Tag Archives: Robert Van Syoc

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Just look at this beauty - a six-legged, small, nearly translucent Sea Star. Marilyn Green photographed it at the most recent low tide at Pebble Beach off The Sea Ranch.

Here's what intertidal zone expert, Robert Van Syoc, had to say about this Star.

"This is a very interesting star, and a rare find on our part of the coast. According to Prof. Sarah Cohen at San Francisco State University, who is an expert on this group of stars, it's a member of a ‘species complex’ of three species distinguished by differences in their DNA, but not yet easily identifiable to species-level by obvious morphological characteristics.

“Formerly, all three species were known as Leptasterias hexactis, a smallsix-armed star. Currently, Prof. Cohen considers true Leptasterias hexactis to be the most northern of the three species, ranging from Alaska south to Washington State.  The remaining two species of Leptasterias are most common further south in California, uncommonly found this far north.  So, it would appear that Marilyn has photographed a currently undescribed species of Leptasterias!  Keep your eyes open for more, please!”

As Amy Ruegg often photographs in the intertidal zone, I sent her Marilyn's photo and it turns out Amy photographed this type of Star last year, off Pebble Beach. One of its legs is mostly underneath the center of the Star. Bob agrees it's probably the same species as Marilyn's find.

Bob sent in some fascinating information about these Stars. He wrote, “Another important aspect of Leptasterias biology is that they are ‘brooders,’ that is they do not have planktonic larvae, but keep their developing offspring on ‘Mom’ until they ‘walk away’ as tiny versions of the adults.  This limits their ability to re-colonize distant areas after the Sea Star wasting disease of 2015 in our area.  Hence, the slow re-establishment of Leptasterias on our part of the coast…and our excitement at seeing them again.”

How great is this? At the next low tide, perhaps you will find one of these rare Stars.

Thanks to Marilyn and Amy for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

It's a stunning day - warm with no wind. But the forecast has it cooling off, big time! For today, I'm enjoying the sunshine and the 70 degree temps. It's not really winter today!

 

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All Nudibranchs are beautifully colored, but this is a new one for me. Liam Ericson found this Nudibranch off the Point Arena-Stornetta Lands.

Robert Van Syoc took a look at Liam's photo. He wrote, “It’s Anisodoris nobilis, sometimes called the Sea Lemon. They feed on sponges and repurpose noxious chemicals in the sponge tissue as their own defense against predation. They taste bad to fish! The bright showy coloration of most nudibranchs evolved as warning coloration to predators.”

The Sea Lemon, so bright yellow, has a white flower on one end - a nice touch by Mother Nature.

Thanks to Liam for allowing me to share his photo with  you here and Bob for sharing his expertise.

Waiting for another storm to come in later tonight. Not a big one, but we always welcome the wet stuff.

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*This post has been amended - I thought these were Krill but Tim Bray let me know I was incorrect, and Robert Van Syoc agreed. They are Mysids.* Amy Ruegg recently saw Mysids at low tide. She described them as tiny with brown bodies and two black eyes. She used a Tupperware bowl to scoop them up for a closer look. Their common name is Opossum Shrimp. They are small, shrimp-like crustaceans. They are an important food source for many fish and even great whales when they feed on rocky reef areas.

She also spotted a Shield-backed Kelp Crab which she also scooped up for a closer look. You can see tiny Mysids in the bowl too, to give you perspective.

Amy returned the Crab to his home in the kelp and the Mysids back into the Pacific Ocean.

Thanks to Amy for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

We have a stretch of sunny weather here on the Mendonoma Coast. Look for the Orion meteor shower, which peaks on Oct. 21 and Oct 22nd in the early hours of the morning.

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Craig Tooley noticed this Eastern Pacific Red Octopus, Octopus rubescens, in a mussel bed.

I showed Craig's photo to Robert Van Syoc and he wrote:

"It’s pretty common in the intertidal and shallow subtidal zones from Baja up to the Gulf of Alaska. It commonly feeds on small crabs, snails, clams and mussels. Since Craig captured this photo of it in a mussel bed, it may have been dining on some of the smaller mussels in the bed.”

There are so many fascinating creatures that live in the intertidal zone, which we can observe at low tide.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com

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Marilyn Green spotted this Bat Star, Patiria miniata, on the beach, rather than in the water.

Robert Van Syoc confirmed the ID and wrote, "They are common in the shallow subtidal zone along the coast. They are scavengers that can travel over sand, as well as rock bottoms.

Thanks to Marilyn for allowing me to share her photo with you  here.