Saturday, April 24, 2021

Lemon of the tidepools

Exploring a shallow tidepool, less than 2 inches deep, I came across this lemon-coloured beauty.

Monterey sea lemon, Doris montereyensis.

He's about the size of a lemon. The front is toward the right of the photo: that lump is one of his two rhinopores, his taste and scent receptors. He was crawling on the rock, half in and half out of the water. When I picked up his rock, he dropped off and started to curl up.

Sea lemon underside.

I took a few photos and moved him carefully to the water in the shade of a stone, right side up.

Walking around the tidepool, I found another, almost hidden under seaweed between two rocks. On my next circuit of the pool, I couldn't see it at all until I stood on the exact same stone, crouched in the same position as before. The first was also invisible except from the right angle. It made me wonder how many other things I am missing.

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Buscando entre las pozas intramareales, en una poza de menos de 4 cm. de hondo, encontré esta belleza.

Es un nudibranquio, el "limón marino de monterey", Doris montereyensis. Es más o menos el tamaño de un limón mediano. Su cabeza apunta hacia la derecha en la foto; la pequeña extensión es uno de sus dos rinóforos, órganos que detectan sabores y olores.

Se deslizaba sobre la piedra, la mitad fuera del agua. Cuando levanté su piedra, se soltó y, volteado barriga al aire, empezó a encerrarse. Saqué unas fotos y luego lo regresé al agua en la sombra de una piedra.

Siguiendo la vuelta a la poza, vi otro limón marino medio escondido bajo algas, entre dos piedritas. Y dando una segunda vuelta, no lo podía ver hasta que me paré en la misma piedrita, y me agaché en la misma postura de antes. El primer limón también resultó ser invisible si no fuera desde el ángulo preciso. Me hizo pensar cuantas otras cosas se me pasan.

#InverteFest


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