Spongy Decorator Crab

The spongy decorator crab (Marcocoeloma trispinosum), is a species of decorator crab. They will put sponges, corals, and other things on themselves to camouflage. The one in the picture has covered himself with mushroom polyps. They stick the camouflage of choice on themselves like Velcro. They have little hook life hairs on their body which helps attach things to them. They will even change what they have on them depending on what is in their environment.

Strate Bubbles

Strate bubbles (Bulla striata) are also called common Atlantic bubbles. Bubbles are gastropods. Bubbles are related to sea hares and nudibranchs. When there foot and mantle are extended, they can completely cover their shell. Unlike most gastropods, they don't have eye stalks; instead their eyes are directly on their head.

Airport Art Contest

Recently, I have been working on a picture for the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport art contest. I have my picture finished, but I could use some ideas on the background. If you have any ideas, please leave a comment on this post. Thanks!
Update- I have sent in my picture with a background. I decided on Blue with green streaks going left to right.

Stingrays, Stingrays, and More Stingrays!

Stingray Under The Sand

 Recently at Lido, there have been a lot of stingrays in the water. They're usually Atlantic stingrays, but we have also seen devil rays again in the water. The first stingray picture is covered with sand which makes it hard to identify. There has also been lots of fish washing up on shore. The ones that I have seen include: lots of cowfish, a grouper, a butterfly ray, and a toadfish. They have been becoming stranded more frequently than usual, probably because of all the recent storms.

Two Atlantic Stingrays

Cownose Ray

The cownose ray (Rhinoptera bonasus) is a species of ray. It gets it's name from the shape of it's head because it looks like a cow's nose. To find their prey, they will either flap there fins to stir up the sand, or they will move the sand around with their snouts. Once they have located there prey, they will rapidly flap their fins to reveal their prey. Cownose rays will migrate by the thousands from the Gulf of Mexico, and up the east side of the U.S.. Their natural predators include cobia and sharks. They are not commercially fished by people. However, the Virginia Sea Grant at VIMS is trying to persuade people to start eating cownose rays because a main part of their diet is oysters. But since cownose rays usually only have one pup at a time, it could cause a decrease in the population like the thylacines did. Cownose rays are commonly kept in touch tanks in aquariums. I don't think that I have ever been to a stingray touch tank where they did not have cownose rays.

Mandarin Dragonet

The mandarin dragonet (Synchiropus splendidus), is a tropical from the family Callionymidae. Mandarin dragonets go by many different names including mandarin goby and mandarin fish. They usually live in small groups in the wild. Mandarin dragonets produce a thick mucus that covers them and is toxic to whatever might try to eat it. Mandarin dragonets will dull in color when they are going to rest at night. Mandarin dragonets are popular in marine pet stores, despite the fact that they are difficult to feed because they eat amphipods and other small invertebrates.

Beach finds

 There finds were found a few weeks ago, but I have had a very busy schedule and have not had much time to post on my blog. The two top photos are the stuff which I kept, and the last photo is the stuff that I either recycled or threw away. The best find that I found that day was the shark tooth necklace in the first picture. It was far from where most people stay when they go to Lido.