Nebalia (Muddy Buddies, Part III)

This is Part II of a three-part series, reproduced from my old blog. (Here) Part I, Part II. (On this blog)

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Continued from Muddy Buddies, Part I and Part II , in which I told of the finding of this tiny crustacean.

To go on with the nature of the beast:-

This particular nebalia (pugettensis) has no fixed English name. Some call it a "sea flea", although what it has in common with fleas, I fail to see. Some Canadian sources call it the Mud Flat Hooded Shrimp, and this at least points us in the general direction. But it is not a shrimp, nor exclusive to mud flats, nor is that "rostrum" a hood; it's more like a rhino's horn.

One thing, though; nebalia loves mud. It lives around the world in muddy bottoms, from tidal flats to "abyssal" depths, "abyssal" referring to 2000 to 5000 metres underwater. The pressure down there, at the 5000 metre level, is 500 atmospheres, or 750 lbs per square inch. Amazing versatility!

We found them in Boundary Bay, because the sand is half mud; the other end of the beach is all sticky, impassible, stinking mud, and just across the water is Mud Bay. I've half a mind to go over there and dig for live nebalia. Nebalia loves mud, shallow or deep.

Eugene Kozloff , in Seashore Life, says, "The situations where it is plentiful generally show signs of being quite foul when they are stirred up." (p.241) That would describe the area perfectly.

And down there in the muck, they stir up the water, streaming it through the carapace, filtering out edible bits of organic matter, plant or animal. They are scavengers, too; they have been caught in traps baited with dead crabs, several days old. Part of the clean-up crew, all those billions of tiny unsung heroes filtering our water, carting away our leavings.

And yet, they are so beautiful! So clean looking; that glistening, glassy carapace, that polished horn. So delicate; the flowing, feathery tail. And those ruby-red eyes!

What are they seeing, down there, deep, deep down in the mud and slime, with those brilliant eyes of theirs?

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So: thanks to Bev, again, for her lessons in photography. Which I can benefit from, even though my camera is the beginners' model. Maybe some day ...