Merry
Contributor
Last Sat. on the Giant Stride, 6 of us* braved flat, calm seas and 60 – 70 ft vis to dive Farnsworth Bank. We were hunting the spectacular purple-hued California hydrocoral, Stylaster californicus. Another boat was on the high spot, so for us most of the hydrocoral was 90 – 100 fsw with no current.
Although I only shot WA, I managed to find the cryptic snail, Pedicularia californica, which lives exclusively on hydrocoral (photo center).
S. californicus can reproduce 2 ways - either asexually by fragmentation, or sexually with male colonies releasing sperm into the water, fertilizing eggs brooded by females.
*Kevin Lee, John Bibb, Jerry Hall, Peter Hall, Phil Garner and Captain Jim Simmerman
Phil descending in blue water
Commensal snail, Pedicularia californica
Although I only shot WA, I managed to find the cryptic snail, Pedicularia californica, which lives exclusively on hydrocoral (photo center).
S. californicus can reproduce 2 ways - either asexually by fragmentation, or sexually with male colonies releasing sperm into the water, fertilizing eggs brooded by females.
*Kevin Lee, John Bibb, Jerry Hall, Peter Hall, Phil Garner and Captain Jim Simmerman
Phil descending in blue water
Commensal snail, Pedicularia californica
