brown pelicans flying over Pelican Point at Crystal Cove SP
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banded brittle stars (Ophionereis annulata)
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harbor seals and cormorants
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unidentified polychaete, perhaps Platynereis sp.
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giant keyhole limpet (Megathura crenulata)
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The California clingfish, Gobiesox rhessodon, was a special treat
to see. It is endemic to the Californian marine biogeographic province (i.e., southern California and northern Pacific Baja) and is not
seen by many. The northern clingfish (Gobiesox maeandricus) is larger and can be quite common from central California to Alaska, and
can occur as far south as Baja California.
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Clingfish are predators, able to suck limpets off rocks in impressive fashion, as studied
for the northern clingfish by Dr. Adam Summers and students at Friday Harbor Labs.
- See youtube video:
A very sticky fish...
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Snail drifting into Orange Co., CA today, genus Janthina, with multiple
similar appearing species that all tend to have a broad global distribution in tropical or near tropical oceanic regions. This one was
identified as
J. exigua by snail expert, Dr. Ed Petuch, I believe because this species has a more pronounced sinus on the lip of the shell
than other congeneric species. There is a masterful monograph by Beu (2017) that is available via open access (see source).
Janthina spp. float passively as members of the oceanic neuston community at the surface of ocean, feeding mainly on the
cnidarian chondrophores, Vellela vellela (or by-the-wind sailors; we saw many of these at Crystal Cove) and others in the genus,
Porpita.
- Source: Beu 2017
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The float for species of Janthina is interesting because as Churchill et
al. have shown (see source), the float is a modification of a normal egg case for its family, Epitonidae
(e.g.,
the small white wentletrap snails we find as ectoparasites on anemones, Epitonium tinctum and Opalia funiculata).
In members of Janthina, this modified egg case is filled with air to serve as a float for their pelagic life style.
- Source: Churchill et al. 2011
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Peanut worms (sipunculans) are unsegmented annelids, formerly put in their own
phylum. This one is common nestled under rocks in sandy areas, feeding with on plankton or detritus with a crown of tentacles
one can see if patient as the worm inverts its elongate introvert. Sipunculans are introverted.
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Haliotis fulgens (green abalone)
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A somewhat unusual white shell for Callianax biplicata (purple olive snail) is not especially rare. - Source:
more than 2K images at iNaturalist
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tentative: Haliotis corrugata (pink abalone) juvenile (shell) - Source:
iNaturalist page for species of Haliotis in California
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Under Construction!