strange Isopod

Hi all

i thought i would put this one out there,

on a recent dive at "the pipeline" at Port Stevens Australia i found this unusual little critter about 8mm in size , found on a sandy weedy bit of rock on a sandy bottom in about 12m depth , 18C

quite unusual , ive never seen one of them ,

any thoughts

reagrds

matt

first shot is off the camera no cropping ,

this is a crop

matty

Sphaeromatid? Whatever it is it's stunning. For isopods in your area the guy to contact is Dr Niel Bruce - you'll find his email here http://isopods.nhm.org/people/bruce/

Thanks Leslie

ive just emailed him and we will see how it goes

another one i saw on the dive is this little sea flea (i think )

funny thing happened while i was shooting him , a little wormy thing ? came flying in and crashed into the sea flea , any idea what this guy is

verry small ! the flea would be around 8mm so how small is the worm ?

thanks

matt

Is that a worm ... or a tiny teeny fish !!

has a head on it and looks like it is cleaning the flea / lice

great snaps !

Ah, now that's a gammarid amphipod. A local expert should be able to tell what the family is from the photo - Dr. Jim Lowry at the Australian Museum would be the fellow to ask. It would probably require dissecting out the mouthparts and other bits to figure out species though. And Gile's is right, it's a juvenile fish; just hatched judging by the size! Fantastic capture Matt.

Hi Leslie

i got a helpfull reply from Niel Bruce

"That picture is of a really interesting little isopod. It belongs to the family Sphaeromatidae, which has a very large number of species in Australia (~130). It is surely a species that is, as yet not named. That is, ‘new to science’.

It seems to be a species of the genus Cercosphaera, a genus that I set up for three small and highly ornate species from southern Australian coasts, that is about Victoria to Southern WA, but not previously from NSW. But it is also similar to very poorly known species called Cilicaea hystrix—I can specifically exclude that species, though C. hystrix possibly does belong to Cercosphaera.

So—a new species I am fairly certain. The thing is, can you collect a series of specimens? The one in the photo appears to be adult. If you think that you can I can certainly let you know how to go about catching some, if you can see them. "

kinda cool hey

i dont think i would be able to refind the little guy again , and tomorow is my last dive on the pipeline , but perhaps next time im up here .

its nice to know there is new "Unknown to science" critters out there to be found

thanks for your help

Regards

Matt