An Alternative Natural History of Sussex.
This blog shows the highlights of my day to day findings as a naturalist and ecologist living and working in Sussex. Delivered with a pinch of nihilism, a dash of sarcasm and absolutely no tweeness, here is my attempt to show natural history as it really is: Brutal, beautiful, uncompromising and fascinating...and occasionally ridiculous.
I have been studying natural history for some thirty years, nineteen in a professional capacity. I currently work in Sussex as a freelance entomologist, ecologist and botanist and specialise in nature reserve and rewilding management advice based on the interpretation of the surveys I carry out. I also run a number of identification courses. An advocate of the pan-species listing approach. My main areas of interest are birds, plants and invertebrates and a lot of my spare time is spent in the field. I am the county recorder for spiders and bugs.
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 WelkBuccinum 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 SlugBabakina 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.
Well that was worth setting my alarm for 3.30 am for! I have just had FOUR nudibranch lifers at Silver Steps, Falmouth in Cornwall. I'll start with the species I have wanted to see more than any other since I first clapped eyes on it. The Rainbow Sea Slug Babakina anadoni! It was almost dream like seeing this today. In fact, I really wasn't expecting to pick this up today (I was aiming for it tomorrow) so when I turned a rock and found a pair together as the tide was coming in, I was pretty stoked. It was also a lifer for Finley and Louis! I said, "anyone who finds it has to shout BABAKINA!!! as load as they can!" Which I took great enjoyment in doing.
Here are a few more shots. The first one is my first shot shorty after I saw it for the first time, I almost forgot to breathe today.
They were bigger than I was expecting. Finley took this pic of me looking rather pleased.
Well, it's gonna be hard to top that. Or is it? This is the Hair-curler Sea SlugSpurilla neapolitana. Seemingly only the 18th record for Britain after Charlotte Cumming found the first here only two months ago. This was one of the largest sea slugs I have seen that wasn't a dorid. Check this utter beauty out! Sad to see it had lost a rhinophore.
I am pretty sure these are the eggs, which I found high up the beach after about 10 minutes of getting there.
EDIT: This could well be a much commoner species I had not considered, thanks to Charlotte Cumming for the suggestion.
Check this video out! It reminds me of that bonkers alien 'Calvin' from the sci-fi movie Life.
I took this over to show some girls I was chatting to in the car park and bumped into another rockpooler called Vicky Barlow. She just so happened to be looking for Spurilla so was very pleased. She's also the person who found the first Babakina (other than divers) so gave me some great tips on where to look that totally paid off.
I found my first (very overdue) Limacia clavigera. Finley found another one. It's really not that scarce but one I have failed to see until now.
Then Louis found this, which is Facelina annulicornis, identified by Vicky and my 4th nudibranch lifer of the day! That's me on 35 species of nudibranch, all this year.
I found this which I think is a St John's Jellyfish Calvadosia cruxmelitensis, only the second time I have seen one. Thanks to Finley for the photo. I was too furiously searching for Babakina at this point to stop to take a photo of this.
And I had one more lifer. A Black Brittlestar Ophiocomina nigra! I thought these were deep water species, so was glad to spot one. Finley showed me the smooth black disc of the animal is the clincher! Result.
Is there such a thing as too many sea slugs? Hell no! Send more nudis!
If you can think of a better fish pun, let minnow. At last, some 30 years after I first ate one, I finally caught up with a wild Cod! I was rock-pooling today at St Mary's Lighthouse but it was slow going with only one each of Long-spined Sea Scorpion, Corkwing Wrasse (last time I recorded Ballan), Two-spot Goby and Shanny. I had my eyes on a fella (not in that way!) sea-fishing off the edge of the rocks and I looked up at a time he was reeling in a catch. I grabbed my binoculars and tentatively identified it as a Cod as he landed the fish. Little did he know he was being watched from behind a rock! I legged it around to get a better look. 'Excuse me, did you just catch a Cod?' I yelled as I came running over the rocks. I think he thought I was either very hungry or very strange (I was actually both but he didn't know that nor was it relevant) and after a while he let me take a photo and we were soon exchanging fish-based anecdotes. Not exactly the rarest creature in the world but not something I was expecting to see today. The fish in question went back in as it was too small to take. My 69th fish species and maybe my last new species (4718) of 2013. I hope I'll see a wild Chip soon and complete the set! A couple of Purple Sandpipers were working the shoreline too but they flew off when I asked them what they had caught.
Yesterday I added the Common Starfish Asterias rubens from the rocks at Tynemouth but little else. Ivory Gull Tourette Syndrome has set in this week. I am jumping at every gull, carrier bag, football, ship, even the odd white van that moves. Now that would be a fitting end to a year! I was thinking of going to twitch the bird in Yorkshire but I am some 160 miles and over three hours NORTH of it here. I'd rather have a surprise Cod any day.
This was the first fish I caught yesterday whilst rock pooling at St Mary's Lighthouse and I soon realised I was looking at a young Lumpsucker Cyclopterus lumpus!!! It was only the size of a pea but there is no other possibility with the shape and the suction cup underneath. I have wanted to see this fish ever since I bought a guide to the sea shore when I was on holiday in Wales as a kid. If you look at the UK distribution on the NBN Gateway, it is well known from this stretch of the English coast line. In cellebration of my little Lumpsucker, have a listen to this.
I wasn't completely sure so I wanted to rule out Montagu's Sea Snail so I googled a few images of this species before carrying on dipping. Guess what the next fish I pulled out was?!
I watched the Montagu's Sea Snail change colour from an almost yellow to a dark brown in a matter of seconds.
I caught one wrasse which in the field I thought was Rock Cook but in hindsight I think this one is likely to be a young Ballan Wrasse, Rock Cook is very much a west coast thing and it doesn't have the right amount of spines on the anal fin. Quite obviously not the Corkwing that we see down south but as with the other two fish, I only caught one of this species. There are records of Ballen from St Mary's too so I'm happy with that.
There are also records there for this attractive goby, the Two-spot Goby which is highly distinctive to do with the spot at the base of the tail.
And this little fellow which I believe to be either a young gurnard or a dragonet as some people have pointed out. Either way these are difficult groups of species as adults so I won't be getting it to species. It was very small, barely a cm long but as soon as I put it in the tray it went from looking like a typical fry to this amazing little fish. I wish I could confidently say what it was. Most of the fish I saw were very small, making some identification a challenge. The largest (and most abundant) fish I saw was a Shanny. The only other fish I saw more than one of was the Butterfish.
Words cannot describe how awesome this was. Every time I put the net I was pulling out something new! Despite driving rain off the north sea, I was loving every minute. Interestingly I must have started on the best bits because at one stage all I was pulling out were Shannys, I think I must have gained altitude slightly without realising. I'll definitely be having a look there every visit up to Whitley Bay, with an ecosystem that resets itself EVERY twelve hours, you can't afford to miss an opportunity!
I also added Common Brittlestar Ophiothrix fragilis. Four new fish and a new starfish!
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