Zostera marina

Ruth Sharratt I was diving out of Rhoscolyn yesterday, and came across some eel grass on the SE side of the bay. It didn't look much. However, there were a lot of the growth in the pic below. Is this eel grass at an early stage? Vis was not good so it was difficult to make out. It was in about 2m of water, so I guess it could be seaweed. Thanks, Ruth

Paul Brazier Hi Ruth, although there is quite a field of eelgrass reported from this area previously, these don't look right to me. Going by the scale of the neighbouring filamentous red (Ceramium?), the green filaments are quite small and look more like single strands of Chaetomorpha or another small green alga. Any one else?

Glynn Phillips Is that in the big bay?

Ruth Sharratt Yes it was - it was Borth Wen bay. I only saw very little eel grass that I could recognise, but it was very shallow so there may be more further out. I wasn't sure with these strands - but I know Seasearch is interested in the eel grass, so I thought it worth reporting.

Paul Brazier By coincidence, I was looking at old records of eelgrass (Zostera) today and Zostera marina was initially recorded from that location in 1976.

George Brown Not a nudibranch but is this Lamellaria perspicua? Feeding on ascidians growing on sea grass Zostera marina. 2012-12-01, Ord, Isle of Skye, depth 2.0 metres.

Erling Svensen I think you have the right name, George Brown.

Egidio Trainito Right

Ian Smith Hi George Brown the white ground colour with fine black stipple, low profile and not very prominent tubercles make me think it is L. latens. If it was over 10mm long, I'm wrong. See http://www.conchsoc.org/spaccount/Lamellaria-latens and the perspicua account on same site. Cheers Ian

George Brown Hi Ian. It was your comments that pointed me to L. perspicua particularly the way the head tentacles lie. I should say that it was approximately 15mm long. I knew there was something I forgot to add! Great site btw, and excellent photography. My photo was taken with an Aquatica +5 dioptre. What did you use for your Lamellaria photos if you don't mind me asking?

Ian Smith Hi George If you are sure it was 15mm, perspicua is indicated. Looking carefully at your image I think I can see other latens features apart from those I mentioned. In the posterior half, the mantle, where it is clear of the underlying shell, has faint greyish discs delineated by surrounding whitish pigment, and round the periphery of the mantle I think I can make out a few yellowish white marks, especially near the posterior. I think this is a case where measurement, and examination of the shell would have been helpful. On latens, and some pale perspicua, you can often see the outline of the shell if you examine it with back lighting. In perspicua the spire protrudes from the general oval outline, on latens it doesn’t protrude. In the Conch Soc latens account, the features described are mentioned in various other written sources, except the angle of the tentacles which is from my observations. It needs to be seen from above as the angle alters when viewed obliquely, and is not diagnostic as the tentacles can be moved; the tentacles of latens are more often held at a wide angle, but not always. Apart from the shell spire, the most reliable feature, mentioned in NF McMillan’s account, is probably the fine black/sepia stipple which I think I can see on your photo. Thanks for your kind words about the Conch Soc site. I’ll answer about photography in a separate message. Cheers Ian.

Ian Smith Hi again George Thanks for your comments about my photography, but I think it is less skilled than what you and others do underwater. Mine is table top photography where I can control the substrate’s level and colour, the posing of the subject, the clarity of the water and the positioning of the lighting. I followed Bernard’s good advice and, allowing for model changes before I bought, use Nikon D300s camera, AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D lens, two wireless “speedlights”, and a tripod with rack and pinion column which I use to focus (manually) keeping the lens at maximum extension (1:1 ratio). I think the lens has been discontinued, but can still be obtained. It has a short working distance, ok for table top, but perhaps not so easy for divers. The lighting often shows up detail not seen in the field; which I suppose may be considered a disadvantage for helping field recognition. Have a look at the Conch soc Runcina coronata images. The images taken in rock pools show dull blackish creatures, while the table top ones show bright yellowish markings. Cheers Ian http://www.conchsoc.org/spaccount/Runcina-coronata

Lucas CerCur Ahhhh!!!! Runcina. This should be one of the projects that should be carried in all around Europe.

Ian Smith Hi George Brown , I have recalled that I found a white Lamellaria like yours at Weymouth last April. It was ambiguous as it had markings usual for L. latens and, at 11mm long, it was just over the 10mm approximate maximum for L. latens. The shell showed clearly that it was L. perspicua. The account at http://www.conchsoc.org/spaccount/lamellaria-perspicua has been amended in the light of our finds. I have embedded links to relevant images at [14], [15] & [16], and altered the text near the embeds. The quickest way to find the images is to click GALLERY link below the thumbnails; they are the last three images on the gallery (click the images for captions). Cheers Ian

Myung-Hwa Shin I wanna this !!! I need some specimens of A. tarasovi, to get DNA sequences. I heard from one of colleague in Russia, this species is common in Russian water. If someone has any idea, please tell me How I can get the specimens.

Natalia L. Demchenko Budnikova L.L., Bezrukov R.G. Amphipods (Amphipoda, Gammaridea) of the Peter the Great Bay (Sea of Japan): taxonomical composition, abundance and zonal-geographical characteristics // Scientific Readings dedicated to Academician Oleg G. Kussakin. Vladivostok: Dalnauka, 2008. P. 6-49. (In Russian)

Natalia L. Demchenko it is the reference where there is a note about A. tarasovi. The species inhabits at depths 0-9 m in the Peter the Great Bay according to literature.

Myung-Hwa Shin Thanks Natalia Do you know e-mail of the authors of the paper? I cann't find the paper...

Natalia L. Demchenko I didn't find this species, but there is in catalog in the Museum of our Institute. Collections were preserved in formalin. So, for genetics it is needed fixation in alcohol only

Myung-Hwa Shin yes... to gen any DNA from specimens, we need fresh materials preserved in alcohol.

Myung-Hwa Shin I tried to get DNA from old specimens preserved in formalin.... but I couldn't get any one...

Natalia L. Demchenko I will search more about distribution of this species

Myung-Hwa Shin I hope.... I will get good news from you

Natalia L. Demchenko did you find this species in South Korea?

Myung-Hwa Shin not yet... I think identification of the species is not easy...

Natalia L. Demchenko I agree that identification of Ampithoe species is difficult

Myung-Hwa Shin I reported A. tarasovi from Korea in 2010, but I found Korean specimen and Russian specimen had different morphological features... little...

Natalia L. Demchenko According to work of N.L. Tzvetkova and V.A. Kudrjashov "On the fauna and ecology of gammarids (Amphipoda, Gammaridea) and biocoenoses of the upper parts of the shelf of the south Sakhalin", A. tarasovi was found in kelps of Sargassum miyabei, Ulva fenestrata, Phyllospadix iwatensis, Zostera marina, Zostera asiatica and so on...Also on settelments of mollusks Crassostrea gigas

Natalia L. Demchenko where did you found species cf.A. tarasovi in south Korea?

Myung-Hwa Shin East-southern part of Korea, and Southern part

Natalia L. Demchenko on which substrates or biotopes?

Myung-Hwa Shin I collected among algae as Ulva

Natalia L. Demchenko so, not only Bulycheva registered and described this species. I am sure that there are another findings of A. tarasovi. I just found 2 references...

Myung-Hwa Shin I had two references of Bulycheva, 1952 and Tzvetkova, 1967.

Holly Latham Another unknown... Eubranchid nudibranch on Zostera marina at Durgan, Cornwall. Depth is around 4-5m. Size around 5mm. Spotted in August 2011. Anyone have any ideas?

Bernard Picton Holly, I think this is one of the colour forms of Eubranchus pallidus. It is a really odd species in having several very distinct colour forms, which you can find on Obelia on Kelp, all mating randomly together and therefore certainly a single species.

Holly Latham Thanks for the suggestion Bernard. The general comments at the time were 'strange colour morph of something Eubranchid' but as things go that is what it has stayed at since!

David Kipling So what will it be eating if it's climbing over Zostera? Or was it just en route to a meal elsewhere ...