Marine life

[Gi]

I'm inviting you to share photos of any critter in the ocean that you find awesome, weird, cute, creepy, scary (not necessarily in that order... it could be one or the other) but you love nonetheless. ;D



Feather Star taken by Dave (Anilao, Batangas Oct 28, 2007)

- relative of the starfish, brittle star, sand dollar, sea urchin and sea cucumber (Yes, I know. Hindi sila magkakamukha!). and I thought they were plants (hehehe)... Body parts pala yung sumasabit sa wet suit ko (arms, fingers and all).

- passive filter feeders ng planktons. Preyed upon by nudibranchs, etc.

- usually anchor themselves on rocks and corrals but they are free swimmers (roll, glide, crawl, etc.). They move at about 2 feet / hour (wow! talk about slow mo...) .

Walking Feather Star (Photo Taken by Dave Oct 28, 2007)

I've been trying to google any videos of a moving feather star. Isa lang - taken 430 meters sa Grand Bahama Island (ganun!). Footage is rare. Punta sila Dive and Trek (hehehe).... ;D

Please feel free to add or correct information stated above (Info from Wikipedia).

(Note: photo reduced width to 600 pixels to fit screen w/o scrolling. Thanks Matt for the advice.)

[erwin]

Nice Gi. I'll be posting my pics next time.

[Gi]

This is Echinoderm country!

The common sea urchin... There is nothing common about them at all!



In the tradition I have started here, I'm continuing this thread again.

Going back to the sea urchins, did you know they have tubed feet? According to Wikipedia, they have hundreds of it but are transparent and adhesive. They can move freely over surfaces.

Their spines, when touched, converge to the point where it has been touched (We have to try this out next time, Donna ). The irony is that, the spine may inflict a painful wound but they are not seriously dangerous. Its the barbs between the spines that are actually venomous. (Can you imagine how cute they are when they're still babies?! )

Eels, otters and us feed on these spiny creatures (yum and I have yet to eat a fresh one!).

Sea urchins feed mainly on algae but they also eat mussels, sponges, brittle stars and crinoids (aka my feather star). Yes, they also eat their relatives (this is a dog-eat-dog world). When there's too many urchins, they can destroy the place by eating all the algae. When the algae is gone, other fauna will also disappear. So I guess, the eels and me are Jedis because we bring balance to the Force (Kung kumakain kayo ng sea urchin, eh di, Jedi din kayo! hehehehe ;D).

Note: All info (except the jokes) came from Wikipedia

[Gi]

To the photo-mongers in the forum, If you have pictures of a sea cucumber, brittle star, sand dollar and sea star, please share. Thanks!