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Trapania mania
Posted by Graeme Lyons , Monday, 5 May 2025 16:21
Last weekend was another really good set of low tides. Which meant I spent four sessions out in the rock pools; once at Ovingdean with a gang, once at Felpham with a slightly smaller gang, once at The Pound at first light solo, and finally again at The Pound that same evening with a different gang. It was knackering and involved the first and only time I have ever got cut off and had to wade through waist deep water (I'll come to that).
First off, an afternoon session at Ovingdean. I promised nudibranchs, and found eggs under the third rock I turned. Soon after Mark Colvin found some more eggs and a neat little Goniodoris nodosa. They breed on one very specific location down there. This is the first of three nudibranchs I saw that weekend. Between myself and the brothers Greaves, we've now recorded four nudibranchs from Ovingdean, I wonder how many more species there are within the confines of Brighton & Hove?
Susy Dixon-Jones found a Toothed Crab Pirimela denticulata.
Simon Van Toller netted this Conger Eel larva. I was at first convinced it was something completely different like an oarfish! But the head shape gave it away. It was so strange and completely flat, like sellotape!
And Kim Greaves found this Black-headed Shrimp Philocheras fasciatus (I have only seen these on The Scillies and Isle of Wight before). I did get one lifer, the tiny Needle Whelk Bittium reticulatum swept from weed.
The following evening we headed to Felpham where James Chisnall and son were our tour guides on some rocks I have never visited before. The strange colonial tunicate Molgula socialis was a new one for me. The bizarre sand-encrusted shapes cover much of the sand there. I stupidly didn't get a photo but a verbal description was enough for Gerald Legg to help we with an ID.
The rocks were very good for crabs but fish were restricted to the usual suspects; Worm Pipefish, Rock Goby, Five-bearded Rockling and Tompot Blenny. We found three or four young Congers too (all much more opaque than the one above) and no nudis (although Solar-powered Sea Slugs were present in one area). Under one rock I spotted a purple patch of colour. I hoped for a nudi but soon realised it was a flatworm.
By this point I was feeling really weary. So I set my alarm for 4.00 am and got to The Pound at Eastbourne for first light (5.20 am and one hour before low tide). The sun came up just as I got there on a wonderfully warm and still morning. It was like an alien landscape, utterly sublime.
A couple of rocks later, a young Lobster!
Then nothing much for an hour or or more. The rocks were increasingly covered in mud, making it harder to see things so I looped back to where I started towards the north of the lagoon where the water and rocks are much clearer than the south end. I found this nice Snapping Prawn Alpheus macrocheles.
But what I really wanted were nudibranchs. On the Isle of Wight and also historically at The Pound, I have found quite a few goodies by sweeping the sea weed, especially the invasive Wireweed. In fact, four of the fourteen species of nudibranch I have seen, I have only seen doing this and one of them, Trapania maculata (read this blog here to get the full story on why I wanted to get some better shots of this seemingly quite scarce nudi), is a target for mee to refind. But after about 30 or more good sweeps and the associated cleaning and sorting of weed in the tray, I had not seen a single thing of note. Then further north along the lagoon I spotted two people who were also clearly doing natural history, I thought it might be Gerald Legg so went to so say hi. It was in fact the algal specialists, Ian Tittley and Claire Lathbury.
We became engrossed in conversation about sea weeds, sea slugs and more. Now it's nearly two hours after low tide at this point and they were wearing wetsuits. I had thigh waders on. I tried a few more sweeps and found a Trapania maculata!!! As Claire was taking a few quick snaps of it I looked up at the river of water streaming along between us and the beach and just said "Oh bugger!". I hastily grabbed the sea slug, and legged it but it overtopped the waders and I was wet up to my waist. There was quite the current! It was quite scary and I am convinced it happened because we were all distracted, I am much more careful on my own! I made it back to the beach with about 10 pints of sea water in each wader and then attempted to get a shot of the nudi but lost it immediately. Fortunately Claire took these but I am gutted that I have twice now failed to get a decent shot of this amazing looking species...
I will bee investing in a wet suit after that. I am so glad my phone was in water proof case.
So, was I put off? Was I heck. I was down there again 10 hours later for the next low tide. Despite about 60 or so sweeps, not a single nudibranch. Evan found this large Sea Lemon though. This one looks more like a lemon than had fallen down the back of the cupboard for six months. There were loads of goodies I didn't photograph though, like Sea Gooseberry, Sea Gherkin, Lightbulb Sea Squirts, Boot-lace Worm, Strawberry Worm and Keyhole Limpet.
This adult male Corkwing Wrasse pretty much caught itself, it's by far the brightest one we had ever seen.
Finally, these strange little sponges were everywhere, as yet unidentified. Evan found a stalked pink one too.
That was a mad few days, it was physically quite demanding but I can't wait for the next lows. Will I ever write another terrestrial post again?
Posted in
crustaceans,
Felpham,
fish,
flatworms,
molluscs,
Ovingdean,
sea slugs,
sponges,
The Pound,
tunicates
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