My Nature Blog
Seth, mum and I found a lot of flatworm species at Eastern Beach. I haven’t focused on trying to identify them: we found so many different types of species and I don’t know enough about flatworms (yet) to know what the key features are. I’ve posted some theories, but aren’t shore.
I was exploring Eastern Beach recently with my mum and nephew when she discovered this weird looking worm.
In the first photo, you can see a flatworm next to it. The flatworm had weird patterning so I assumed that the flatworm and other creature were connected. Mum insisted that it was a separate animal and asked me to get more photos of it.
It turns out that it is a type of ribbon worm called Baseodiscus delineatus. We thought that it may have been, but I was unsure considering the sheer amount of unknown information when it comes to marine life. There isn’t that much information online about it and I’m keen to learn more.
These photos are from two separate trips
My parents and nephew often go to Eastern Beach to look for marine life. I rarely go with them, as I live on the other side of town and don’t catch public transport at night. I still ask mum to send me photos from their trips and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the images she has sent of these sea cucumbers. It is so fascinating seeing them up close. I’ve only ever seen them after they’ve washed up onto the shore.
[Read more…] about Geelong Waterfront: Sea Cucumbers At Night
My mum was at Eastern Beach recently with my nephew. Normally, I don’t blog about another persons experience… unless they find something really cool.
Mum send me these photos and then called me, talking about these cool blue things she had found. She thought they were awesome and loved the translucence. She asked for my help with identifying them.
I put them up on Facebook. I was a bit hesitant about doing so – the group is dedicated to marine research and many of my questions are fairly basic. I’m trying to rebuild a business and haven’t had the time to try and figure out identifications on my own. I learn a lot from the process but it can take hours.
It turns out that they are lightbulb ascidians, also known as Clavelina lepadiformis. They are on top of a type of sea squirt called Pyura stolonifera, also known as red bait. Both of these species are introduced. It makes me wonder about the connection between these and other Pyura species – were some other local ones (such as P. Dalbyi) considered to be invasive?
We are definitely planning to return and getting close photos using the GoPro and my digital camera. Just need to figure out the best way without getting in the water in the middle of winter.
[Read more…] about Two Sea Squirt Species At Geelong Waterfront
I was walking along Eastern Beach and feeling a bit smug about all the sea cucumbers I’d found. Mum had dashed off to go to the loo and I was proud of the cool stuff I had found.
Then I stumbled across this.
Mum LOVES sea squirts. We’ve noticed some at Apollo Bay before, but they were always in the water. This had washed up and would allow mum to get a really close look. I called her and asked her to meet me, but didn’t tell her what I had found.
She was so stoked. I’m used to seeing sea squirts when they are attached to objects, but not washed up like this.