Showing posts with label cephalopod. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cephalopod. Show all posts

The last passage

Posted by Graeme Lyons , Saturday, 15 November 2025 08:24

Last Thursday to Saturday was an utterly unforgettable rock-pooling experience down at Falmouth in Cornwall. In fact 10 of the above 15 species were lifers for me, one of which was new to Cornwall! On the Saturday, there was a 'Rockpool Project' event being run at Castle Beach and given we had already seen the targets on Thursday and again on Friday, I couldn't really take seeing Babakina and Sprurilla three days in a row - it would have blown my tiny mind. Finley suggested going to Helford Passage after I was talking about a similar site on the Isle of Wight (Seaview - both are eel-grass on sand). So we did just that and it was utterly amazing!

With pond nets, waders and trays in hand, Finley and I set off. It didn't take long to find something I hadn't seen before. My 5th new mollusc of the trip - Calyptraea chinensis. A limpet-like species.

I haven't seen a Solenette for years! The fish were were great here. Sand Gobies, Fifteen-spined Sticklebacks and a whole loud of pipefish. I'll come to them later.

I found this brittlestar and it look different straight away to the ones I see in rock pools. A proportionally bigger disc and a texture and pattern of an animal that looked adapted to living on sand. It's Ophiura ophiura and another lifer.

Finley took this shot of an Antony Gormley statue that's called 'The Lone Pan-species Lister'. There was a chill wind blowing along that passage, with some rather violent shivering employed by both parties. 


Visibility wasn't great, but Finley did spot and photograph this awesome Common Welk Buccinum undatum! By the time I blundered into range, I clouded it up so much a photo wasn't possible. Look at those spots on the mantle!

Finley had mentioned there being some impressive Spiny Cockles here, although I had seen many shells, I only noticed one live adult. I hoyed it out for a series of photos. Yet when I got home and had a look, it didn't look right. I soon discovered there was a species that fit for what I had here, and Simon Taylor confirmed it. This is another mollusc on the move and is new to Cornwall! It's Acanthocardia paucicostata. The shape of the ridges is quite distinct. The cross section of the shell looks more like a series of old tents side by side (rather than say the 'battlements of a castle' that are seen in more typical cockles). The spines are different too, being rather spoon-shaped. Size is key, this being a fairly small cockle. My size estimate from memory was way off, fortunately we were able to estimate the size more accurately from my my fingers in the photo!

Then things started getting exciting! I netted my first ever Deep-snouted Pipefish! My 102nd fish - I've seen all six pipefish in the UK now! I was proper stoked!

What a gorgeous fish.

Look how compressed the snout is when seen from above!

We found at least five, Finley took this shot of what was perhaps the largest one.

I also found this baby Common Cuttlefish!


Finley pulled out a couple more pipefish. This is only the second time I have seen Straight-snouted Pipefish.

And this small animal that by a process of elimination we are thinking is Nillson's Pipefish. I'd be interested in what others think of this. It has been a long time since I saw one of these either way.

Then something really unexpected. I only went and found yet another Spurilla neapolitana! That makes three days in a row in which I have seen this recent arrival to our shores, but this time from a totally different habitat! Bonkers. I found it just as Ben Rumsby and a contingent of other students turned up, so they were very happy to see all these wonders.

Here are my records for this species. Three records of four individuals, all likely adults. From three 2 km squares and two diagonally adjacent hectads. Considering it wasn't even on the British list in August that is mad, imagine how many more of them are out there.


And to conclude, here's my favourite shot from the weekend, the Rainbow Sea Slug Babakina anadoni that was found by Rachel Edworthy on Friday at Gylly Reef. What an incredible three days that was!

Oh just one last thing. Following a few last-minute tweaks (including the very last page), my book should be going to print next week! Exciting times.

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The top ten highlights of 2013

Posted by Graeme Lyons , Friday, 27 December 2013 09:56

Although it wasn't my most prolific blogging year, 2013 was an amazing year for natural history. Here are the top ten in reverse order.

10). Pearl-bordered Fritillary dead on a sundew at Graffham Common. When Rachael said 'I've never seen anyone get so excited over a dead butterfly' was the moment she realised her new boyfriend was an obsessed maniac.

9). Six new birds in 2013 which were: Western Bonnelli's Warbler, American Golden Plover, Hermit Thrush, Radde's Warbler, Semipalmated Sandpiper and (see below). The twitching trip to Cornwall in search of the Hermit Thrush with Mark, Neil and Seth was a blast. Despite seeing the Hermit Thrush, I thought the smartest thing that day was this Blue-rayed Limpet. It just goes to show that twitching with a bunch of pan-species listers can go in all sorts of directions.

8).  An autumn at Rye Harbour NVCing the whole nature reserve. I found a Pectoral Sandpiper but this female Red-veined Darter was a highlight for me.

7). Teesdale. Lots of scarce new plants including this Alpine Bartsia.

6). It was a fantastic autumn for fungi, this Starfish or Anemone Fungus is still giving me nightmares. And boy do I LOVE nightmares!

5). A summer of fish surveys with Sussex IFCA. I saw so many new species, I couldn't decide between Little Cuttlefish or Thornback Ray as my favourite.


4). Micrommata virescens and Carabus arvensis, just two of the 584 species Chris Bentley and I recorded at the Old Lodge invertebrate survey.


3). 67 Heath Tiger Beetles at Iping Common using purpose made scrapes put in with a turf stripper. Great to see this reintroduced species not only present on site but thriving. The 1st August was a great day and so glad I was able to share it with Shaun Pryor.

2). Lumpsucker and Montagu's Sea-snail at St Mary's Island. Sublime.


1). The 'elusive' Corncrake at Beachy Head. Say no more.

So is that it for 2013? I was hoping for an Ivory Gull on the way back south tomorrow but they all seem to have gone now. I think I might have a day at the microscope on the 31st...

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Stranger things happen at sea

Posted by Graeme Lyons , Sunday, 29 September 2013 17:02

Last Tuesday I went out with Sussex IFCA to carry out a small fish survey in Rye Bay on their boat, the Watchful. I was rather excited the night before and despite a sleepless night and a 4.00 am start, I was wide awake and very alert as we left Shoreham Harbour at 6.00 am.

It was misty as we headed out to Rye Bay but it soon cleared by the time we starting trawling for the first of the samples. The best bird of the trip was a dark Arctic Skua.

We pulled up a couple of Sea Mice Aphrodita aculeata. I guess people who spend a lot of time at sea don't see many mice. It's actually a worm would you believe it!?


I saw four new fish including quite a few of these Hook-nose, Pogge or Armed Bullhead. Having neither arms or hidden weaponry, I would have thought Armoured Bullhead would have been more appropriate.

I also added Solenette (we saw hundreds of them - photo below) and a few Lesser Sandeels.

But best fish of the trip has to be the Tub Gurnard with the most amazing bright-blue fins.

And of course, the highlight of the trip was seeing my first ever cephalopod in the form of this 2 cm long Little Cuttlefish Sepiola atlantica. I think this is a candidate for one of my favourite ever species!

Another striking creature was this Compass Jellyfish Chrysaora hysoscella with veins of caramel like stuff running through it. It looks like an alien's pudding.

It was a great day and seeing the whole of the East Sussex coast in calm sees and glorious sunshine on the way back was a real treat. Here is a very different view of Beachy Head. A big thank you to Kathryn Nelson and the rest of the team, I have definitely got the bug when it comes to sea life and I'll be doing more of this when I can. We processed nearly 3000 fish which was surprisingly hard work so I glad to be able to give something back. For the time being though my feet are on dry land.

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