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Cnidaria

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Arthropods

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Miscellaneous

Porifera: Sponges

Sponges found at Huntington Beach State Park, Murrells Inlet, SC, 01/31/07. The one on the right is the red beard sponge, Microciona prolifera

Sponges found on Edisto Beach, SC, 01/19/07

Sponges

Excurrent pore, oscula, of sponge found on 01/31/07

Cnidaria: Anemones, Jellyfish, Hydroids and Corals

Sea Anemone

Sea Anemone

Sea Anemone

Bunodosoma cavernata, warty sea anemone, Sunset Beach, NC, 05/01/07

Spider crab on sea anemone

Sea onion anemone, probably Paranthus rapiformis, 11/17/06, Sunset Beach, NC

Sea onion anemones, Paranthus rapiformis

Sea Anemone

Sea Anemone, Calliactis tricolor

Australian Spotted Jellyfish, an invasive, nonindigenous species, Sunset Beach, NC, 10/26/07 -- approx. 29 inches wide. Each flip flop is 10 inches wide

Portuguese Man-o'-War, Physalia physalis, Sunset Beach, NC, 10/26/07 -- approx. 17 inches wide. Flip flop is 10 inches wide

A Siphonophore called Porpita or "Blue Button." L top; R bottom; hundreds were on Ocean Isle Beach & Sunset Beach after Hurricane Charley

Cannonball or Cabbage Head Jellyfish, Stomolophus meleagris

Jellyfish

Moon Jellyfish

On February 17, 2010 I added a quart of ocean water to the small bucket in which I had ttwo Knobbed Whelks and a Lettered Olive. Moments later I noticed a tiny jellyfish about 1/4-inch wide pumping its way around. Unlike a Portuguese Man-of-war with many tentacles, this jelly has four pedalia. I made a 15-second video on the beach. The best view of the jellyfish is when it is swimming above the Lettered Olive. Wind was blowing the water rapidly. Here is the link for the first video: http://s1009.photobucket.com/albums/af220/jookeefe/?action=view&current=100_0381.flv

At home I videotaped the little guy in a small pyrex bowl. By then he had slowed down. The water was murky. Finding him through my lens was difficult. Although longer, this video shows the jelly going up and down. Wait each time I zoomed in for the camera to refocus.. Here is the second link: http://s1009.photobucket.com/albums/af220/jookeefe/?action=view&current=100_0384.flv

Sea Whips -- soft corals; Atlantic Wing Oysters on Sea Whip on Left

Polyp-covered Barnacles, Conopea galeata, on Sea Whips

Sea Whips found on Edisto Beach, SC, 01/18/07

Sea Pansies, Renilla reniformis - a soft coral composed of one large polyp covered with secondary polyps with a stalk called a peduncle

Sea Pansies in my salt water aquarium, with feeding polyps extended

Bryozoan

Hydroid, Halocordia disticha

Microscope views of Star Coral, Astrangia danae

Chordata: Tunicates & Fish

Colonial Tunicate, Eudistoma capsulatum, Sunset Beach, NC, 10/20/09

Colonial tunicate, Eudistoma hepaticum, sea liver, Sunset Beach, 11/04/06

Large tunicate, Eudistoma hepaticum, sea liver, found right after Hurricane Ophelia; there were hundreds of them

Colonial tunicate, Eudistoma hepaticum, sea liver, found on Sunset Beach on 11/14/06

Colonial Tunicates,various dried Eudistoma hepaticum and Aplidium stellatum

Aplidium stellatum, sea pork

Solitary Tunicates, Styela plicata, called Sea Squirts with incurrent and excurrent siphons

Smooth Dogfish Shark, Mustelus canis, Sunset Beach, NC, 3/17/08 -- 4 feet long

Smooth Dogfish Shark, Mustelus canis, Sunset Beach, NC, 3/22/08 -- 3 feet long

Atlantic Sharp-nosed Shark -- 2-ft. long

Probably Southern Stingray, Dasyatis americana

Smooth Butterfly Ray, Gymnura micrura, Sunset Beach, NC, 07/03/09

Cownose Ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, Sunset Beach, NC, 05/30/08

Cownose Rays, Rhinoptera bonasus, Sunset Beach, NC, 06/05/08

Stingray

Upside down stingray

Blue

Striped Burrfish, Chilomycterus schoepfi, found on Sunset Beach, 11/30/06; note: the typical striped pattern has been bleached out on this carcass.

Skate egg cases -- referred to as Mermaids' purses

Mollusks -- Visit these separate web pages:

Gastropod Photos; Bivalve Photos; Microscope Gastropod Photos; Microscope Bivalve Photos

Octopus vulgaris found on Thanksgiving on Sunset Beach, 11/23/06

Octopus vulgaris, Sunset Beach, 12/05/04

Octopus vulgaris, Ocean Isle Beach, 09/28/04

Sea Hares, genus Aplysia, Sunset Beach, 06/06

Mitch, Lisa, Quinn, Braxton, and Davis Newman kindly shared these videos of a sea hare filmed on Sunset Beach, NC, on 7/19/09. If you have difficulty seeing them, try using Quick Time.

http://s1009.photobucket.com/albums/af220/jookeefe/Jo%20OKeefe%20Live%20Mollusks/?action=view&current=100_4015.flv

http://s1009.photobucket.com/albums/af220/jookeefe/Jo%20OKeefe%20Live%20Mollusks/?action=view&current=100_4031.flv

Arthropods -- Visit the crab web page: Crab Photos.htm

Ghost Shrimp, Callichirus major, female, Sunset Beach, NC, 04/10/10 -- sucked up from a Ghost Shrimp hole using a yabbie pump

Ghost Shrimp,probably Callichirus major, found with the tip of its large claw poking out of the sand, Sunset Beach, NC, 07/02/07. It was limp & soon died. Ghost shrimp make hundreds of tiny holes near the ocean, connected by underground tunnels. One can understand how they do that with claws like this. The body of the shrimp, excluding the claw, was 5 inches long. The large claw was 1.5 inches long, for a total "length" of 6.5 inches. The photo directly above is the same claw photographed nearly three years later.

Thalassinid Burrow

Ghost Shrimp waste pellets

Probably both mantis shrimp, extracted from Ghost Shrimp hole using yabbie pump, Sunset Beach, NC, 04/10/10

Peppermint Shrimp, Lysmata wurdimani, Sunset Beach, NC, 07/03/09 -- found in seaweed and sea drift

Skeleton Shrimp -- Caprellid Amphipods, another species of amphipod, and an isopod found in seaweed

Balanus eburneus, bleached

Possibly Megabalanus coccopoma, an invasive species of barnacle, surrounded by local barnacles and the mussel Brachidontes exustus, found on Edisto Island, SC, 01/19/07

Possibly a Megabalanus coccopoma barnacle (R), an invasive species, and another acorn barnacle (L), possibly the ivory barnacle, Balanus eburneus, Wrightsville Beach, NC, 06/29/06

Probably a species of Balanus, probably either B. venustus or B. amphitrite, Wrightsville Beach, NC, 06/29/06

Live barnacles photographed through microscope

Live goose barnacles that were next to the barnacles above, 06/29/06

Annelida -- Worms

Polychaete worms, Chaetopterus variopedatus, called "mucous-bag feeders"

Decorated tube worms, Diopatra cuprea, that have a leathery case between themselves and the shells. Although they are polychaete worms, they are active predators.