Tag Archives: rock platforms

A silver star for Christmas

Posted on Wednesday, 28 December 2011 by

Best Christmas present! This glaucus washed up by the heavy seas courtesy of the cyclone up north … Glaucus atlanticus, a nudibranch, floats on the surface of the ocean, along with other members of the “blue brigade“. It can wriggle … Continue reading →

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Sea cucumbers, stars and urchins on Lord Howe

Posted on Friday, 2 December 2011 by

I was going to call this post “the pentaradials”, because sea cucumbers, sea stars, brittle stars and sea urchins all have similar body plans (fivefold symmetry), but decided I was trying too hard. It’s a good excuse to group them … Continue reading →

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More Lord Howe Island shells

Posted on Friday, 2 December 2011 by

Continuing from my previous post … There’s a cone, yellow and black when alive but white and black when dead and washed up – the Hebrew cone (Conus ebraeus). It chases down, kills and eats marine worms …

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Shells in Lord Howe Island rock pools

Posted on Wednesday, 30 November 2011 by

Lord Howe has many marine species similar to those in other parts of the Pacific – the eggs and larvae get washed along in currents from other places, and survive to adulthood if they don’t get eaten or if they … Continue reading →

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Two little beauties

Posted on Sunday, 30 October 2011 by

I used to work in the Marine Invertebrate section of the South Australian Museum, and the curator and his assistants (including me) would go on field trips to get specimens, especially for our marine tank. This was not on display … Continue reading →

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High noon, low tide at the rock pools

Posted on Friday, 30 September 2011 by

Around spring equinox, the low tides are lower than usual. The sand deposited by winter storms is starting to be washed off the rocks, and there is now lots of life in the Flat Rock rock pools, although surprisingly few … Continue reading →

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Between a rock and a sandy place

Posted on Sunday, 11 September 2011 by

I flipped not my  lid, but a rock on a rock platform this morning on the coast in northern New South Wales, for International Rock-flipping Day (this year 11 September 2011). Here’s what was underneath.

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A small selection of bivalves

Posted on Monday, 11 July 2011 by

I’m not really ‘clued up’ on bivalves, but there are a lot on the rock platform, washed up in pieces on the beach and even living under the sand or mud (razor clams, ouch!), so I probably should get to … Continue reading →

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Carnivorous eggs

Posted on Saturday, 25 June 2011 by

Isn’t the English language wonderful in its ambiguity? It’s not the eggs that are carnivorous but the mollusc that laid these eggs. According to the good folks at the Queensland Museum, it’s a predatory marine snail and most likely to … Continue reading →

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The wonderful wobbegong

Posted on Saturday, 18 June 2011 by

Here’s a wobbegong I saw at Woody Head recently. Queensland has five species, and we tend to get the same fish as them, due to similar subtropical water conditions. I’m not sure which one this is. Wobbegongs are mostly harmless … Continue reading →

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