ARE YOU READY TO JUMP INTO THE SEA WITH ME AND EXPLORE SOME ROCKPOOLS #InverteFest?!

Here are the #marineinverts I found today rockpooling in #StAndrews!

First up, the gorgeous, always curious and friendly common shrimp! #scicomm @InverteFest

Next up we found another type of shrimp - this is a mysid shrimp, smaller, brown in colour but so uttlery cute they steal my heart every time! #InverteFest @InverteFest #rockpooling

Reminder I have a YT channel, where I video rockpooling - sub here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRDsYk5kU1mHCksjedQQ1mA

I found one more shrimp species today, but for this you’ll have to look closely! This is a brown shrimp - you can tell by its so eyes glued to the top of its head rather than at the side!
I spot these by looking at the sand and seeing eyes staring back! #InverteFest @InverteFest

A little flat oyster next growing on the underside of a rock!

Next to a load of tube worms and spirorbis worms!

If you want to learn more about marine ID and each of the species in this thread head over to http://www.marinemumbles.com  - where I’ve set up a easy guide to ID over 75 rockpooling species with hundreds of photos! #InverteFest

LIMPETS!
Left picture is Patella depressa the black footed limpet - see how the edge is more wiggly and the shell ridges stick up more?!
Right is Common Limpet, Patella vulgata - rounder edges and usually more common... hence the name! #InverteFest @InverteFest #rockpooling

We’re not slowing down yet - even though we’re talking snails now! This is Gibbula umbilicalis - called that due to its ‘belly button’ dot on its underside next to whole leading to the soft body of the snail! #InverteFest @InverteFest #rockpooling

We’ve got an itsy bitsy teeny weeny dogwhelk - and a much bigger dog whelk! Maybe the big one is the little ones role model - grow up big and strong little one - and be an evil fearsome predator! Learn more here

#InverteFest

Is it a shell? Is it a bug? No it’s a CHITON!!

Wow how many species is that now? 11... ok let’s keep going!

I’ve found over 40 species rockpooling in one session before ! So we are not done yet! #InverteFest

Here’s a lovely wee flat periwinkle - it’s called that as the spirals in the shell don’t point up at all just flattens off - making it one of the easiest marine snails to ID! Let’s compare that too... #InverteFest

The common periwinkle! See how pointy vs. flat that is? There also different colours but never use colour as a guide only, I’ve seen orange shells of both of these so you might just be meeting an individual snail who likes to show off a bit! #InverteFest

ALIEN BLOB ALERT! No not something that’s going to hatch out a tiny alien ... though anything can happen in 2020... it’s the eggs of a green leaf worm! Unfortunately no adult green leaf worms today but I’m counting the thousands of babies in that egg sac instead! #InverteFest

IS ANY ROCKPOOLING SESSION COMPLETE WITHOUT A COMMON SHORE CRAB?! Nope... and this sessions not complete we’ve still got some more species to find!

Are your hypothetical wellies still doing the job? Not wet feet? I managed to both fill my wellies up with water...

#InverteFest

NEXT UP MY FINGER...wait what. Oh no silly me, it’s a TINY BRITTLE STAR *makes baby noises a cutesy cutesy pie whose a cutesy cutesy pie*

ahem.

Lots of baby brittle stars today and their adult parents! #InverteFest

From brittle stars to ... starfish! These won’t break if you touch them like brittle stars... seriously don’t touch them they will break! They are more likely to break our next species.... find out more here #InverteFest

The favourite food of starfish... and a species that will never pull a muscle running away because it never moves... it’s a.... MUSSEL!

I love this species...also because well they are bloomin tasty! Sorry mussel friends... but it’s true!

Some lovely bryozoan here - each little dot you can see in that blob is an animal - each called a zooid! Bryozoan prefer teamwork so bundle up together to form a colony and love to encrust rocks! #InverteFest

Ooooh look at this poser. The look to camera. The pout. The drama.

Your not fooling me Mr. Hermit Crab I just watched you fall off a rock twice, you clumsy fella.

How can you not love these guys... how! Angels.

#InverteFest

This tube of sand, is an amazing sand castle, sand tower, sandy tiny home because this is the home of the sand mason worm... Lanice conchilega!

So if you need sand castle tips you know where to go! Learn a lot more about then in this video

#InverteFest

Wow... this just keeps going! You could say that the rockyshore is diverse, amazing, wonderful and full of so much life because OH IT IS!

Here’s are some shy squishy beadlet anemones all socially distancing - be more like these anemones!

#InverteFest

LAST BUT NO WAY EVER LEAST! Our good old friend the acorn barnacles... Ill just say go watch this because... well you won’t be disappointed and I promise it will change your life views!

HOW AMAZING A DIVERSE WAS THIS ROCKPOOLING SESSION! In less than an hour of searching 22 gorgeous rockpooling #marineinverts decided to come and say hello!

And all I needed was my wellies! So go down to see for yourself! Marine biology is right on your doorstep! Explore!

If you liked this then the best way to support me is to head over to my YouTube channel to subscribe, please! You’ll find more info, have more fun and get to explore rockpools with me every week! Here’s a link to the trailer and channel #InverteFest

@InverteFest #InverteFest Over and Out.