These little critters are Blue Throat Ascidians (Clavelina australis) and live in compound clusters. They look like a nest of little chicks of some bizarre bird with mouths agape chirping for food. Actually just like birds these critters are chordates and though they don’t really have a backbone they do have long nerve running the […]
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When I was thirteen years old I remember being on a walk in the Flinders Ranges and walking into a great big net spread between two trees. I also remember that it did not break and I had to extricated myself from it by walking out backwards. It was the web of a Golden Orb […]
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Such a strange name for a strange creature; Goniocidaris tubaria. Actually this odd looking ball of spikey arms is one of our local sea urchins. There really is nothing typical about the appearance of a sea urchin. They all have a hard body called a ‘last’ but the ‘last’ is an internal structure and not […]
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Leafy Seadragons are extraordinary creatures and we are privileged to share our part of the world with them. This little youngster is only about 10cm in length and at that size can range from bright orange to deep red making them quite spectacular. Regardless of size or colour, getting to hang with a dragon is […]
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Another first for me. Finally after years of diving I have finally found Veronica. I called her Veronica as it is an anagram of Verconia verconis, her real name. She has no common name as is the case with most of our beautifully weird and wonderful sea critters. Unless they are commercially significant or in […]
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