Category Archives: Invertebrates

Ambon Crinoid Shrimp a master class in camouflage

January 9, 2019Crabs & Shrimps - Arthropoda, Echinoderm, Invertebrates, Macro, Marine Life, PhotographyDumaguete, Macro, Nikon D500, Philippines, UnderwaterPhotograpyJon Buchheim

Amboinensis Crinoid Shrimp - Periclimenes amboinensis — **Amboinensis Crinoid Shrimp** – Periclimenes amboinensis

Ambon Crinoid Shrimp or Feather Star Shrimp – Periclimenes amboinensis – Hiding among the arms of the crinoid this little shrimp wondered if I could see him.

Small in size, between 1 – 1.5 cm, they can be highly variable in colors – Yellow, White,Black,Blue,Orange,Green,Brown and in combination of colors, all depending on the host Crinoid that it lives on, for camouflage.

Crinoids, also known as “feather stars” or comatulids are harmless, colorful creatures. They are among the most ancient and primitive of ocean invertebrates. Crinoids are Echinoderms (Phylum Echinodermata, meaning “spiny skin”). To feed, they extend their arms to catch bits of plankton or detritus (waste matter) passing in the current, making them “suspension feeders”.

Etymology of amboinensis Means “from Ambon” the island in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia.

Etymology of Crinoid – Greek word krinon, “a lily”, and eidos, “form”

Spider Decorator Crab

January 9, 2019Crabs & Shrimps - Arthropoda, Invertebrates, Macro, Marine Life, PhotographyDumaguete, Macro, Nikon D500, Philippines, UnderwaterPhotograpyJon Buchheim

Spider Decorator Crab – Camposcia retusa –
The choice of noxious or stinging organisms as decorations implies that attaching them provides protection from predators by aposematism (warning) rather than by crypsis (camouflage), and there is direct observational evidence for this, e.g. that octopuses in tanks avoided decorated crabs. The relationship of crab and organisms such as sea anemones used as decoration may be mutualistic, offering protection to the crab and food to the anemone.

The crab tears a piece of adornment in its claws, chews it, and then rubs it firmly on its body until it catches on the “Velcro-like hooked setae”, curved hairs which permit camouflage materials to be attached. The carefully chosen decoration is supplemented by cryptic behavior, such as remaining still by day, and freezing when predators approach.

Dancing Chinese Dragon

January 8, 2019Invertebrates, Macro, Marine Life, Photography, PolychaetesDumaguete, Macro, Nikon D500, Philippines, UnderwaterPhotograpyJon Buchheim

The Golden Fireworm – Chloeia flava – #PolychaeteA segmented #bristleworm belonging to the family #Amphinomidae. They have an elongated body made of 37 visible segments, each of them has a distinctive ocelli (simple eye), which is purple or dark color with a white outline and placed in the middle of the upper side. Small gills are present on both external side of the back just before the bristles and on almost all the segments.The body is covered laterally with calcareous spines or setae, they have bristle aspect which are whitish, fine, sharp and venomous.

Candy Crab

January 8, 2019Crabs & Shrimps - Arthropoda, Invertebrates, Macro, Marine Life, PhotographyDumaguete, Ikelite housing, Nikon D500, Philippines, UnderwaterPhotograpyJon Buchheim

Candy Crab – Hoplophrys oatesi – A very colorful crab that grows from 1.5 to 2 cm. It lives on various species of soft coral in the #Dendronephthya genus. It camouflages itself by mimicking the colors of the polyps among which it hides. It adds further camouflage by attaching polyps to its carapace. Colors vary depending on the color of the coral, and may be white, pink, yellow or red.

The first pair of legs of this species has small claws. The body has pointed spines with a red and white pattern, similar in appearance to the host coral.

Dwarf Cuttlefish

January 8, 2019Cuttlefish, Invertebrates, Macro, Marine Life, Mollusks, PhotographyDumaguete, Macro, Nikon D500, UnderwaterPhotograpyJon Buchheim

Stumpy Cuttlefish – Dwarf Cuttlefish – Sepia bandensis
This weird and wonderful cuttlefish is not actually a fish but is in fact a mollusk. They have an internal shell (cuttlebone), amazing large W-shaped pupils, eight arms and two tentacles which they use for feeding.

This little fellow was smooth a few moments before and then bumped himself up changed color from almost white to this tan, a true ‘chameleon of the sea’.

On the Right Side…

January 8, 2019Invertebrates, Macro, Marine Life, Mollusks, Photography, Sea SlugDumaguete, Muck Diving, Nikon D500, UnderwaterPhotograpyJon Buchheim

Oooh! A Side-gilled slug – Pleurobranchus forskalii – gills are found on the right side of the body in the gap between the mantle and the foot. This relatively large pleurobranch is often found in quite large populations in shallow lagoons, reef crests and pools and sea grass beds.

Funeral Nudibranch

January 8, 2019Invertebrates, Macro, Marine Life, Mollusks, Nudibranch, PhotographyDumaguete, Macro, Nikon D500, Philippines, UnderwaterPhotograpyJon Buchheim

The Funeral Nudibranch – Jorunna funebris, gets is name from the black and white coloration. It feeds on a blue sponges (Neopetrosia sp.), which makes it poisonous, and able to secrete chemicals that make them distasteful or toxic.

As a members from the family Discodorididae they are able to retract its gills into a gill pocket. Many species are able to break off part of their mantle to distract predators. They generally have a narrow foot compared to the wide mantle skirt.

Nature %&#* rocks!