesday night...can you now remember exactly WHERE I was diving and even who I was diving WITH on Thursday morning??? That would be the Spiegel Grove...with YOU!!! (Silly man )

This shaky video was shot earlier in the week when the conditions were not quite as stellar. I was holding my camera with the strobe and video light, and the arms were in the way, hence the noise of trying to adjust the arm so I could get a little closer. Admittedly...not a good video

I found bunches of corkscrew anemone - that's not what it was. It was almost like a starfish, but smaller and with more arms that were a dark color and flexible.

 

[mikeb21072]

Hard to tell without seeing the coloration on the body, but agree with reefman that it is probably a Pederson. I attached a photo my wife shot a few weeks back with a corkscrew anemone, if you zoom in the photo on the upper left quadrant of the anenome, you can see the color on the legs and back. That looks like it would have been a hard shot with the gopro without standing on your head and a video light.



Or, maybe a brittle star moving around along with a shrimp??

 

[reefman]

OK smarty pants...it was NOT Thursday. Let's see who's memory was affected by the party Wednesday night...can you now remember exactly WHERE I was diving and even who I was diving WITH on Thursday morning??? That would be the Spiegel Grove...with YOU!!! (Silly man )

This shaky video was shot earlier in the week when the conditions were not quite as stellar. I was holding my camera with the strobe and video light, and the arms were in the way, hence the noise of trying to adjust the arm so I could get a little closer. Admittedly...not a good video






.

I found bunches of corkscrew anemone - that's not what it was. It was almost like a starfish, but smaller and with more arms that were a dark color and flexible.

good point(and embarrassing)!! I guess I was the one that overindulged wed PM. having said that, I'm still confident that it was a corkscrew or knobby anemone(look closely and the tentacles move in unison with the surge). Pederson shrimp rarely associate with any other invertebrates(although I have observed them on bare rock and substrate),,


reefman
key largo

 

[KeithG]

you are seeing a corkscrew anemone from a different angle. this is a side shot. But it is VERY dark.

normally you see corkscrew anemone from above since they hide the main part of their body and all you see is a mass of "tentacles" all jammed together in the opening. the combo of being jammed together and the corkscrew pattern marks it very difficult to visually separate the tentacles. they look like a single mass. which is deceiving - they have lots of separate tentacles.

when you get an exposed side view like this, the tentacles are not jammed together, so you can see each individual tentacle flail about. it looks very different from what you normally get to see.

next time pay close attention and you will also likely see a pistol shrimp. but only a small part of it, they have red & white banded antenna and it is common to see about 1/4 inch of them. Sometimes you will get to see the pistol claw. But not often.

 

[CajunDiva]

That looks like it would have been a hard shot with the gopro without standing on your head and a video light.

View attachment 209157View attachment 209158

Or, maybe a brittle star moving around along with a shrimp??

At last...the voice of reason To complicate matters, I shoot with my GoPro mounted ON TOP of my SeaLife camera and housing. So it's double trouble!

My thought was either some type of anemone or possiblity a brittle star of some kind. I have seen many anemones over the years, and am very familiar with the corkscrew type where you can normally find Pederson Cleaning Shrimp. But this was different...nothing I've seen before, although the little critters certainly loved hanging out around it.

---------- Post added May 25th, 2015 at 10:51 PM ----------

you are seeing a corkscrew anemone from a different angle. this is a side shot. But it is VERY dark.

normally you see corkscrew anemone from above since they hide the main part of their body and all you see is a mass of "tentacles" all jammed together in the opening. the combo of being jammed together and the corkscrew pattern marks it very difficult to visually separate the tentacles. they look like a single mass. which is deceiving - they have lots of separate tentacles.

when you get an exposed side view like this, the tentacles are not jammed together, so you can see each individual tentacle flail about. it looks very different from what you normally get to see.

next time pay close attention and you will also likely see a pistol shrimp. but only a small part of it, they have red & white banded antenna and it is common to see about 1/4 inch of them. Sometimes you will get to see the pistol claw. But not often.

OK - you have convinced me! Thank you so much for the explanation. Space was incredibly tight and I really couldn't get much closer with the camera. I always look for the pistol shrimp...and have fun playing with them