Chitons

Chitons resemble woodlice in appearance & can be found normally under rocks in Rock-Pools. We have 3 different species ranging from 1cm to 4cm in size. We have only managed to identify one species. They browse on the algae in the aquarium.

Chiton, Lepidochitona cinerea

Unidentified Chiton

Unidentified Chiton & Long legged spider crab.

Sea Squirts

Fluted Sea Squirt, Ascidiella aspersa

We have several species of sea squirts in the aquarium, all of which have been collected from Poole Harbour. They are easy to keep & are fed on Sea snow which is sold to feed Marine corals.

Just one word of warning do not have Sea Urchins in the same aquarium, they readily consume the softer sea squirts. 

Yellow Ringed Sea Squirt, Coina intestinalis

Leathery Sea squirt, Styela clava

Red Sea Squirt, Ascidia mentula

Fluted Sea Squirts, Ascidiella aspersa

Cold Water Marine Aquarium

Here is our well established Cold Water Marine Aquarium.

Here you can see just a few of the marine creatures which can be found on the Dorset Coast.

Two Spot Gobies, Spider Crab, Hermit Crab, Snakelock Anemones, Beadlet, Anemones, Daisy Anemones, Strawberry Anemones & Prawns.

Osmington in December

Tide receding on a warm December day.

Had a trip to Osmington in Dorset, it was a mild December day at around 9 degrees.

The water temperature was 12 degrees.

The rock pools here vary from close to the shoreline with just rocks & boulders to further out being well inhabited with colourful varieties of seaweeds, see underwater video.

We found Hermit Crabs, Rockling, Shannys, Blennies, Strawberry Anemones, Beadlet Anemones, Gem Anemones, Snakelock Anemones, Cornish Sucker Fish, Worm Pipe Fish, Sea Slaters, Edible Crabs, Shore Crabs, Porcelian Crabs, Hippolyte varians Shrimps, Prawns & Chitons. 

One of two Cornish Sucker fish found.

Shanny

Rock Goby

Strawberry Anemone

Rock Goby

Gem Anemone

Strawberry Anemone, Actina fragacea

This Strawberry Anemone, Actina fragacea, was found at Osmington, Dorset. It has decided to attach it self on the glass close to some Beadlets & Snakelocks.

It can be tough being a Hermit Crab

The smaller of these two Hermit Crabs, Pagurus bernhardus, is having a tough time of it. Firstly it appears to have lost it's front claws when changing skin & now it has chosen to exchange it's small shell for one that is far too large for it, also a larger Hermit Crab then trys to attack the smaller one. I must admit we did step in & help the little fellow, see the two videos below.

Sea Slug, Aeolidia papillosa ?

A small white sea slug appeared in the aquarium today, I believe that it could be a small Grey Sea Slug, Aeolidia papillosa, it is only about 1cm long.

If it is Aeolidia papillosa then the Beadlet Anemones, Actinia equina, could be in danger as it feeds on these.

 

Rock Pooling at Osmington in November

Went to Osmington in Dorset for the first time. The tide was quite low & many of the rocks were exposed & the following species were found in the rock-pools:-
Snakelock Anemones, Beadlet Anemones, Strawberry Anemones, Shore Crabs, Hermit Crabs, Broad Clawed Porcelain Crabs, Edible Crabs, Sea Slaters , Chitons, Pipe fish, Rock Gobies, Shannys',  Wrasse,  Mysid Shrimps, Prawns, Chameleon Prawns & Amphipholis squamata Brittlestars.

Exposed Rocks

Pipe Fish

Ballen Wrasse

The video below shows a few of the Snakelocks found in the

rock-pools.

Worm Pipefish, Nerophis lumbricifomis, mating.

We have a few worm pipefish in the aquarium, they very shy & live hidden under rocks or in the thick sea weeds in the aquarium.

They are fussy feeders, taking live brine shrimp, rotifers & copepods. Today two could be seen entwined together for some 30 minutes; in the video below you can see their two heads moving together in the centre of the picture. This was the best I could record on video.

 Click on the play button to watch video.

They only have a dorsal fin & therefore do exactly as their name implies, they worm around on the bottom.

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.