Contracted mauve sea cucumber found under a boulder. Old Woman's River, Eastern Cape (2021) - iNaturalist Body tough. Upper surface mauve-black, becoming pale grey on the flattened underside. Tubefeet strongly suctorial and restricted to five regular bands, each consisting of a double row. Ten irregularly-branched tentacles. A filter-feeder which forms dense beds on shallow reefs… Continue reading Mauve sea cucumber (Pentacta doliolum)
Category: Echinoderms
Oval urchin (Echinometra mathaei)
Oval urchin found between stones at the bottom of a rock pool. Port St Johns, Wild Coast, Eastern Cape (2021). Also referred to as the burrowing urchin or the rock-boring urchin. Test oval when viewed from above, purple to black. Spines fairly long and stout, tapering evenly to a sharp tip. Spine color purple, brown… Continue reading Oval urchin (Echinometra mathaei)
Red starfish (Callopatiria granifera)
Large red starfish found under a low-hanging rock at low tide. Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2023) - iNaturalist Previously known as Patiria granifera. Arms clearly tapering and flattened on their lower surface, giving them a semi-circular cross section. Colour deep orange to red, with a surface texture resembling small overlapping tiles. Up to 80 mm… Continue reading Red starfish (Callopatiria granifera)
Banded brittlestar (Ophiarachnella capensis)
Banded brittlestar under a boulder. Fishhoek, Western Cape (2020) - iNaturalist Disc granular, arms strikingly patterned with alternating dark grey and pink (or red) bands. Very short spines flank the arms. The lower surface of the disc has a single long genital slit on either side of each arm. About 45 mm. Lives under boulders… Continue reading Banded brittlestar (Ophiarachnella capensis)
Reticulated starfish (Henricia ornata)
A maroon reticulated starfish found in a rock pool on the shore. Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2023) - iNaturalist Arms long, very gradually tapering and cylindrical. Color orange to maroon with an irregularly-honeycombed surface texture. Up to 90 mm across. Thought to feed on sponges by everting the stomach and digesting the sponge tissue in… Continue reading Reticulated starfish (Henricia ornata)
Horseshoe sea cucumber (Roweia frauenfeldii)
Dug out horseshoe sea cucumber, with its U-shape, dark body, covered with shell bits and sediments. Doringbaai, Western Cape (2020) - iNaturalist Two subspecies are present in South Africa : Roweia frauenfeldii subsp. frauenfeldii on the West and South coasts, and R. frauenfeldii subsp. webbi on the East Coast. Body arched into a typical U-shape,… Continue reading Horseshoe sea cucumber (Roweia frauenfeldii)
Red-chested sea cucumber (Hemiocnus insolens)
Subtidal sea cucumber deploying its tentacles, with details of the tube feet. Fishhoek, Western Cape (2020) - iNaturalist Previously known as Cucumaria insolens, Trachythyone insolens or Pseudocnella insolens. Colour diagnostic. Intertidal specimens may be dark above with a red 'chest', but subtidal ones are uniformly bright red. Tube feet scattered dorsally, but in three bands… Continue reading Red-chested sea cucumber (Hemiocnus insolens)
Cape urchin (Parechinus angulosus)
Purple urchin shading himself with the egg of a ray or a shark. Fishhoek, Western Cape (2020) - iNaturalist Also called 'pumpkin shell'. Test round, densely covered in shortish, pointed spines which vary in length but never exceed about one-fifth test diameter.Colour variable, most often purple, but also green, red or pale. About 60 mm.… Continue reading Cape urchin (Parechinus angulosus)
African spiny starfish (Marthasterias africana)
Hunting bluish and orange spiny starfish. Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2022) - iNaturalist Body salmon-pink, orange, deep blue or blue-grey. Aboral (dorsal) surface irregular, covered in conspicuous spines, each surrounded by a halo of minute pincer-like organs (called pedicellaria) that are used to keep the body surface clean. Tube-feet in 4 series. Small red eyespot… Continue reading African spiny starfish (Marthasterias africana)
Dwarf cushion star (Parvulastra exigua)
Yellow starfish wrapped around algae. Doringbaai, Northern Cape (2020). Previously known as Patiriella exigua and Asterina exigua. Tiny, flattened, pentagonal starfish, with poorly developed arms. Dorsal surface made up of tile-like plates, each with a cluster of tiny knob-like spines. Gonophores on lower (oral) surface.Uniformly khaki-green of the West Coast, but variegated patterns of orange,… Continue reading Dwarf cushion star (Parvulastra exigua)
F*CK FISH 