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.

Lightning Whelks



Lightning whelks (Busycon contrarium), are gastropods like other whelks and snails. They are called lightning whelks because of the jagged lines on the juvenile's shells. The shells in the picture are small ones. There have been lightning whelks recorded at 15"! Lightning whelks are sinistral or "left handed", compared to most whelks which are dextral or "right handed". The lightning whelk is also the state shell of Texas.

Olive Snails

Olive Snail Shells

Olive snails (Oliva sayana), are gastropods like other snails. The ones in the pictures are lettered olives, there are other varieties too that I do not have pictures of like the netted olive (Oliva reticularis), and several smaller varieties. Lettered olives can grow up to 2 1/2 inches in length. The second olive in the picture is fossilized.

Live Olive Snail

Colorful Moonsnail

The colorful moonsnail (Naticarius canrena), are gastropods. They are uncommon at the beaches that I have been to (that is why I only have one).
Moonsnails prey on  buried bivalves. Their foot is about ten times the size of their shell and is light colored with brown streaks running down it.

Rubber Snakes to Silver Spoons (Another Trip to Lido)

Common Sand Toys

Yesterday we were coming back from a volunteer interview, and we decided to take a trip to the beach. We have not been to the beach recently because of the winter tourists, and because it was so cold the last month. I have not been cleaning up the beach for a while and I have been wondering what could have happened to the beach during our absence. It was a mess! Trash was everywhere! So I began to clean up. I started putting trash in a soda cup that I have been drinking out of only a few minutes earlier.

Strings and Other Long Stretchy Things

Stranger Things to Find on Lido Beach

 But that soon overflowed. Then I found a green bucket which was abandoned, so I started using that. But that too started to fill up quicker than I expected. Then I found a yellow bucket without a handle, and a second bucket made everything much easier because I could separate the keep from the trash. I keep the things that I can either reuse or make something awesome out of. Some of the normal keep things I found were pony tails, plastic sand toys, and a neat ball that I'm sure my sisters will enjoy playing with. The weirder things I found were a feathery flower, two silver spoons, and a rubber snake.
Speaking of rubber snakes, there once was a dolphin who ate a rubber snake that someone discarded. It is really important that trash and other things like toys, do not get left on the beach. (If any of these are yours, and you are near Lido beach, I can give it back to you.)

Ray or Stingray or Skate

Clearnosed skate at the Mote Marine Laboratory

 Sometimes, it is difficult to tell the difference between stingrays, skates and rays. There are about 500 species of rays, stingrays, and skates. Skates are very easy to tell apart from the stingrays and rays. They never have barbs, most have spines on their back and tail, and their tails are much thicker than either the rays or stingrays.



 

Atlantic stingray at the Florida Aquarium

Stingrays and different then rays for many reasons. Stingrays usually are on the sea floor, their barb is farther away from their body, they usually have rounder fins, and stingrays will cover themselves with sand to hide from predators.

Cownose ray at the Mote Marine Laboratory

Rays swim around in the water, their spines are at the base of their tail (accept the devil rays and manta rays who have no spines), they have more "wing-like" fins then stingrays, and their species are easier to tell apart. Like the manta rays, the cownose rays, the spotted eagle rays, and the bat ray. Once you know the differences between stingrays and rays, it will become very easy to tell them apart.

 



Blue Eyed Hermit Crab

The blue eyed hermit crab (Paguristes sericeus) is easily recognisable by its bright blue eyes and its reddish-orangish eye stalks. Hermit crabs are not really crabs, however they are crustaceans. I have been studying blue eyed hermit crabs recently and I have found out a few things. They are always hungry and they are determined. The hermit crab in the picture has lots of animals living on its shell. It has a slipper snail, barnacles, and a few worms all living on its shell. Hermit crabs also have the ability to grow legs back if they fall or break off. This is called regeneration.