Apollo Bay Harbour

Hidden Cycloporus Flatworm On Compound Ascidian

June 14, 2023 by Jade Craven

I was going through old photos of Botrylloides recently when I noticed that I had overlooked another critters at Apollo Bay Harbour.

There was a FLATWORM. And I didn’t see it.

The flatworm belongs to the Cycloporus genus. It could be one of two species, but it is difficult to tell without a closer view. To tell them apart I would need photos of:

tentacles
median line
type of pigmented spots.

Commonly found under rocks near compound ascidians.

I know who needs to go looking for ascidians soon!

Thysanozoon Broochi Flatworm at Apollo Bay Harbour

January 16, 2023 by Jade Craven

I was pretty happy after finding the terebellid worms this trip. I would have been fine if that was the only cool new species we’d found.

Then I saw this interesting shape on the same rock as the worms. The shape didn’t look like the species in the above photo; it looked more like a shiny smudge. I had a container on this trip and tried to see if the creature would go in it.

It did, and it looked like it expanded. It turns out is carpet flatworm, also known as Thysanozoon brocchii. It is always brown with white spots. Sometimes they can be a lot paler, but the white spots are diagnostic. These spots are scattered all over the flatworm.

I saw two different specimens of this flatworm on separate days this trip. This was fascinating. Like the terebellid worms, I had never seen these before!

I’m very keen to learn more about flatworms. It may not be the smartest decision: some need to be dissected to be identified. But they are so much fun.

Multiple Terebellid Worm Species At Apollo Bay Harbour

January 15, 2023 by Jade Craven

Seth and I were looking for marine life at the Apollo Bay harbour when he called me over. He’d found this weird looking worm but wasn’t sure what it was. We didn’t bring a container with us so I took a couple of photos and put them online. We also planned to return later with a proper container.

I uploaded the photos to my favourite Facebook group that is connected to the Victorian field naturalist club. People were able to tell it was a terebellid worm – also known as a spaghetti worm – based on these initial bad photos.

This is why I love the marine research group. I never would have guessed that based on what we saw here.

Marine Life In Apollo Bay Harbour

January 14, 2023 by Jade Craven

Seth and I had a lot of fun looking in the rockpools this trip, despite the tide being up fairly high.

The only issue was that the fur seal would occasionally come to shore and rest near the fishing area. We didn’t hear this happen and would immediately leave the area.

It was a bit frustrating. Fortunately we’d had a pretty good look at the rockpools at that point. The larger concern was that we didn’t hear it. We like to give them a fair about of space and there is only one set up steps down to the harbour. Fortunately it seemed more interested in having a stretch.

Two Varients of Botryllus Schlosseri in Apollo Bay Harbour

January 9, 2023 by Jade Craven

It was our second night in Apollo Bay – and our first chance for proper rockpooling. I hadn’t even walked down the steps when Seth shouted “I found that ascidian!”

Let’s just ignore the fact that my 14 year old nephew knows what an ascidian is. He was able to find multiple colonies of both the purple and orange variant of Botryllus Schlosseri. This is impressive since the low tide was around .5m. Normally we don’t find the good stuff unless we get a super low tide.