Monday 18 August 2008

Rock pools ransacked!

The safari was joined by about 20 determined rock poolers on Sunday afternoon. A great time was had by all.
Amongst the usual Mason Worm cases and Pod Razors a few more exotic creatures were captured. (Alder?) Necklace Shell was seen for the first time this season. The prickly shell I feature a month or so ago was found again, a small and a larger one. It remains unidentified, so if any one can help please do.
Below is the very pretty, almost tropical lokking, Grey Top Shell.

Along with the usual Green Shore Crabs one young lad found this rather dramatic male Masked Crab. You can tell its a male because his claws are long, the female's claws are normally sized.


Again I apologise for the quality of the photo but can any one help with the identification of this little crab. He's a beaut. At first I thought it had bits of shell stuck to the carapace but then realised that the pattern was symmetrical so it is probably the natural colouration.


If I get a chance I'll get out to the rock pools and collect some more specimens and try to photograph them back at Base camp under 'lab' conditions.
Where to next? It's a surprise - hopefully we'll have some great sightings of Lancashire's brilliant wildlife to report.
In the meantime let us know what's been seen in your 'ouback'.




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