A couple of African black oystercatcher on mussel beds and worm reefs. Old Woman's River, Eastern Cape (2018) - iNaturalist A large dumpy, unmistakable wader with its jet-black body, short pink legs and bright orange-red bill and eyes.Birds occasionally have white patches on the belly or entire plumage dove-grey. Male's bill averages shorter and less… Continue reading African black oystercatcher (Haematopus moquini)
Tag: marine
Pink-lipped topshell (Oxystele sinensis)
Large pink-lipped topshell on a bed of coralline algae. Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2021) - iNaturalist Larger than the other Oxystele species. Round, blunt-spired shell with fine spiral sculpturing. Dark purple-black above. Aperture with a distinctive pink inner lip. About 45 mm. Lives moderately low on the shore, extending down to about 5 meters. Grazes… Continue reading Pink-lipped topshell (Oxystele sinensis)
Sun oyster (Saccostrea cuccullata)
Sun oyster bed on a Natal rocky shore. Port St Johns, Wild Coast, Eastern Cape (2021) - iNaturalist Previously known as Crassostrea cuccullata. Also referred to as the Natal rock oyster. Lower valve deeply hollowed below the hinge and cemented to the rock. Upper valve relatively flat. Margins of both valves form a series of neatly… Continue reading Sun oyster (Saccostrea cuccullata)
Starred cushion (Iyengaria stellata)
Star cushion alga in a rock pool. Cape Agulhas, Western Cape (2020) - iNaturalist Plants yellow-brown, forming thin, globose cushions of compacted branching tubes, irregularly furrowed and convoluted. Surface covered with knobbly protuberances. Thalli at first solid but older plants becoming hollow in the center. Up to 10 cm in diameter and 3 to 4… Continue reading Starred cushion (Iyengaria stellata)
Green button polyp (Palythoa mutuki)
A colony of green button polyps covering the bottom of a rock pool. Port St Johns, Wild Coast, Eastern Cape (2021). Polyps are tall and only thinly connected at their bases by underground stems - called stolons. Column brown, embedded with fine sand grains, giving a sandpapery texture. Column trumpet-shaped when expanded. The wide oral… Continue reading Green button polyp (Palythoa mutuki)
Toothed barnacle (Chthamalus dentatus)
Toothed barnacles on a rock face. Cape Agulhas, Western Cape (2020) - iNaturalist A small, flat, dirty-white barnacle with a membranous (not calcareous) base. The projecting, finger-like ridges on the six shell plates produce the characteristic star-shaped outline. Between 5 - 10 mm. Common in the upper intertidal, especially on the South and East coasts.… Continue reading Toothed barnacle (Chthamalus dentatus)
Berry caulerpa (Caulerpa racemosa)
Berry caulerpa embedded in a carpet of zoanthids. Port St Johns, Wild Coast, Eastern Cape (2021) - iNaturalist A mat of rhizomes giving rise to bunches of swollen light blue-green 'berries'. The shape of the berries vary and may be club-shaped, round or trumpet-shaped. Bunches up to 20 mm high. Forming carpets on protected rocks… Continue reading Berry caulerpa (Caulerpa racemosa)
Blue coral-worm (Pomatoleios kraussii)
Blue coral-worm reef. Port St Johns, Wild Coast, Eastern Cape (2021). Also known as Spirobranchus kraussii. Gregarious, building massive blue colonies of interwoven tubes which are calcareous (a feature of the family Serpulidae). Head with two rows of feathery branches and a stalked operculum that has two pointed 'wings' and a flat calcareous cap. Worms… Continue reading Blue coral-worm (Pomatoleios kraussii)
Brown mussel (Perna perna)
Eroded and less eroded brown mussels in a bed. Old Woman's River, Eastern Cape (2018). Shell smooth and yellow-brown, sometimes tinged with green or with a chevron pattern. Specimens from crowded intertidal beds often very elongated and almost rectangular in cross-section. Submerged, fast-growing specimens are taller and narrower. Up to 125 mm. The dominant mussel… Continue reading Brown mussel (Perna perna)
Grey volcano barnacle (Tetraclita serrata)
Close-up of a grey volcano barnacle. Mouille Point, Cape Town, Western Cape (2020) - iNaturalist Tall, dark-grey and volcano-shaped, with only four strongly-ribbed shell plates, the edges of which are difficult to distinguish. About 20 mm. One of the dominant invertebrates in the mid-intertidal zone of moderately sheltered shores. Two Oceans: A Guide to the… Continue reading Grey volcano barnacle (Tetraclita serrata)
F*CK FISH 