Tag Archives: Bob Van Syoc

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Gary Prochazka found an Ochre sea star in an unusual position. He wrote, “[Here’s a sea star playing] peekaboo from Walk On Beach at a recent low tide.” I’ve never seen a star in this position. Then it struck me – this star only has four arms.

I sent Gary’s photo to intertidal expert Bob Van Syoc. He wrote, “Very cool photo. Yes looks like a healthy four armed star!  Unusual and I would guess that it did lose an arm and healed but has not yet regenerated the lost arm. Love the infinity symbol!”

I also sent Gary's photo to Jennnifer Stock NOAA. She's the Education and Outreach Coordinator at Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. She forwarded Gary's photos to several experts there. I heard back from Julieta Gomez. She looked at Gary’s photo and wrote, “Sometimes they lose an arm and it just doesn't regrow or sometimes two grow instead. I've noticed it more in bat stars than ochre stars though, so this is a unique find!”

Here's what an ochre star usually looks like. This photo was taken by Allen Vinson. Ochre stars come in various colors!

Gary went back a week or so later and the unusual star was gone. It could well reappear so check your spots at low tide events.

Thanks to Gary and Allen for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

There's a big fog bank over the ocean and it's keeping it nice and cool here in Anchor Bay!

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When there is a minus tide, some of us head to the beach to see what may be revealed. Cindy Morey did just that and found an animal rarely seen. She wrote, “I found something on our Irish Beach that I had never seen before and I have no idea what kind of crab it is. The body part was a reddish color with little bumps of white. The legs were like fur with nails at the end. I thought it was a piece of succulent until I picked it up and the legs moved. Looked more like a tarantula than a crab. It was like seeing an alien.”

I sent Cindy’s photos to intertidal zone expert Bob Van Syoc. He wrote, “Ah, looks like a rhinoceros crab!  I’m not too fond of the common name, but easier to pronounce than Rhinolithodes wossnessenskii, perhaps.  Count the ‘walking’ legs.  Eight, four on each side.  It’s in the same family as King crabs, the Lithodidae.  This cryptic creature blends in with rocky rubble and sponge covered rocks.  Nice photos.”

Here is a look at the underside of this crab.

Cryptic is a good way to describe this crab that stays hidden most of the time. They live at depths of 20 to 240 feet on rocky seafloors, often hiding in deep crevices. They are common in Alaskan waters and their southern boundary is supposed to be Crescent City.

In the twenty years I've been writing my Mendonoma Sightings column, I have never received a sighting of this unusual-looking crab...until now! I did share Cindy's photos with the folks at NOAA and they were happy to learn about this.

Thanks to Cindy for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

It's raining here this afternoon! Yes, after over a week of sunny and warm weather, it looks like the pendulum has swung back to rainy and cooler, as it should be in winter!

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Marilyn Green found this object washed up on a beach at The Sea Ranch.

Bob Van Syoc knew what it was. I found it eerily beautiful. Bob wrote, “Very beautiful indeed! This is the shed exoskeleton of a Barnacle.  Barnacles live inside a permanent calcareous shell attached to the bottom, but inside of the shell they also have a chitinous exoskeleton (like crabs and shrimp) as they are crustaceans. To grow they must shed their old exoskeleton and then form a new larger one. The shed exoskeletons float around and some wash ashore.”

So, inside the Barnacles' shell is an exoskeleton. And they outgrow it and have to shed it. Who knew? Lucky for Marilyn and me, Bob knew!

Thanks to Marilyn for her ability to spot small, unusual items and for allowing me to share her photo with you here. Also thanks to Bob for his expertise.

Cool this afternoon, with a breeze. We have rain coming in starting tomorrow night. Happy first full day of spring!

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Roxanne Holmes wrote, “This Sea Star is alive and seems to be doing okay despite missing a couple of ‘legs,’ or whatever they’re called. I check on it every low tide, and it changes position but continues to do well. Do Sea Stars thrive without all their limbs? What destroys or severs their limbs? Will the limbs grow back?”

Bob Van Syoc to the rescue. He looked at Roxanne’s photo and wrote, “Yes!  Sea Stars can regenerate new arms as long as the center disc is intact.  Some can lose all but one arm and survive to regrow the other four arms.  In this state they are called ‘comets’ because of the smaller arms forming the star and the larger arm the ‘tail’ of the comet.  Arms may be lost by injury (crushed by a rock) or by predators attacking them, though our Stars have few predators.”

Here's a photo Roxanne took of a happier sight - two Ochre Stars (yes, they come in different colors!), a Bat Star, Sea Anemone, and several Purple Urchins and more. A kaleidoscope of colors!

Thanks to Roxanne for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

Cool, breezy with dark clouds now and then. More weather headed our way in a couple of days.

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Emily Martinek and family were visiting parents Claire Skilton and Bill Ranseen. Claire wrote, “We had a very successful trip to the tidepools: Gulls feasting on Abalone, Sea Urchins with spines, the tiniest Hermit Crab ever, Chitons, Sea Anemones…thrills galore!”  Emily and her young daughters, Colette and Katherine, noticed an unusual creature. Claire wrote further, “Emily is sending you a photo of a strange-to-us tidepool critter. Maybe you know it.”

I didn’t know what it was, but Bob Van Syoc came to the rescue. He wrote, “The little green critter is an Isopod in the genus Pentidotea…probably Pentidotea resecata, the Eelgrass Isopod. They tend to take on the color of the plants they eat, so some are greenish, some reddish, and some brownish.  The sharp tips of their legs function nicely for gripping eelgrass or algae or your finger!”

I didn’t hear of any pinched fingers, so it sounds like Colette and Katherine were looking and not touching, a good idea when exploring the tidepools.

Thanks to Emily for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

It's sunny or foggy depending on where you are, but the constant today is the WIND!