Green Sea Urchin, Psammechinus miliaris, a good aquarium species

Urchin feeding on the aquarium glass.

The Shore or Green Sea Urchin, Psammechinus miliaris, are easy specimens to have in the aquarium. They are hardy & readily eat algae frozen foods; they excellent scavengers & help keep the aquarium clean. This specimen was found in Poole.

Urchin browsing on sea squirt.

Urchin covered in sea weed & other debris.

Long Legged Spider Crab after moulting

This Long Legged Spider Crab, (Macropodia rostrata), is not only now larger after its moult, but in particular the size of it's claws have increased dramatically. In the above video it can be seen cutting of pieces of a red seaweed (Chondria dasyphylla) and chewing on them.

After moulting this Long Legged Spider Crab hid away until it's new shell had hardened, it has now resumed it's normal feeding habits.

New Water Chiller for the Aquarium

We purchased a new water chiller for the cold water sea aquarium.

We are very impressed in the effectiveness of this chiller, at the moment it is set to keep the aquarium at between 14.5 to 15.5 degrees centigrade.

The sea temperature at Poole when we collected the specimens was 16 in September & 15 in October.

We aim to emulate the right sea temperatures for the time of year.

 The chiller was very easy to set up, it is rather quiet & easy to set the temperature. It is fitted on the return side of the connection to the external filter.

1 into 2, Division of Snakelock Anemone

1 into 2

Snakelock Anemones reproduce by Longitudinal fission, here you can see one which has split into two anemones overnight.

Here you can see the same Snakelock before division.

Marine worm & Two Spot Goby

Several of these small worms have turned up in the aquarium, they appear to have come attached to some live rock introduced into the aquarium. The Gobies, in this instance a Two Spot Goby, (Gobiusculas flavescens), have shown interest but have never been seen eating any.

 Here in the video above the worm can be seen pulsating.

Female Two Spot Goby showing interest in the worm.

 If anyone can identify the worm please let me know.

Sea Spider, Nymphon gracile from Poole

Here just above the Porcelain Crab (Porcellana platycheles) you can see a small Sea Spider (Nymphon gracile).

They grow to about 1cm & these delicate small creatures are easily missed when rock-pooling.
Click on play button above to watch video.

Sea spider, small Daisy anemone & unidentified worm.

A visit to Poole at low tide

Long-Spined Scorpion Fish

After some very windy weather during the previous couple of days we made a trip to Poole  to see what we could find. It was not a particularly very low tide and there had been considerable disturbance amongst the few rocks in the harbour, but we still managed to spot a few new species.

Including a couple of Long-Spined Scorpion fish  & a few Sea Spiders.

Under side of Long-Legged Scorpion Fish

Shore Crab

Small Ballan Wrasse

Green small Ballan Wrasse

Blenny

Hairy Porcelain Crab, Porcellana platycheles, Filter Feeding

Here a Hairy Porcelain Crab, (Porcellana platycheles), can be seen filter feeding after being fed Marine Snow & Rotifers.

Click on Play button above to see video.

It is also known as the Broad Clawed Porcelain Crab

Long Legged Spider Crab found at Poole

This Long Legged Spider Crab, (Macropodia rostrata), was found at Poole, it looks very delicate but is quite tough fighting off prawns & walking across anemones to steal food from them.

Click on the play button above to watch video.

Netted Dog Whelks & a Prawn fighting over a Cockle

Here you can see two Netted Dog Whelks, (Nucella lapillus), & a Common Prawn, (Palaemon serratus), fighting over an Edible Cockle, (Cerastoderma edule).
Click on play button above to watch video. 

Anemones at Poole

Beadlet Anemone

These are some of the anemones found around Poole Harbour.

Snakelocks, Beadlets & Daisy Anemones all doing well in the marine aquarium.

Snakelock Anemone

A small White Anemone.

Daisy Anemones in the foreground.

Trip to Poole, Dorset, Fish found.

Using an aquascope for a better view.

The first trip to Poole in Dorset, was on the 10th September to study the sea life in & around Poole Harbour. Several different fishes were seen, including Wrasse, Blennies, Gobies, Shannies & Sand Smelt.

Ballan Wrasse

Tompot Blenny

Shanny

Two types of Gobie were found, Sand & Two Spot Gobies. Several small specimens were collected for further study in our cold water marine aquarium.

Two Spot & Sand Gobies

For information how to set up a cold water marine aquarium click for link here.
Cold Water Marine Aquarium