Seth and I had a lot of success at St Helens last week. So, when Seth asked if I wanted to go to St Helens on his day off and spend a couple of hours looking for critters… 🙂
We spent three hours both here and at the beach, so got to take our time looking for creatures. It was so fascinating. Normally I visit here every 3 weeks or so. In this case, it had only been 6 days. This allowed me to see botryllids at multiple points in their life cycle.
The above photo is awesome; it shows two colonies. I’m wondering if they are colonies at different life stages. Wouldn’t it be cool if they were the same species! This is really exciting and makes me want to visit here more.
Normally I’d say this is Botrylloides diegensis. However the zooids are shaped in circles. It reminds me of a pattern I’ve seen with a red and white botryllid. I’ve labelled it as B. diegensis.
I’m guessing that the above ascidian is at a early stage in its life cycle and some zooids are still forming.
This looked spongey. I’m not sure if it even is an ascidian. I’m guessing this is the botryllid as it ages and just before it starts to deteriorate. But I don’t really know anything about botryllid life cycles.
I’m not sure what the above is. Part of me wants to say Botryllus? This is one I would like to get a sample of. However, my nerdy brain wants samples and DNA information about everything here.
Other
I’m almost getting an Aplidium vibe from the middle.
Not sure what the above is. Previously I would have said Ciona but that is based on it looking lobed (if that is the word – is has indents along the side of the siphon) and transparent. Someone on iNaturalist suggested the Ascidia genus.
Styela Plicata. First time I’ve seen them here, normally I see them at Eastern Beach. I enjoyed being able to get closed photos of them. Hopefully I can get more.