Whidbey Island Critters

[nwscubamom]

I think a trip to the dentist is in order for that guy!

[Jan K]

At first I thought I found a new color variation of Elysia. Usually I see them green. My friend Dave Behrens, expert on nudibranchs told me that it is just a hungry guy, missing chloroplasts in his diet... Learning something new. Again. And again

[nwscubamom]

I just love the name....right up there with the Yellow Belly Sapsucker

[Chenari]

I just love the name....right up there with the Yellow Belly Sapsucker

That and the Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker lol.

[Jan K]

Plenty of Barnacle and Bryozoan eating slugs in Whidbey waters right now.

[Jan K]

Happy Valentine

[Dusty2]

OOO, Pretty, How come I never get to see these guys? Nice to see you posting again I was missing your posts

[Leslie]

I hope someday I get a critter named after me, but definitely not via the "Bobbit" route. I wonder if he even knows he's been so honored.

It's not in honor of him, it's in honor of HER scissors. And it only refers to a few large species that stand up with their huge jaws extended waiting for fish to come by. See http://www.montereydiving.com/Photos/In ... bitt1.html None of our local eunicids are true bobbits in that sense so it's a pity Lamb & Hanby used the name for the family.

Incidentally Jan, I'm not convinced the worm you photographed is Eunice valens. Color is wrong, the proportions of the head appendages are wrong for the species, and the character that put it into the genus Eunice can't be seen. I would just leave it as Eunicidae.

[Dusty2]

Leslie, Nice to see you posting again. There have been allot of unanswered worm questions that we could have used your help on.

[Leslie]

Thanks, Dusty. I lost the bookmark, life got hectic .... fortunately Greg showed me the way back .

[Jan K]

I hope someday I get a critter named after me, but definitely not via the "Bobbit" route. I wonder if he even knows he's been so honored.

It's not in honor of him, it's in honor of HER scissors. And it only refers to a few large species that stand up with their huge jaws extended waiting for fish to come by. See http://www.montereydiving.com/Photos/In ... bitt1.html None of our local eunicids are true bobbits in that sense so it's a pity Lamb & Hanby used the name for the family.

Incidentally Jan, I'm not convinced the worm you photographed is Eunice valens. Color is wrong, the proportions of the head appendages are wrong for the species, and the character that put it into the genus Eunice can't be seen. I would just leave it as Eunicidae.

Thank you Leslie for clarification. I can't identify worms even if they are all in one piece, trying to guess what kind of worm is being chewed on by uncooperative crab is impossible for me under the best circumstances. Eunicidae sushi it is . Or spaghetti ?

[Jan K]

Common slug this time of year....

[Tom Nic]

Really like these little guys... but then I can't think of a nudi that I don't like!

Great Pic Jan - especially at the top - you can really see it's mouth parts.

Can a nudibranch be "cute"? These guys sure are, but their "cuteness" belies their ferocity. I happened upon a "pack" of these guys at Harper's Ferry once that were feeding on a Giant Plumose Anemone. Quite a sight, looked literally like a pack of wolves feeding on a downed elk - they made short work of a pretty big critter. Made me also think of Striped Nudibranchs feeding on an Orange Sea Pen.

The whole predatory nature of some species of nudibranchs is one of the coolest things about this amazing critter.

[Zen Diver]

Amazing how the same critter topside makes me do the "eeeuuuuwwww" dance, but underwater they are a treasure! Nice work Jan!

[Dusty2]

Nice work Jan, I love shaggy mooses. I saw some really unusually colored ones at KVI tower this year and the strange thing was they were feeding on brooding anemones. They are going strong at Hudson too.

[whatevah]

The whole predatory nature of some species of nudibranchs is one of the coolest things about this amazing critter.

Have you seen or read about Navanax inermis and similar species Tom? I think you'd get a kick out of them.

[Jan K]

Thank you all for kind words, if you are Point & Shoot camera guy, slugs are our friends
or anything else which doesn't run away too fast...

[Jan K]

We revisited another Glacial erratic. Last year we found numerous Buffalo and Great sculpins on it, so we named it " The Sculpin Rock". And since it is egg laying season, we were looking forward to find them there on guard duty. And we were not disappointed. They were all over the rock...Here are the Great sculpins and their eggs, enjoy:

[nwscubamom]

That tubeworm looks like a bad hair day!

Nice find to see all these Greats guarding their egg masses. That's a LOT of eggs!

[Dusty2]

Awesome Jan, Great photos and info as usual. It's wonderful to find a relatively unspoiled site where mother nature seems to be in a happy balance. Maybe it should be Great sculpin rock.

[Jan K]

Awesome Jan, Great photos and info as usual. It's wonderful to find a relatively unspoiled site where mother nature seems to be in a happy balance. Maybe it should be Great sculpin rock.

Thanks. There were also Buffalo sculpins on it, so to be fair, lets stick with Sculpin Rock..
And you are right, it is nice to find an oasis of life in the sandy desert off the eastern shores of Whidbey. Here are some more tidbits of info, I assume that some of it might also apply to Great sculpins, but I am not sure...

[Tom Nic]

That's cool that they were still there! I have found that the surest way to empty a critter from a dive site is to name the site after the critter.

[Jan K]

Keystone had lot of visiting divers this weekend, Saturday was such a lovely day. Visited the Pilings and was rewarded with another new critter to add to my list. Very common barnacle according to the sources, except until the currents brought this bunch of ocean travelers to Whidbey aboard a Bull Kelp stipe, I never had the pleasure to see them. We got plenty of other barnacles, but Pelagic Goosenecks are not among them...

[LCF]

Jan, you are a treasure! You never seem to stop finding interesting things to do beautiful photographs of, and then educate us about!

[Jan K]

Thanks Lynne.
Here are some snapshots from Friday dive at Possession Point Fingers.

Looking for colors in the gloomy world..