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)
Tag: South Africa
Rayed limpet (Helcion pruinosus)
Rayed limpet with iridescent green spots and rays in a shallow rock pool. Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2021) - iNaturalist Shell low, fragile and oval. Apex about one-third from the front margin. Surface smooth, pale brown, shot with beautiful iridescent green spots and rays. About 25 mm. Hides beneath low-shore boulders during the day, and… Continue reading Rayed limpet (Helcion pruinosus)
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)
#3MT or how to build engagement in your research
Just picture it: You have only 3 minutes to present the research that took you three years (or more) to conduct from start to finish. And you must do it in a clear, compelling, and engaging manner, without using any fancy words or scientific jargon, for an audience of non-specialists! These are the premises of… Continue reading #3MT or how to build engagement in your research
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)
Goat’s eye limpet (Cymbula oculus)
Goat's eye limpet with Ralfsia covering its shell and a little blurry isopod. Mosselbaai, Western Cape (2022). Shell flat, dull brown above, with above 10 major ribs that project from the margin. Interior with a broad black margin and a pink-brown center. Juveniles are yellow, with iridescent green flecks. About 100 mm. Lives in the… Continue reading Goat’s eye limpet (Cymbula oculus)
F*CK FISH 