jugglematt 0 Posted October 27, 2003 hi ho here is shot of a tiny critter i saw on an ascidian at jervis bay australia dx 3000 macro mode cameras own flash Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jugglematt 0 Posted October 27, 2003 sorry i ment to post this one i have croped both images a fair bit and played with contrast and brightness. im gonna try for a better shot next time . love the timy baby critter below comments apreciated matty Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Art 0 Posted October 29, 2003 Hi Matty thanks for this photo ! a bizarre-looking arthropod ... as a marine zoologist I am a bit puzzled ... the resolution is a bit low to see the details, looks like a pycnogonid = sea spider (some species have 5 legs on each side), but it could be also a crustacean larva or an long-legged isopod do you have more macro shots ? cheerio Art Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lndr 0 Posted October 29, 2003 Heya Art, We get these critters alot on the colonial ascidians (as in Matt's pic) on the south coast of NSW (Australia). The proportion of body seemed all wrong for a pycnogonid. The ones we are used to spotting anyways Have been trolling through all my invertebrate texts (from a past life as a biologist) and I can't put my finger on what they are ... any suggestions on good references? There are long - legged Isopods? I have been picking the brains of the wet pixilians out there on super macro, so there might be some more detailed shots soon ... I think Matt's DX 3000 was at max to get these shot - but I'm sure he'll tell you all about it cheers Lndr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimbo1946 0 Posted October 30, 2003 I don't know if this helps, but on Little Cayman, BWI, a few months ago, I photographed a small critter (2.5 cm) on a sponge. I looked it up in the Humann Caribbean book, and it was identified as a Swimming Crinoid. I doubt this could be related to jugglematt's critter, but it was interesting and I had never seen one before. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lndr 0 Posted October 30, 2003 I had a look at lunchtime and found these isopod shots. Now I've looked closely they seem to have a similar body shape. As taken ... And cropped ... Taken with a Nikon F70 + Nikkor 60mm + Subal Housing + YS90 Duo Jervis Bay Oct 2002 ... so do you think they're related ??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jugglematt 0 Posted October 30, 2003 hey art ill have a look later , when i get home and see if ive got a better shot , u can probally see how really small they are, so its a bit of a challange to get anything at all. hey jimbo love your critter. that small stuff can be fun . when its getting smaller then the eye can see its getting challenging. next time im down jervis bay im gonna spend a while and try and get a decent shot reguards matty Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jugglematt 0 Posted October 30, 2003 hey lndr now thats just showing off .(im jelous) how small can u go ! id like to see one of thoes laying eggs .lol reguards matty Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jugglematt 0 Posted October 30, 2003 hey art is this any better? lndr might have a clearer shot. these critters are at the limit of my little camera. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Art 0 Posted October 30, 2003 Hi folks seems that I enhanced an interesting discussion about the tiny critters - hope to see more images posted the "swimming crinoid" from the Caribbean is definetely a crinoid, related to the Eastern Atlantic Anthedon spp., I will try to provide a tentative id with the Hendler book later in the afternoon I still don't know what's the tiny thing from the ascidians is (Matty's photo), but some pycnos have very similar, stout bodies, with spines, by far not all are slender as Nymphon, Pseudopallene or the deep-sea Collosseides for this one I need a real good macro - and eventually a specimen (preserved in 70 % ethanol, rum will do it, too) alternatively it could be an isopod the red critters clinging on some sort of coral are definetely isopods, I think jaerids or close to them, but I will check to be sure hey, does somebody have photos of skeleton shrimps (caprellids) ? I really like these ones ! and have a colleague in Sevilla, Spain, who works on them and would appreciate the pictures cheerio Art Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lndr 0 Posted October 30, 2003 Here is a shot of one of the larger pycnogonids we get. This one from Port Stephens NSW. The isopods are actually on a sponge. Forget its name momentarily ... cheers Lndr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Art 0 Posted October 31, 2003 Hi again thanks for the pycno shot - we had a student working on them - he will certainly know what it is I have some ids for you the red isopods are from a huge group called Asellota, and most probably either from the family Paramunnidae or Munnidae the crinoid from the Virgin Islands (or Cayman Is ??) .. anyway .. it's Analcidometra armata I also identified Craig's tiny "white moray eel": it's actually a wormlike white pipe fish Siokunichthys nigrolineatus, which is associated with mushrom corals still working on Matty's creature a photo under microscope would help ! cheers Art Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lndr 0 Posted October 31, 2003 For the record Matty's "Isopods" are on the ascidian Polycitor giganteus. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jugglematt 0 Posted October 31, 2003 hey art have a look at this critter . shot in the solomon islands . on sandy rubble at about13m cameras own flash in macro mode Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jugglematt 0 Posted October 31, 2003 or hesetwo guys brittle star and critter taken at cronulla sydney Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Art 0 Posted October 31, 2003 Hi folks ! the crab from the Solomons is Calappa sp. (family Calappidae, or box crabs) I though first it's Daldorfia horrida, a stone-mimicking parthenopid crab, but this has differently shaped claws and the frontal region is different, too so now I am inclined to think it's a calappid I think it's one of the recently described species, I'll check with some IWP crab people the small critter next to the ophiuroid from NSW is probably an isopod, too, maybe from the same family as the red ones, but it's so small and cryptic that I really can't tell more bye A Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimbo1946 0 Posted October 31, 2003 SORRY - WRONG THREAD! I'm guessing that this is a pycnogonid. I shot it in Fiji last year. I didn't know what it was, and the shot isn't very good. It was very small, maybe 2 cm or so. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Art 0 Posted November 1, 2003 Hi again yep, this is definitively a pycnogonid did you folks know that iin pycnos the gut has side tubes or caeca which go far into each leg ? also, MALES of most species have so-called ovigers, special legs that carry the eggs (cemented together by a sticky substance) after these have been fertilized there are some beautifully coloured pycnos in temperate Australia, the Western Canadian species are pretty boring .. cheers Art Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimbo1946 0 Posted November 1, 2003 yep, this is definitively a pycnogonid Thanks for the info, Art. I'm learning a lot about critter ID this week. And enjoying it very much! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Art 0 Posted November 4, 2003 Hi folks ! sorry, had to post it twice: Matty's small critter was confirmed as an asellote, spider-like ISOPOD, possibly a new species (!!!) of Munnidae, and the red isopods are, according to an expert in Sydney, rather Munnidae than Paramunnidae, and poissibly new, too (!!!) next time you guys dive in Jervis Bay, PLEASE pick up a few specimens in a plastic bag and preserve them in rum (Havana Club would be OK) or better in 70% dilluted pharmacy alcohol cheers Art Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lndr 0 Posted November 4, 2003 see Matt ... it pays to have a good spotter !! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jugglematt 0 Posted November 4, 2003 yay! thats kinda neat full compliments to my spotter i gotta borrow a mx10 macro lense to geta better shot . ill be in the bay this weekend . so lndr and i can try and get a few of em . thanks for the id reguards matt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
