tiny critter

Hi again

yep, this is definitively a pycnogonid

did you folks know that iin pycnos the gut has side tubes or caeca which go far into each leg ?

also, MALES of most species have so-called ovigers, special legs that carry the eggs (cemented together by a sticky substance) after these have been fertilized

there are some beautifully coloured pycnos in temperate Australia, the Western Canadian species are pretty boring ..

cheers

Art

yep, this is definitively a pycnogonid

Thanks for the info, Art. I'm learning a lot about critter ID this week. And enjoying it very much!

Hi folks !

sorry, had to post it twice:

Matty's small critter was confirmed as an asellote, spider-like ISOPOD, possibly a new species (!!!) of Munnidae, and the red isopods are, according to an expert in Sydney, rather Munnidae than Paramunnidae, and poissibly new, too (!!!)

next time you guys dive in Jervis Bay, PLEASE pick up a few specimens in a plastic bag and preserve them in rum (Havana Club would be OK) or better in 70% dilluted pharmacy alcohol

cheers

Art

see Matt ... it pays to have a good spotter !!

yay!

thats kinda neat

full compliments to my spotter

i gotta borrow a mx10 macro lense to geta better shot .

ill be in the bay this weekend . so lndr and i can try and get a few of em .

thanks for the id

reguards

matt

Hi guys!

You wanna get real close? You'll have fun trying the uw-magnifying glass built by Jens Schulte. It's absolutely great for finding these small critter in the first place.

My buddy carries one when I'm doing macro. It got approx. 2.5 times magnification and is built to withstand 70m depth. Works both on land and uw.

Helge ;-)=)

hey guys, while diving in Jervis Bay

DON'T FORGET TO MAKE SHRIMP PICTURES !!!

by the way, snapping shrimps are really not easy to find, they must be ACTIVELY searched under stones, in sponges, in rubble and in various burrows made by other inverts (echiuran and polychaete worms, yabbies = mud- or ghost shrimps and mantis shrimps)

GOOD LUCK !!!

Heya Art,

As you can tell, I'm not adverse to photographing the small and overlooked so if they're there you'll end up with a photo Must admit, still not sure exactly what a snapping shrimp is though In my books description of what makes a shrimp a snapping shrimp are rather cryptic

hmmmm ...

However, it is important to precise that many snapping shrimps do not have snapping claw and are unable to snap, some have really bizarre-looking claws.

The taxonomy of this group is extremely difficult and most people are unable to identify these shrimps even with scientific literature and keys.

and that's not encouraging

Lndr

ok, if you see a crayfish-looking shrimp under a stone or in a sponge there is a good chance that this is a snapping shrimp !

if you see a small, red-banded or deep red-patched shrimp with two large claws extended forwards - it is a snapping shrimp, too !

I attach picture of two tropical Alpheus spp. that I described in 2001, but these are

oops ! sorry ... couldn't compress the files under 60 KB

anyway, I attached a picture from Singapore in the previous message and attach another small picture below:

cheers

Art

aaahhh thats better!

will keep an eye out for anything remotely resembling those guys

jugglemath

I made a more extensive investigation in my crab literature recently, and came to the conclusion that your pebble-mimicking crab from the Solomon Islands matches best several species of the genus Oreotlos, which is a member of pebble crab family Leucosiidae, and not Calappidae, as I thought

I guess you don't have a dorsal view and a higher resolution of this guy ? in frontal view the carapace appears to be typical box-crab looking, with two humps (as in Calappa), but the chelipeds (claws) are rather leucosiid-like

Oreotlos species are poorly known, it would be good to have some specimens - new species "guaranteed" !

ciao

Art

hey art

ill post any other shots i have of the little rubble crab probally tomorow or sat when i get home.

i would be prepared to travel to the solomons again to collect samples ....if someone finances me lol. i think 7 to 10 days on the spirit of solomons would do . i would need an assistant, mmm lndr would do. she could take the close up high res photos .

i think in the intrest of science and marine studys this would be a good idea. l

serously though thanks for the info art.

i was in JB on the weekend , diddent get any more shots of the other little critter , ill try next time .

reguards

matty

next time you guys dive in Jervis Bay, PLEASE pick up a few specimens in a plastic bag and preserve them in rum (Havana Club would be OK) or better in 70% dilluted pharmacy alcohol

Heya Art,

Have some isopod specimens. Not sure if they are the same species as before ... but very similar. Collected at Ulladulla (about 70km south of Jervis Bay). They are preserved in isopropyl alcohol (couldn't get ethyl alcohol).

cheers

Leander

Back on pynogonids, I think that's what this is. In the first image, it is playing (?) with a nudibranch (which I believe is a Flabellina rubrolineata. It seemed obsessed with this nudi, as well as another smaller member of the same species, which crawled beneath a bit of fluff but is still partially visible in the second image.

The pictures were shot at Satonda Island, north of Lombok, in August.

Robert Delfs

Robert

thanks for the wonderful pictures !

all pycnos are carnivorous, preying mostly on various sessile inverts: with their long proboscis they suck body liquids out of their prey, such as zoids of bryozoans, polyps of hydrozoans, small barnacles etc.

in this particular case it's possible that the pycno is trying to suck on the "external gills" or cerata of the nudibranch, maybe to get some nematocysts (AEOLIDS usually store nematocysts in the so-called cnidosacs in the cerata) for its own protection ? or may the pycno is just crawling over the nudibranch, feels the presence of nematocysts and is a bit confused ?

cheers

Art

>Heya Art,

>Have some isopod specimens. Not sure if they are the same species as before ... but very

>similar. Collected at Ulladulla (about 70km south of Jervis Bay). They are preserved in isopropyl >alcohol (couldn't get ethyl alcohol).

>cheers

>Leander

Hi Lndr !

cool ! the best is to send them to an isopod specialist in Sydney (Australian Museum), his name is George "Buzz" Wilson, I can give you his email and his address

cheers

Art

Hiya Art,

send me a message or an email with the contact details and I'll get in touch

cheers

Lndr

BTW have been "digging" around for snapping shrimps and have only spotted one suspect. Too deep in its hole for a photo and I had no air left to stake it out