PELAGIC AND NEUSTONIC
A 5cm piece of pumice providing a home for a variety of species. A mini ecosystem on a tiny raft, at the mercy of wind and current. Found in March 2008, this pumice originates from a volcano just SW of Vav’au, Tonga, called the home reef volcano. It erupted in August 2006
A broken Chambered Nautilus shell covered in Gooseneck barnacles found cast up on Brunswick Heads beach. This is Nautilus macromphalus, a rarer species than the common Nautilus and with a distribution restricted to the southwestern Pacific Ocean, off north-eastern Australia, New Caledonia and Loyalty Islands.
Coral (Pocillopora sp?) skeleton on pumice
RAFTING MATERIALS
These can comprise pumice, seeds, cuttlefish, nautilus and spirula shells, bottles, timber, plastics, shoes, fishing floats, buoys and nets. Even the shells of living Janthina snails can be colonised by goose neck barnacles.
The increase over the last century of marine litter, discarded at sea and flushed out from land, is having a dramatic effect on marine life. It also provides an increasing amount of "rafting" materials for marine organisms, in addition to naturally occurring ones. In some cases extending the geographical range of not only pleustonic species but benthic species as well, as can be seen by the variety of species found on the objects below. Some of the flotsam I have found on local beaches was too large to bring home and photograph and as is usually the case, I did not have my camera with me! I recently came across a large mooring buoy on the beach that was covered in goose neck barnacles and had many Planes crabs and other life in amongst the barnacles. What a find!! I raced home to get camera and bucket and when I returned it was gone, removed by the local council and dumped!!!
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Pumice
Pumice
Janthina sp
Spirula shell
Rubber sandal
Vine seed
Palm seed husk
Plastic coffee jar top
CNIDARIA Versuriga anadyomene
Catostylus mosaicus
Species?
Unnamed species
Phyllorhiza sp?
Chrysaora wurlerra
Pelagia noctiluca
Species?
Aurelia aurita
Species?
Aldersladia magnificus
Aequorea sp?
Liriope tetraphylla ?
Olindias phosphorica
Porpita porpita
Velella velella
Physalia utriculus
Physalia sp
CTENOPHORA Bolinopsis ashleyi
Pukia falcata
Beroe sp
Neis cordigera
Bolinopsis sp?
Ocyropsis maculata?
Beroe sp
Ocyropsis sp
Beroe sp
CRUSTACEA Planes major
Amphipod sp
Lepas anserifera
Lepas pectinata
Lepas anatifera
Lepas australis?
MOLLUSCA Glaucus marginatus
Recluzia sp
Glaucus atlanticus
Janthina janthina
Tergipes sp
Janthina prolonga
Stylocheilus longicauda
Janthina umbilicata
Stylocheilus longicauda?
Janthina exigua
Fiona pinnata
Litiopa sp?
Sepia sp
Spirula spirula
ANNELIDA Species?
Amphinome rostrata
Platynereis sp
Simplisetia lizardensis ?
BRYOZOA Species?
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© All images Copyright 2011 Denis Riek. All rights reserved.
