Two More Pics I Need Identified

[got4boyz]

I can't believe a dive guide from Coumel can't ever have seen these things. You bloody well can't avoid the things in open water.

I confused you again. It wasn't the dive guide that hadn't seen it before but a diver who has been going down to Cozumel for 20 years who had never seen one before like that.

Pteropods (which are now called thecosomatans or is it gymnosomatans?) have a shell, which would be distinctive. They do swim with a flapping motion, which comb jellies do NOT do.

It certainly didn't look anything like a pteropod. But it appeared to have a flapping motion while it swam. It certainly didn't propel itself the way most jellies I have seen do, so who knows. If I ever see another I'll take a video!

 

[mbuff]

Mnemiopsis and its friends very commonly have those black spots on their bodies... that's what I noticed first. I can't believe a dive guide from Coumel can't ever have seen these things. You bloody well can't avoid the things in open water.

Pteropods (which are now called thecosomatans or is it gymnosomatans?) have a shell, which would be distinctive. They do swim with a flapping motion, which comb jellies do NOT do.

Pterpods are shelled and unshelled: orders Thecosomata and Gymnosomata, respectively. the former is shelled (theca) and the later is the naked pteropod. Some of the thecasomes shells aren't very visible.

The locomotion is what nails it, imho, as some kind of swimming gastropod. Jellies don't move like that, and neither do the pelagic tunicates. If it was a comb jelly like Mnemiopsis , the action of the comb plates (the irridescence) would be pretty visible, no?

Anyway, I'm voting for swimming slug (this is fun!) You might look at gastopterids, which also swim and also pleurobranchs... see if you can find any that are translucent and in the carribean. I've had no luck so far on the sea slug forum.

 

[glbirch]

Since y'all were so helpful in identifying what stung me, I have two more pics from the dive that I can't identify. One I know if a type of jellyfish and the other a fish of course. LOL

I had never seen this type of jellyfish before. It was a long rectangular shape with rounded corners and it moved by folding it's body in half, then open, then back in half through the water. It was very cool! Does anyone know the type of jellyfish or are there just too many to even try to identify it?

The fish I found interesting because of the fleshy looking fin on top and it's markings. He wouldn't come out of hiding for me to get a good picture though. (Can't say I blame him. )

My vote on the second picture is a Spot-Winged Comb Jelly. I've seen them before in Cozumel.

Here's a short video of one: http://www.liquidguru.com/kajhtm/vidPages/20comb.htm

 

[got4boyz]

Well I give up! Can't find any sea slugs that are shaped like that and comb jellies don't seem to have the right shape either.

Actually, some nudibranch seem to have a similar shape, but they are way too pretty!

Thanks for the video glbirch. It really helped to see the creature from all angles. But other than the black dots there is not resemblance. This creature has two wing looking parts connected by a long spine type thing and what I saw definitely didn't have that long thing connecting the two halves.

I'm also wondering from pictures I looked at if the video is really an Ocyropsis. (Of course it could be labeled wrong in the pics I found.) They are probably related, I'm certainly no expert on the matter.

http://www.imagequest3d.com/cgi-bin...g=0&search=Ocyropsis&cat=aquatic&tt=&bool=and


Here's a link I found that has hundreds of pictures of jellys and gastropods, etc. I haven't found anything that looks like it. You can do a search on whatever you'd like to see pics of and at the top of the page you can specify how many pics per page.

http://www.imagequest3d.com/cgi-bin...o.cgi?search=jelly&img=0&cat=aquatic&bool=and

I am probably not remembering something pertinent that would help in it's identification. I just remember that it appeared to have two halves that looked the same and also appeared to be flapping them to move about. Could be wrong!

Anyway, I've wasted too much time looking. I need to get some work done around here. LOL

Thanks again for all your suggestions. It's been fun!

 

[SubMariner]

Since y'all were so helpful in identifying what stung me, I have two more pics from the dive that I can't identify. One I know if a type of jellyfish and the other a fish of course. LOL

I had never seen this type of jellyfish before. It was a long rectangular shape with rounded corners and it moved by folding it's body in half, then open, then back in half through the water. It was very cool! Does anyone know the type of jellyfish or are there just too many to even try to identify it?

I agree that it's a Spot-Winged Comb Jelly

The fish I found interesting because of the fleshy looking fin on top and it's markings. He wouldn't come out of hiding for me to get a good picture though. (Can't say I blame him. )

Also I concur that this is a Sargassum Trigger. Don't you think their colour is amazing?