Merry
Contributor
Perhaps it's because Phil and I depend on marine life for lively adventures, that I get such a kick out of discovering what lives in the small area under our boat. Although there is some seasonality with the appearance of species that live in such a sheltered habitat, I find that encounters are generally unpredictable. Here's an example:
While making a dive to test my drysuit, I found tiny (~3mm) Okenia angelensis, mating and laying eggs on clumps of bryozoan. Also in this series, one Okenia attempts to mate with another one that doesn’t happen to be interested, ultimately leaving the potential partner hanging.
It was nice to find even ONE Mexican skirt dancer flatworm, Pseudoceros mexicanus, but the SECOND one I found unexpectedly took to the water column.
Happily, the little male bay blenny is still at home in a scallop shell.
A strikingly robust southern kelp crab – its carapace is covered with the shells of spirorbid worms.
While making a dive to test my drysuit, I found tiny (~3mm) Okenia angelensis, mating and laying eggs on clumps of bryozoan. Also in this series, one Okenia attempts to mate with another one that doesn’t happen to be interested, ultimately leaving the potential partner hanging.
It was nice to find even ONE Mexican skirt dancer flatworm, Pseudoceros mexicanus, but the SECOND one I found unexpectedly took to the water column.
Happily, the little male bay blenny is still at home in a scallop shell.
A strikingly robust southern kelp crab – its carapace is covered with the shells of spirorbid worms.
