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IMA > 2022 > September
White encrusting zoanthid

White encrusting zoanthid

Science name: Palythoa caribaeorum (Duchassaing and Michelotti) Colonies of brownish-white fleshy polyps with short, stout tentacles grow in thick mats along rocky shorelines. In reef flats and tide pools areas they can withstand a few hours of being exposed to air during low tide. Tentacles curl in and retract and polyps secrete mucus to prevent drying out and predation.7, 8 Colonies can be seen on reef flats and in shallow-water reef communities in both Trinidad and Tobago. Care should be taken when wading to avoid stepping on these slippery mats. You may also like [smart_post_show id="19584"] ...

West Indian star snail

West Indian star snail

Science name: Lithopoma tectum (lightfoot) A West Indian star snail with its high conical spire makes a portable home for the Orange-claw hermit crab Calcinus tibicen Herbst. The shell is a vertical spiral with knobs and raised vertical ridges, the operculum is white. Like other snails, they have two sensory antennae and two eyes on short stalks. They are taller than they are wide and can grow up to an inch tall. Often encrusted with other organisms, like Coralline Algae. You may also like [smart_post_show id="19584"] ...

West Indian murex

West Indian murex

Science name: Chicoreus brevifrons A carnivorous sea snail with distinct spines that feeds on oysters and clams. The shell of C. brevifrons is relatively elongate, and has a typical muricid outline. Three axial varices are present along its body whorl, and they are ornamented by characteristic expanded hollow spines. It also presents flat spiral cords in the interspaces of its surface. The anterior canal is well-developed, akin to several other Muricidae snails. You may also like [smart_post_show id="19584"] ...

Sea fan

Sea fan

Science name: Gorgonia The dried-out cream-coloured skeleton of Sea Fans seen in the strandline on beaches does no justice to the beauty of live colonies of this ‘soft coral’ of the reefs. Soft corals, referred to as gorgonians, lack a hard, rigid, permanent skeleton. They attach to the substrate by a root-like holdfast and are able to flex and sway in the current. As the name suggests, the Sea Fan is compressed in the plane of a fan with interconnected ‘net-like’ branching, and ranges from purple to yellow in colour. They filter feed by capturing plankton from the water column as the “fan” is usually oriented...