Tag Archives: molluscs

Hastings Point marine museum

Posted on Monday, 9 November 2015 by

I’m a bit of a museum nut. Having worked as a curator’s assistant in the South Australian Museum of Natural History (marine invertebrates section), I appreciate the tremendous dedication, enthusiasm and plain hard work that goes into such places. Large … Continue reading →

Posted in Fish, Molluscs, The sea, Travels | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The silence in the forest

Posted on Friday, 20 July 2012 by

Walking along the tracks of Lord Howe Island’s palm forests was a strange experience. All I could hear was the wind through the palm leaves, the sea and the occasional rustle. At home when I hear rustling, it’ll be a … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Lizards, Molluscs, Spiders, Travels | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Melbourne Aquarium (part 2)

Posted on Sunday, 19 February 2012 by

Continued from part 1 … The nautilus  has been on the planet around 500 million years. It lives at depth in the Indo-Pacific ocean. I haven’t yet found its shell washed up on a beach, but I’m still looking.

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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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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 →

Posted in The sea | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Mollusc mortuaries

Posted on Thursday, 30 June 2011 by

This photo may not seem very spectacular, but there’s more information in it than you might suppose. If you are a bit of a beach detective (or intertidal itinerant), you can get an idea of what’s in or near the … Continue reading →

Posted in The sea | Tagged | 2 Comments

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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A couple of Lord Howe marine creatures

Posted on Tuesday, 14 June 2011 by

Since Lord Howe Island is surrounded by tropical waters, there are the usual goodies – tropical fish in and around beautiful coral reefs. I saw several lion fish (swimming serenely perhaps because of their poisonous spines – don’t touch!), turtles, … Continue reading →

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Yes, it’s a nudibranch!

Posted on Thursday, 9 June 2011 by

I’m used to thinking of nudibranchs as small (except for Spanish dancers), brightly coloured, soft creatures. Here’s one that breaks the mould. One of our US visitors, Mike from Alaska, found this creature in a shallow pool on the rock … Continue reading →

Posted in Molluscs, The sea | Tagged , , | 2 Comments