SA Creature Spotlight - Nymphon aequidigitatum
This sea spider is extremely slender and long-limbed. It is usually pinkish or orange in colour, and can be identified by its long proboscis and chelifores.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/832/
#greatsouthernreef #seaspider #southaustralia #UWPhoto
SA Creature Spotlight - Torquigener pleurogramma (Weeping Toadfish)
This toadfish gets its common name from the dark vertical stripes below its red eyes, which are reminiscent of tears.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/520/
#greatsouthernreef #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Bathytoshia brevicaudata (Smooth Stingray)
The world's largest stingray, this species has a stout body and rhomboid disc shape, and a tail armed with one or two venomous stings.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/86/
#greatsouthernreef #underwaterphotography #southaustralia
SA Creature Spotlight - Emarginula candida
This keyhole limpet has ribs forming a lattice pattern with deep pits and an anterior slit. Its apex curves backwards to a sharp point.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/867/
#greatsouthernreef #southaustralia #underwaterphotography #limpet
SA Creature Spotlight - Ibla quadrivalvis
This small stalked barnacle resembles a dog's toe, with claw-like valves and a hairy stalk. It is found under rocks, where it can be hard to spot.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/280/
#greatsouthernreef #barnacles #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Tergipes "RB1"
This tiny undescribed nudibranch is often found on the leaves of brown algae. It is transparent with white patches, and 3-4 pairs of banded cerata.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/850/
#greatsouthernreef #nudibranch #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
...and we're back. The outage will likely prompt some back-end work to make things a little more robust, which may result in some micro-outages as I cut things over in the next weeks (months?), but other than that everything is now back online.
OK, the site is back up and running except for a small content distribution (CDN) issue preventing image display. Another hour or so and we should be right.
Please be aware that the web site is currently down while I attend to a reasonably severe issue. As a one-man show with a severely limited budget, it will take some time for things to be back up and running. I expect we'll be good early to mid next week. Cheers. Matt.
SA Creature Spotlight - Actaea peronii (Thorn-legged Crab)
This small reddish crab, found under rocks, is most recognisable for the dense blunt spines on its walking legs and tubercles on its claws.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/10/
#greatsouthernreef #underwaterphotography #southaustralia #crab
SA Creature Spotlight - Desis kenyonae
One of the only true intertidal spiders, this species seals itself in rock crevices with its web at high tide, emerging to hunt on the rocks at low tide.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/588/
#greatsouthernreef #spider #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Parvulastra exigua
This small 5-armed grey-green sea star is usually found in large numbers in rockpools, both exposed and on the underside of rocks.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/770/
#greatsouthernreef #seastar #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Holopneustes Sp.
This undescribed sea urchin is reddish, with short, blunt spines and brown tube feet. It is usually found attached to large-leafed algae.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/271/
#greatsouthernreef #urchin #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Rhodosoma turcicum
This small solitary ascidian is distictive for the flap of test that it can use to protect its siphons, which are arranged perpendicular to its body.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/640/
#greatsouthernreef #ascidian #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Ammothella biunguiculata
This long-limbed sea spider has a long spherical proboscis and equally long chelifores. It is plain brownish in color, with a short abdomen.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/908/
#greatsouthernreef #seaspider #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Paliolla cooki
This nudibranch is small and squarish, and feeds on the bryozoan Beania magallanica. It is usually a pale pink to orange, with darker orange spots.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/589/
#greatsouthernreef #nudibranch #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Aptychotrema vincentiana (Western Shovelnose Ray)
A brownish ray, with darker brown blotches, particularly around the eyes, this ray can be recognised by its long pointed snout.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/49/
#greatsouthernreef #underwaterphotography #southaustralia
SA Creature Spotlight - Myliobatis tenuicaudatus (Southern Eagle Ray)
This species of eagle ray has a pattern of greyish-blue blotches that are often quite subtle, and a long and thin, but rigid tail.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/340/
#greatsouthernreef #underwaterphotography #southaustralia
SA Creature Spotlight - Callistochiton antiquus
This orange/brown chiton has a furry, lightly-banded girdle. Its valves are heavily ribbed laterally, with fine cross-hatched striations centrally.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/111/
#greatsouthernreef #chiton #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Goniistius gibbosus (Magpie Morwong)
Not previously known from SA, this Western Australian species was recorded several times at Port Noarlunga Jetty between 2023 and 2024.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/920/
#greatsouthernreef #fish #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Styliferina translucida
This tiny snail grows to around 5mm. It has a transparent shell with brownish spots in between fine lines, and a large white stripe on its back.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/797/
#greatsouthernreef #seasnail #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
Yes, this is an invasive species that has spread globally. Its impacts are not well known, but it likely crowds out other sessile species in its habitat. For now it's restricted to only a few sites in SA.
SA Creature Spotlight - Lipotrapeza vestiens
A small but thick pink to reddish-brown sea cucumber, this species has relatively large light-coloured tube feet. It is usually covered in debris
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/626/
#greatsouthernreef #seacucumber #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Clavelina lepadiformis
This colonial ascidian is native to Europe, and likely introduced into Australia by shipping. It is mostly transparent, with bright white rings.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/876/
#greatsouthernreef #ascidian #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Electroma papilionacea
This small bivalve has a thin fragile shell and a skewed fan shape. It can be found on seagrass, kelp, and jetty pylons, often in large numbers.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/219/
#greatsouthernreef #bivalve #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Halocynthia dumosa
This solitary ascidian is distinctive for its bright orange test, with spines on the end of its dark-striped siphons. Its body is covered in papillae.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/255/
#greatsouthernreef #ascidian #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
To the best of my knowledge the algal bloom is still affecting wildlife in parts of the state. With any luck the weather this week will help to disperse it
SA Creature Spotlight - Coryphellina poenicia
This slug has a white or purple body with orange/red cerata. It has two large purple patches which look like eyes, but are actually jaw plates.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/176/
#greatsouthernreef #nudibranch #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Alpheus novaezelandiae
This pistol shrimp is variable in colour, but almost always with pale spots on the carapace and a dark mid-dorsal line.
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/808/
#greatsouthernreef #shrimp #crustacean #southaustralia #underwaterphotography
SA Creature Spotlight - Cryptopolyzoon wilsoni
This well-camouflaged bryozoan (lace animal) colony appears as sandy "beaded" threads. Its feeding tentacles are only visible in extreme close-up
www.samarineguide.com.au/taxon/187/
#greatsouthernreef #bryozoan #southaustralia #underwaterphotography