Diversity

Hello!

Last nights rockpooling really trated us to a vast array of organisms, from Annelids, to Echinoderms, to Chordates, to Crustaceans, we found all-sorts!

It was a mixed night from a lumpsucker point of view. The good news is that we found 4 lumpsuckers, but the bad news is that one was found dead, and another one was found stranded in a small and shallow rockpool. Thankfully, we released the stranded fish into a much deeper rockpool, so hopefully we have given it a chance of survival. The really low tides can be pretty deadly to fish as large as the lumpsucker, as they can easily get trapped in small, draining rockpools.

Now for something new, Plaice! Two small juveniles were found last night, one just 15mm long, the other a less microscopic 60mm (pictured).

The most abundant organisms on the rocky shore last night were the crustaceans! There were Velvet Swimmer Crabs in almost every rockpool, with Shore Crabs and Palaemon elegans (prawn) also found in simialr abundance.

We are taking advantage of our day off on Friday to check out a small new site, and with the weather currently playing ball, we have high hopes for more exciting finds!

Watch this space!

Steve