Adult hermit crab walking around. Cape Agulhas, Western Cape (2020) - iNaturalist Body dirty-white with darker speckles and spines. Brown stripes on last segments of walking legs. Left nipper thorny and much larger than the right. About 30 mm. Endemic to South Africa. Extremely common on sheltered sandbanks and in sandy pools. Buries in sand… Continue reading Common sand hermit crab (Diogenes brevirostris)
Tag: Eastern Cape
Tentacled flatworm (Planocera gilchristi)
Two tentacled flatworms on the underside of a rock. Old Woman's River, Eastern Cape (2021) - iNaturalist Also referred to as Gilchrist's flatworm or the spotted flatworm. Body broadly oval, both ends being similarly rounded. Margin of the body 'frilly' (strongly folded) but dorsal surface smooth. Fairly firm consistency and very little transparent. Mottled brown… Continue reading Tentacled flatworm (Planocera gilchristi)
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)
Eight-shell barnacle (Octomeris angulosa)
Old barnacle at the edge of a mussel bed (blue mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis), with the circle of apertures forming at its base. Yzerfontein, Western Cape (2020). Moderately large with eight shell plates extremely rugged, irregular, massive, generally much corroded, steeply conical or even sub-cylindrical. Colour dirty-white, often slightly tinted yellow from the investing membrane, and… Continue reading Eight-shell barnacle (Octomeris angulosa)
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 