A couple of weeks back, I took my car in for a pre-MoT check (it failed - low tread on a tyre, a number plate bulb out and a 4cm wide hole in a sill that needed welding). Whilst waiting, I wandered along the nearby riverbank and added a few plants to the monad, some of which local BSBI Recorder Stephen wanted to see for himself. I suggested he join me whilst I was back there having the car fixed. And if we were making an outing of it, we ought really to invite Neil too. Stephen agreed. So the three of us met up outside the repair garage whereupon we began by checked the riverside vegetation, adding yet more plants to the tetrad (and hectad). We accidentally found a tiny seepage that held a small quantity of Sphagnum. Almost as an afterthought, I crammed a small sample of Sphagnum into a glass tube ready for checking once back indoors. You can see what I found in tomorrow's blogpost. It's good...
I found this tenanted fly mine on a Ragwort leaf, which I mistakenly believed to be Liriomyza strigata. Luckily Barry Warrington on iRecord knows his stuff, it's actually Trypeta zoe (dark central band through the linear mine being the giveaway)
This is the first record I've submitted to iRecord which has been knocked back at me as being incorrect. Plus there was one a couple of weeks back which could have been either of two species, hence was not accepted. My success rate is dropping. Arse.
Anyway, after an hour or so wandering the riverside we were ready for Plan B - which was to hit Harlosh at a super-low tide. Upon our arrival we found several extremely large, and extremely dead, Edible Crabs. All missing their claws but otherwise looking fairly intact. Carnage! We soon found a large black plastic container cable-tied shut in the shallows. A quick shove and the sound of large crabs came from within - presumably the dead ones had been left in the sun for too long and had succumbed? What an utterly stupid waste of life. It's probably as well I didn't have my knife on me (to release them, I mean, not to murder or maim the crabber for negligence...)
Within minutes we were wading welly-deep through a fantastic eelgrass bed, so utterly fantastic that I neglected to take a single picture of it! By walking very slowly and carefully it was easy to see lots of small fish hiding amongst the floating vegetation. Loads of Two-spot Gobies, quite a few scorpion fish (probably Long-spined. Guess which muppet had left his net in his car back at the garage...) I had a Fifteen-spined Stickleback slowly investigate my wellies, there were lots of Sand Gobies on open patches of gravel which Stephen was amazed to discover will swim full speed into the sand and completely disappear from sight. I also found this goby and managed a few images
I've almost convinced myself that this is a Painted Goby, which would be a new species for me. I just can't utterly rule out other gobies. I have more pics, but they don't add anything useful. Hmmm.
This is Diplosoma listerianum, a gorgeous gelatinous sea squirt which occurs amongst weed in sheltered waters around much of Skye. There's a Grey Topshell beside it too.
This tiny fish was floating by my welly when I spotted it, looking completely at the mercy of the tide as it drifted by. It was no problem to scoop it into a glass tube. The whole fish is well under 2cm in length and this is about the 'best' image I managed. I have no idea what it is!!! Maybe a wrasse? I had Sea Bream suggested, but I really don't think so.
The obvious target species amongst the eelgrass was seahorse. We looked. We tried. We failed. I think snorkelling has to be the way to find seahorses. I'm not massively keen on the idea of swiping through the eelgrass with my net, imagine finding a seahorse minus its tail! Nope, not keen on that at all. But I am keen to see a seahorse! More slow, careful walking knee-deep through the beds required methinks.
Neil spotted this (I'm fairly sure I would have just walked straight past it). The tentacle span is maybe a smidge over one centimetre diameter. We had no idea what it was, though Neil said it would disappear beneath the surface if disturbed.
Whatya got this time, Neil? Ooooh...... what is that?
I think it's a worm
What, like a fanworm? So it's an annelid?
Yeah, I think so. It'll disappear if you go near.
Cool, how deep down will it go?
Maybe a foot? I dunno.
I have a sieve, I'm going in. A foot you reckon? (shit..) Ok, we ready?
You'll mis.......oh!
And dive down it did, incredibly quickly too! Happily, I out-manoeuvred it and we were able to see it in its full glory
This is the tube-anemone Cerianthus lloydii, which is something Stephen and I have never knowingly seen before. The tentacles and column are clearly visible in the image above. Below the column is a tube of mucilage with the muscular 'foot' of the anemone sticking up to the right of the column. The gravel tube is what the anemone usually lives in. This pic was taken at home that evening and the anemone was returned to the sea. I hope it does alright after being rudely relocated some thirty miles!
Also new for me was this beauty, a stalked jellyfish and the first one I've seen for the best part of twenty years! Pity I didn't notice the encrusting alga on the eelgrass at the time, looks interesting.
This is Calvadosia campanulata, a stunning little beast which caused a small cry of delight when I found it. Despite lots of looking, we couldn't find any others. A real treat and my second cnidarian lifer of the hour, it's not often that happens!
Neil called us over to look at a crab he'd found beneath a rock (well actually, it grabbed him around the fingertip causing some rather comical 'hoy hoy hoy - jeezo!' type squeals, but I won't mention that....) Here's the beast beauty in question
Lairy bugger would not lower his claws! It reminds me of the cover to an album I like. Only one song fits
We decided it was a Risso's Crab Xantho pilipes which was new for Neil and Stephen, and I haven't seen too many of them before either. The next crab was my find and, despite masses of photographs being taken from just about every angle imaginable, we are still unsure which of two species it is! Here it is
Beneath the weed is a crab, the head end is to the left. This is probably Macropodia rostrata, but there's an outside chance of it being Macropodia deflexa. I swear I'll shave the next one and bring it home for microscopic inspection if that's what it needs to fully determine the species involved!
Neil was Top Dog today and was finding stuff everywhere he looked, including the only sea slug of the day. This is Elysia viridis, the ridiculously-named Solar Powered Sea Slug. There is a bit of reasoning behind the name, but c'mon reeeeally???
The spreadsheet for HBRG seemed a bit thin. I suggested we add Human, Minke Whale and Razorbill to the tally, the latter two both being tideline corpses. Well, section of backbone for the whale. I suspect corpse would be pushing it a bit.
Music-wise I was very tempted to play Octopus's Garden to you. But you get this instead. Sorry. Not.
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