If you eat kina then the next time you are going to have a feed, get your trusty camera ready then look for the new species of flatworm that has been formally described called Syndesmis kurakaikina and lives in the gut of kina.

It is tiny and is circled in photo B. Photo C shows it and the bar represents 1mm

Image taken from the Full Article

Happy eating and happy hunting!

We currently only have two Aeolidiella drusilla records, one from Wellington ( this obs and one from the Chathams this obs!

We also only have two Anteaeolidiella lurana records, one from Tauranga this obs and one from Red Beach this obs

How many more of these can we find?

Happy Hunting!

Here is something stunning to keep an eye out for. Spotted at goat Island by @ellalis and is only about 10-15mm long.


More pics at this obs

Here is an interesting critter that is a fish but looks more like an eel. So far all of the obs are around the Wellington area, so gives us all something new to look out for.

Photo from this obs

Photo from this obs

Today @wild_wind posted up this obs taken at Island Bay, Wellington of a small red cucumber so something new to look for.

Found in the intertidal zone in a rock pool with neptune's necklace, you need really good eyes to spot this.

The first photo shows the critter

The next photo shows it in situ - look for the small red in the middle of the photo - this will give you an idea of how small it is!

Happy Hunting!

I am sure we all know the blue tube worm Spirobranchus cariniferus but there is also the Spirobranchus taeniatus which looks exactly the same except for one distinguishing feature:
single crest running the length of the tube and the pinkish-purple bar along the base of the crest

This has only been spotted once in Rodney so can we find any more? (The obs with more info)

NOTE: The blue tube worm Spirobranchus cariniferus has a blue bar as seen in the photo below

Happy Hunting!

Here is an interesting find in the Taputeranga Marine Reserve, Wellington and I have never seen these up this way. Now can we find these anywhere else in the country?

Found throughout NZ but we only have 3 obs for this, two from the real far north and one from Rakiura, Stewart Island!

NZ Coastal Marine Invertebrates, Cook, Pg 464 has this to say:
Common. May not be seen unless sought
Yep - that would be about right LOL

So we need to find these. They live in well shaded conditions, on cave walls, under large stable boulders with plenty of wave movement.

So lets get more obs for this common limpet that is not common on this site!

Something new to keep an eye out for - a delicate trumpet or ice cream cone :) So far we have 2 obs, one from the Houhora Harbour and another one from the Whangateau harbour which are both on the east coast of northland, but that of course does not mean that they are not lurking further south or on the west coast, it just means that an intrepid sea hunter has not found them there yet LOL

From the family taxon page:
Pectinariidae, or the trumpet worms or ice cream cone worms, are a family of marine polychaete worms that build tubes using grains of sand roughly resembling ice cream cones or trumpets. These structures can be up to 5 centimetres (2 in) long.

Happy hunting!

We have our very first obs for Sea Vase - Ciona intestinalis by @predomalpha and was found in Auckland so something new to look out for :)

Here is the original obs