Never underestimate the power of your enthusiasm for natural history to win people around. Hold that thought for now.
Yesterday I was heading back down from Broughton Sanctuary in Yorkshire and I fancied a slight detour to Anglesey to look for some more sea slugs. It was a glorious morning when I got to Menai. Now, it wasn't a great tide (about four days after the first lowest tides of the month) but I had some excellent gen from Ian Smith on a couple of tiny saltmarsh sea slugs (not nudibranchs but sea slugs none-the-less) just to the west of Menai bridge. One being very common and one only very recently being found there. It took me about 15 minutes to get my eye in and amazingly, I found the scarcest of the two species first. Here is an Alder's Sea Slug Alderia modesta on some Vaucheria algae. Close focus binoculars are so incredibly helpful here (the individuals I saw of this and the following species were all about 2 mm). The first image is of it on the alga as I found it, the second in a tray.
And here is Limapontia depressa in the field above and below (on the left) with Alderia moedsta on the right. Aren't they cute!?
With two lifers under my belt by 9.00 am, I headed back to the nudibranch hotspot with an idea in mind. A few weeks ago, Mark Colvin sent me a photo of a species he had found there and I was convinced it was going to be Catriona auriculata. This species feeds on these rather spectacular hydroids that are common there, called Ectopleura larynx. So my plan, take my time with each rock and search the hydroids slowly and carefully. The first rock I turned had four impressive Edmundsella pedata there. This is such a gob-smakingly-beautiful creature. I then put about an hour or two in searching the various hydroids for sea slugs but especially the distinctive Ectopleura larynx (below) for Catriona.
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Shortly after I got there a chap arrived who was looking for bait for catching Sea Bass. He was working annoyingly close to me, turning each rock quickly and smashing it back down (at least he was putting them back). It was quite destructive and very distracting. I was *this* close to giving him a piece of my mind when I found two more large Edmundsella pedata and called him over. I let him have a go with my close-focus bins and I watched in real time this guy realise why he needs to put the rocks back more carefully. He was blown away and really grateful, taking many photos. When I succeeded in finding Catriona aurantia he excitedly came over to me again and ended up proudly showing me his Sea Bass catches on his phone but as he went back to looking for bait, there was no smashing the rocks back anymore. As he left he thanked me for opening his eyes to these tiny creatures and I honestly believe his rock smashing days are over. It was a really cool moment, we shook hands and both our lives were enriched.
Anyways, sea slugs are like the weevils, mirids or leaf beetles of the sea! They often only eat one thing, so they really appeal to me. I have a particular affinity with phytophagous species when surveying invertebrate for work in grasslands and this interest transfers to nudibranchs - it's proper ecology. So I knew there was lots of food and searched every clump of hydroids I saw. I suddenly spotted (much smaller than I was expecting, do doubt another immature) the distinctive repeating pattern of nudibranch cerata. Can you spot them here hiding at the base of hydroid? I never would have found them without the binoculars and a plan. And being a rather persistent type.
It took a while to encourage it out, but I did! Anyways, my 16th nudibranch. Well chuffed. Here's some more shots.
I took a small clump of Ectopleura larynx back home and amazingly found two crustaceans among it I have never seen before: Apocorophium acutum and Jassa falcata. I must take more samples home!
I've just got back from a very exciting and spontaneous two-day stay on Anglesey. It involved what it best described as an avalanche of nudibranchs! It's all down to my friend Mark Colvin (and his daughter Charlotte). I had a weekend free for the first time in years and was planning to go to Cornwall. I was feeling rather discombobulated after having my first full blown migraine in 30 years on Friday morning, when Mark sent me a text saying he had just seen 23 nudibranchs of some eight to ten species! I got up the next morning, booked a B&B and was there by 4.00 pm for the next low tide.
Directly under the Anglesey side of the Menai Bridge is somewhat of a nudibranch hotspot. Indeed, I saw at least seven species when I was there. So, put on your breathing apparatus, set phasers to stun and prepare to be beamed down to the Planet of the Nudibranchs!
First up (and this is perhaps the commonest species there - albeit I have only seen this once before on Jersey) is the widespread Facelina auriculata! The iridescent blue/purple and long, gracile nature help to distinguish it from Facelina bostoniensis.
I am pretty sure this one was Facelina bostoniensis which was also present there in numbers. I have only seen this once before at the Pound.
I think this is also bostoniensis with eggs.
After the Facelina, Edmundsella pedata was the commonest, with more than 10 found under one rock grazing on hydroids (I will come back to this rock later). These are incredibly wonderful animals. Common on Jersey, I first saw this on the Isle of Wight but I have never seen it in Sussex.
Polycera quadrilineata (it's likely this and not norvegica based on the rhinophores and other factors but it's not easy to be 100% sure on this).
I found a mature Sea Lemon Doris pseudoargus. The others put it in a container with some of the other species, so you can see here how much bigger they are!
I found one Palio nothus under a rock too, I have only seen this on the Isle of Wight before but it seems a common and widespread nudibranch.
Yet amazing as this was, I was lacking a sea slug new to me! Dopamine deficiency was kicking in. So I went back for the low tide on Monday morning before I left Wales. The tide was coming in when I stumbled on the rock with all those grazing Edmundsella under. I thought I would count them using my close-focus binoculars when I spotted a totally different colour. There, poking out of the darkness of the hydroid forest, were a dozen bright orange-red, brilliantly white-tipped flares! There were also white highlights on the tentacles and rhinophores and not a suggestion of pink on the body. The rhinophores were also lealy not annulated like Facelina. This was a lifer! BUT it was under 4 mm and hard to get to.
I did eventually get it in a tray for a closer look and I soon came to the conclusion this was Microchlamylla gracilis (thanks to the amazing field guide). My 15th species of nudibranch in the British Isles! Nearly half of all the species I have ever seen I saw at this site in one weekend. Bonkers!
Sublime! We saw over 50 individual sea slugs on Saturday night, and they had at least two species on Friday night that I did not see (one of which I have never seen). I will therefore be back.
There was some other nice things there too. Like Lightbulb Sea Squirts (still scarce in Sussex).
Some Boring Sponge. It really is boring.
And lots of these hydroids, Entopleura larynx. . There are sea slugs that eat just this and it seems that the other saw one of these on Friday night! How exciting, I love to come away seeing lots of stuff but not everything as it leaves me wanting more! A massive thanks to Mark, Charlotte and all the others who came out!
Now I did a lot of other rock-pooling, snorkelling and entomology around the island in 48 hours but I will leave this for another time as it has been 15 years since I last visited the island and some 22 since I lived there, so I would like to do it justice. Now I'm off looking for rare mirids...
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