Hexadella racovitzai

Chris Wood Devon Seasearch 5 day survey Last week Devon Seasearch carried out a 5 day survey of sites from Hatt Rock in the west (and the only site dived within Cornwall) to Prawle Point in the east, only missing one dive when the winds picked up from the south on Sunday afternoon. There was a wide variety of habitats, some dominated by jewel anemones (Hatt Rock), others by pink sea fans (Eddystone), antenna hydroids (Bolt Tail), finger bryozoans (various sites - many with Acanthodoris pilosa eggs and adults - see picture) and featherstars (Plymouth Sound). Amongst new sites dived was the old Erme river bed which can be traced for over a mile off the present shoreline and has steep slopes with deep side 'valleys' with a diverse fauna, including the encrusting sponge Hexadella racovitzai and local specialities, such as crumpled duster sponge, Axinella damicormis and sheets of yellow cluster anemones, Parazoanthus axinellae. Most of the sites surveyed were in Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) or proposed Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs).