Pencil Urchins - Eucidaris tribuloides

Pencil Urchins are a common sight in the marine aquarium trade. They are usually pretty inexpensive and make interesting pets. These urchins are not reef safe! They eat anything they can catch or mount. They're sharp "teeth" on the underside of the urchin are capable of scraping coral polyps and algae right off the rock. They are also able to push over coral and rocks that are not strongly affixed. I have found these urchins to be very easy to care for; surviving through times of bad water quality. I house them with various reef safe fish, shrimp, brittle stars, snails, small crabs, and other urchins. My oldest urchin I've had for over 5 years, but it is probably a few years older than that. My other two are about 3 years old. Together they are an algae eating army...

Snorkeling at Playa Uvas Beach Club - Cozumel, MX

Last week I took a cruise that stopped on Cozumel, Mexico.  I had been to Cozumel two other times but this time we were dropped off in a different location than before.  We used to snorkel at a restaurant/bar just a few blocks from the cruise port but we had no idea where it was so after some advice from a local we took a quick taxi drive to Playa Uvas Beach Club.  The beach club was reasonably priced and offered rental snorkel gear like many other places along the beach.  Since we were short on time I got into the water and started snorkeling right away.  

The water in Cozumel is beautiful.  Very clear and has a good amount of reef organisms.  The sun was shinning brightly but a storm was quickly rolling in.  

I love looking for Echinoderms whenever I'm at the beach.  I found a bunch of beautiful brittlestars.  This one is Ophiothrix angulata. 

A school of Yellow Grunt - Haemulon flavolineatum

An interesting Octocoral

Vase Sponge 

Caribbean Sea Anemone - Condylactis gigantea

Lettuce Coral - Agaricia tenuifolia

Lots of very friendly Sergeant Majors - Abudeduf saxatilis, Im sure they are used to being fed when groups of snorkelers come out. 

A curious but fast Rock Beauty -Holacanthus tricolor

Peacock Flounder - Bothus lunatus, seemed to change color a little to match the substrate. 

At this moment when it started to swim it had darkened. 

Long-spinned Urchin - Diadema antillarum 

French Angelfish - Pomacanthus paru, both are transitioning from juvenile to adult coloration.  

The wind picked up, the temperature dropped, and the rain started pouring really hard so we were asked to come up and we went back to the cruise ship.

This short time was definitely the highlight of the whole trip for me! 

I cant wait to go back to visit again. 

All pictures taken with my Olympus Tough TG-610.

Creatures in the Sargassum - Padre Is. Natl. Seashore

Since I was little I have always searched through the seaweed in search of sea creatures.  There was always an abundance of interesting things to find from shrimp to juvenile fish and occasionally a bright yellow seahorse.  Seaweed or Macro-algae differs from place to place as well as the organisms that inhabit them.  

Here on the Texas coast of the Gulf of Mexico we have lots of sargassum seaweed.  

Sargassum is found throughout the tropical seas and host many specialized groups of plants and animals  found no where else.  These organism have evolved with the sargassum and many mimic the look of sargassum for camouflage. 

Padre Island National Seashore - Malaquite Beach 

This is one of my favorite places in Texas!  Whenever I show other Texans pictures like this they think it is somewhere exotic but it is actually right of the coast of Corpus Christi. 

Sargassum sp. floating along.  There are many rafts of these floating communities drifting around the Gulf of Mexico.  It looks like just seaweed but you would be amazed by what's actually inside. 

Sargassumfish - Histrio histrio,  is highly camouflaged in the Sargassum.

This unusual predatory fish is pretty easy to find. 

Shrimp - many different species of shrimp are commonly found in Sargassum. 

Hermit Crab - usually not found in Sargassum but this one must have hitched a ride at some point. 

Pygmy Filefish - Stephanolepis setifer

This was one of the most common fish found in the Sargassum today.  

Pygmy Filefish - Stephanolepis setifer

This one is a little bigger...

Juvenile Scrawled Filefish - Aluterus scriptus

I have never seen this fish in the Sargassum before.  I have read that it usually inhabits reef areas. 

Juvenile Chub - Kyphosus sp. 

Sergeant Major - Abudefduf saxatilis

These are a common sight in the Sargassum and throughout the Gulf.

unknown fish... any guesses? 

'

Juvenile Jack (?)

Pipefish - 

Pipefish - 

ORA Variegated Sea Urchins

Last week I went to FJW Aquarium (my local fish store) while on my way to work.  I was just looking for another shrimp for my tank when I spotted the label: ORA Sea Urchins.  I remembered reading an article on the ORA blog about how they bred this species (link below).  FJW had just received ten of these urchins a few days ago and there was only two left.  I love Echinoderms and especially sea urchins so I bought both of them.

These sea urchins are Variegated Sea Urchins - Lytechinus variegatus.  Their range is around Florida and the tropical west Atlantic.  Every time I go to Florida I see these urchins, sometimes in the thousands.  They can get as big as a tangerine and are usually purple but sometimes pink.  I typically find them in sea grass beds but have also seen them on bare sand along the swimming beaches.  They eat algae and sometimes cover themselves with blades of the seagrass they are eating as well as shells; perhaps for camouflage.

ORA Variegated Sea Urchins at FJW, both are about the same size as a quarter. 

The other ORA Variegated Sea Urchin at FJW, this one is a little darker.

The two ORA Variegated Sea Urchins in my 30 gallon tank.  This tank has lots of Caulerpa, Halimeda, and some hair algae for them to graze on if they choose.  They are often seen together like in the picture above. 

ORA Variegated Sea Urchin - blog post.  For more information and some more cool photos of the Urchins developing.  Great job ORA!  I hope you add some more Florida urchins to your breeding list; perhaps.  Long-spinned Urchin - Diadema antillarum or West Indian Sea Egg - Tripneustes ventricosus. 

Atlantis Celebrity Summit - Saline Beach, St. Barths

Saline Beach was my favorite part of visiting St. Barthelemy.

It was a lot of fun because of all the people from the cruise ship being there in addition to the beautiful scenery: crystal blue water, white sand, and the coral reef.

Saline Beach, St. Barths Island

Blade Fire Coral - Millepora complanata 

Caribbean Reef Squid - Sepioteuthis sepioidea

Horse Conch - Triplofusus giganteus, I think someone picked this guy up and dropped him upside down where he was stuck between two rocks.  I pulled him out and put him right-side-up here on this rock.

West Indian Sea Urchin - Tripneustes ventricosus

 Brain Coral - Diploria sp.

Brain Coral - Diploria sp.

Caribbean Spiny Lobster - Panulirus argus 

Finger Coral - Porites porites

Long-spinned Sea Urchin - Diadema antillarum

Elkhorn Coral - Acropora palmata, growing in pretty shallow water.

Elkhorn Coral - Acropora palmata 

Blade Fire Coral - Millepora complanata, with many small reef fish in between the blades. 

Queen Parrotfish - Scarus vetula

Queen Angelfish - Holocanthus ciliaris

Atlantic Blue Tang - Acanthurus coeruleus

These are just some of the things I was able to photograph while snorkeling.  There was many other fish, coral, and other invertebrates around this area.  I can't wait to come back to St. Barths and spend more time exploring this beautiful beach.

My new Tomato Clownfish

I have a new fish for my Biocube!  Its a Tomato Clownfish - Amphiprion frenatus.  

I have been wanting a Tomato Clownfish for a while after seeing a very pretty mature specimen at a local fish store.  I didn't get one because I had the Potter's Angelfish that was the main display fish for that tank and I was afraid these two would be crowded.  Now that my poor Potter's has passed away I could finally get a new a Tomato Clown.  He is doing very well and has taken up to this Bubbletip Anemone overnight.