Geelong And Surrounds

Plaxiphora albida

We didn’t have much luck at Fishermans Basin, so I suggested that we go to St Helens. Team Ascidian had visited the spot six days earlier while I was crook with Covid. I was really keen to see what species were there to get an idea of what they may have sampled.

This sounds obsessive, and it kinda is. This is the main spot I visit so I’ve gotten to know the types of ascidians that typically reside here. Sometimes I’ll see a weird one that I hope hangs around long enough for someone to get a sample. In the long run, I’m hoping to solve this by collecting my own samples.

[Read more…] about St Helens Boat Ramp: April 27

I was so excited after looking at the photos I took at St Helens yesterday. It looked like I had a wide variety of botryllids at different ages. I posted them, and these images, on Facebook so of my marine research friends could share in that excited.

A couple of people pointed out that these were actually weren’t botryllids, they were actually Aplidium species!

[Read more…] about Multiple Aplidium Specimens At St Helens Boat Ramp

I had a quick look under the floating pontoons at St Helens yesterday to check how the botryllids were doing. I’m glad I did; it seems that the Erythropodium hicksoni is retreating and other marine life if growing in its place. These photos are mediocre as I’m still trying to figure out the best settings, but they show the variety of ascidians.

There looks to be a lot variety within the species themselves. I wish I was trained to collect samples – it would be so fascinating to explore this further 🙂

[Read more…] about Colonial Ascidians At St Helens Boat Ramp: April 11

These photos were taken yesterday before we went to Queenscliffe for the marine biology cruise. We spent about 80 minutes here in the morning.

Seth found all of these species. They were found next to the main boat ramp. This is the area where Seth seems to find the best stuff. Unfortunately, it isn’t where the good ascidians are.

I had a lot of fun here though finding different marine life.

[Read more…] about Marine Critters At St Helens Boat Ramp

These are the final set of shots from my recent trip to St Helens. There was a lot of diversity in with the botrylloides I found here. Unfortunately there isn’t much accessible information about ascidians different life stages, so I’m not sure whether any of these images are unusual.

I’m in need of a new system to organize my observations. I don’t know how to explain the differences other than holes in the zooid and colour of zooid/rest of ascidian. Maybe what it is growing on? You can see rows when looking in the larger holes on some of them.

[Read more…] about St Helens Botrylloides: March 2024