#IntertidalInvertebrates
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Green shore crab, blending in among the stones. Little Bear Bay, Vancouver Island. New blog post: wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2025/08/ston... #VancouverIsland #Crabs #Invertebrates #IntertidalInvertebrates #MarineInvertebrates #MarineLife #Nature
Stones on a beach. Small to medium stones, bluish, grey, yellow. In the centre, a small crab whose colours match the stones.
August 11, 2025 at 1:25 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
Hermit crabs are good climbers. They like high places where they can sit and watch the world go by. Here, a little one climbs the eelgrass. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit #Eelgrass
Small Hairy hermit crab in a well-worn periwinkle shell, climbing a blade of bright green eelgrass. The hermit is a yellow/olive shade, with black eyes; her antennae are dotted-line yellowish with white. The shell, up to 2.5 cm. long, and black when new, is coated with green algae.
April 15, 2025 at 5:26 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
Oysters have such amazing zig-zag shells! New blog post: wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/.../low-tide... #VancouverIsland #Oysters #InverteFest #Molluscs #Invertebrates #MarineInvertebrates #IntertidalInvertebrates #NaturePhotography
Three Pacific oysters in a row between rocks. They're positioned with the opening end upwards, showing the zig-zag "lip". As the oyster grows, it lays down another coat on the shell; the undulating lines of these layers can be seen on the topside of the shell, the side facing us. On the rocks there are tiny barnacles, and some encrusting algae.
April 24, 2026 at 7:02 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
Frilled Dogwinkle egg cases. 20 to 80 eggs in each one. New blog post: wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2025/05/coun... #VancouverIsland #Invertebrates #IntertidalInvertebrates #MarineLife #Nature
A mass of egg cases; oval, stalked cases with pointed tips aimed towards the camera (only one stalk visible), crowded together. Most are yellow; some have pink sections. Inside many of the cases, small white eggs can be seen.
May 12, 2025 at 9:30 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
Tending to the brood. Video of a Hairy hermit crab with her eggs. #HermitCrabs #DailyHermit #Invertebrates #IntertidalInvertebrates #Nature youtu.be/4xfEJB6vgow?...
Ma hermit
YouTube video by Susannah Anderson
youtu.be
September 5, 2025 at 2:30 PM
wweeta.bsky.social
Sand dollar community, half hidden under the sand. Dozens of sand dollars, overlapping each other. New blog post: wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/.../sorry-ab... #VancouverIsland #Invertebrates #MarineInvertebrates #IntertidalInvertebrates #Intertidal #Nature
Sand on a beach, all covered with lumps. Every lump conceals a sand dollar or two. Some circular shapes are visible.
April 17, 2025 at 9:13 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
A very small hermit crab, species undetermined, wearing a Nassa shell, on a blade of eelgrass. These never grow much larger than this. #InverteFest #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
This tiny hermit crab has orange pincers with white tips and knees. The upper part of the cheliped and the other legs are a greenish brown, with white joints. His eyes are grey with a black centre. His shell is bluish grey with white and pinkish markings. He stands on a curved blade of eelgrass, like a green road just his size. In the background, another blade of eelgrass crosses in the opposite direction.
April 24, 2025 at 7:45 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
Fuzzy sea star. It's underwater, and the skin gills are extended. New blog post: wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2025/07/foll... #VancouverIsland #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #Nature #SeaStars
A purple sea star (very purple) underwater, surrounded by brown algae and deep green sea lettuce. The sea star has all five legs, and has a pattern of white "spines" (but they're really small, hard knobs). Around these spines, the skin gills, the sea star's breathing structures, which are hidden out of the water, are extended, looking like fuzzy purple lumps.
July 18, 2025 at 5:29 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
It's a big world out there. A small hairy hermit considers his choices. #InverteFest #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
Underwater environment; a waving wall of red algae on the left, blades of eelgrass to the right, sand below. In the centre, on top of a broken grey shell, a small hermit crab stands looking into the light. It's bright enough to shine through the shell he's wearing and to highlight the hairs on his orange legs.
April 27, 2025 at 6:37 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
Purple starfish, waiting for the tide to come back in. New blog post: wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2025/05/on-s... #VancouverIsland #IntertidalInvertebrates #Starfish #Invertebrates #MarineLife
On the side of a wet rock, a purple starfish hangs, stuck to the rock, with the tip of one arm in the water at the foot of the rock. Small patches of seaweed cling to the rock, and float in the water beneath. There's also one green anemone, with its tentacles extended in the water.
May 8, 2025 at 6:00 PM
wweeta.bsky.social
Tiny, but elegant. A Holm's hermit wears a checkered periwinkle shell. These are small intertidal hermits; full grown, they measure under 1 cm. toe to toe. The periwinkles live in the high intertidal zone. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
This hermit crab is always orange and white, with alternating patches on the legs and eye stalks. The antenna is a dotted line, green and white; the eyes are dark. This one wears a new, very clean periwinkle shell. The body whorl as well as the second have a pattern of white spots on a stripy green base; the third whorl is black with orange dots, and the next three (very small) are brown and white. For size comparison, the sand grains underneath the hermit are, on average, as wide as the hermit's legs. Background, a bluish-green stone, another periwinkle shell, pointing away from us, and a lump of yellow-green kelp float.
July 4, 2025 at 9:22 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
A hermit crab stack. Two grainy-hand hermits below and a little hairy hermit on top. The one on the bottom never seems to mind the weight; the shells they wear aren't compressible. VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
Three hermit crabs. A larger one in a whitish whelk shell, facing right; she's a grainy-hand hermit, with orange antennae. A limpet is scraping her shell for algae. Next, on top of her, another grainy-hand, facing left, wearing a corroded charcoal-grey shell. And on top, a much smaller hairy hermit, a youngster, facing the camera. He carries his lunch, a creamy shrimp pellet. Beneath the stack are several other shells, ready for the next "shopping" event.
April 16, 2025 at 7:07 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
Party hat. For the hermit, decoration, (why not?) camouflage, the protection the anemone's stinging tentacles give against predators. For the anemone, a mobile restaurant; hermit crabs are messy eaters. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
A Grainy Hand hermit wears a Pink-tipped Green anemone on his borrowed shell. The anemone is larger than the hermit; it has a green, lumpy stalk, turning yellow towards the top, then the open mouth: a flat, green circle with small opening in the centre, (which will open to swallow any food captured) and surrounded by short tentacles, green then white, then tipped with pink, hence the name. The hermit's shell is black with a patch of creamy encrusting sponge, fading out into the dark background. "Hermy" is partially hidden behind a haze of bubbles, or they may be copepods and/or algae on the glass wall. Mostly visible are the red eyes and the orange antennae and antennules. He's surrounded by broken shells, partly hidden behind translucent chunks of kelp.
July 11, 2025 at 7:25 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
A hermit crab out of his borrowed shell is extremely vulnerable to predation. Here a freshly molted hermit waits high in the eelgrass for his new skin to harden, when he'll descend to find a new shell. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
A hermit crab without a shell. The newly-molted cephalothorax is clean, mostly orange, as are the legs. His eyes are striped, pale blue and black, and he waves an antennule with a blue, flame-shaped tip. The coiled abdomen is purplish; at its tip can be seen the last, tiny, pair of legs, which he will use to hold himself inside the next shell he borrows. He clings to a blade of eelgrass.
April 18, 2025 at 6:51 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
Between grains of sand. What gets me is the interest in the world around him, the responsiveness, even the curiosity of such a miniscule creature. A Holm's hermit, watching me watching him. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
A tiny orange and white hermit facing the camera, eyes on slightly divergent stalks; each eye operates individually, giving the hermit a possible 360° field of vision. Here he carries his antennae, green and white dotted lines, spread horizontally; antennules between the eyes are lifted vertically; sensory hairs on his chelae detect scent and vibration: all senses alert. The legs, chelipeds, and maxillipeds are orange with wide white patches. Eye stalks are also orange, the eyes black. The hermit stands beside and behind two grains of sand, each one bigger than he, borrowed shell and all. On his right (our left) is a part of a food pellet, easily twice his size.
July 18, 2025 at 7:43 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
Watch out! This kelp crab is waiting for a chance to grab you! (On a piling under the wharf.) New blog post: wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2025/12/shap... #VancouverIsland #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #Crabs #MarineInvertebrates #NaturePhotography
An underwater photo. On the left, there's a barnacle-covered piling. On the piling, there's a kelp crab, blurry in the semi-dark and the moving water. He is stretching out his long chelipeds, pinching jaws wide open, ready to grab anything that comes near. (Does he see me, above him, with the camera?) The crab is brown, with bits of orange. The water is green, with whitish reflections.
December 4, 2025 at 8:41 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
High-wire act. Young Hairy hermit climbs the eelgrass as it sways in the current. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
Green eelgrass, four blades angled upward to the right, one crossing between them, towards the left. A small hermit crab climbing one, reaches out to the one that crosses it, attempting a switch, apparently. The hermit is a pale greenish brown, with white knees. He wears a tiny shell, with only two complete turns, covered with brown and green algae. Beneath, roots and hairy bits of eelgrass float in the current. Background; blue water, darker eelgrass.
May 6, 2025 at 6:29 PM
wweeta.bsky.social
Dungeness crab cheliped.From a molt. wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2026/03/crit... #VancouverIsland #MarineInvertebrates #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #NaturePhotography
The pincer arm of a big crab, lying on the sand. It's from a molt, and is intact, except for being removed from the rest of the shell and legs. The exposed side is white, with red edges; the business end is white and strongly toothed; could give you a nasty bite if it were still attached to a live crab.
March 8, 2026 at 9:23 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
Hi! Just hanging out here in the floating sea lettuce, such fun! Wouldn't you like to join me? #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
Delicate blades of sea lettuce, very green, translucent, fill most of the photo. Between two blades, a hermit crab stares out at us. He's pale greenish orange, with dark eyes; he wears a round, white and orange shell; part of it half hidden behind the sea lettuce. He reaches out towards us with the two chelipeds, the larger one, on the left (our left) doubled under, the small cheliped stretched out in a welcoming gesture. Hermie's green antennae are held in front of the sea lettuce.
June 18, 2025 at 7:41 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
Critter stack; periwinkle snails, hairy hermit crab (with food pellet), oyster, busy filtering the water. #InverteFest #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
Critter stack: Top to bottom: a periwinkle snail, facing us, its two black tentacles with the eye at the base visible below the shell. Next, a Hairy hermit crab, orange and green, with striped eyes on stalks projecting in our direction, holding a food pellet in his mouthparts. Bottom; an oyster, open, showing the toothed edge of the mantle and the gills inside. There's a second periwinkle snail beside the hermit crab. Background, green algae, eelgrass.
April 28, 2025 at 7:43 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
Hairy hermit crab, Pagurus hirsutiusculus, wearing a broken shell; the hole exposes the end of his vulnerable, soft abdomen.#VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
Hermit crab in a broken shell. He has green and white antennae, striped eyes on stalks, brownish legs with blue "knees" and white "ankles". He sits on a large, wavy shell, (oyster) facing right. The shell he occupies is missing a segment towards the tip; through this hole part of his abdomen is visible. The shell he wears, and the one he walks on are tinted with pink and green algae.
April 14, 2025 at 7:00 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
One good reason to climb the eelgrass. A small Hairy hermit finds a batch of bubble shell eggs. Good eating! #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
A small, pale brown hermit crab, wearing a dark shell, climbing a narrow stem of eelgrass. The hermit is hanging upside-down, clinging to the eelgrass with three legs (visible); the chelipeds are touching a mass of yellow eggs in a pale jelly. They're bubble shell eggs, Haminoea virescens. The eelgrass stem also holds a couple of small barnacles, one of them actively feeding. Background: a blade of eelgrass, water.
May 7, 2025 at 5:22 PM
wweeta.bsky.social
Secret shelter. I picked up an old clamshell, heavy with barnacles, and looked inside. Find the hermit! At low tide, hidden space is highly prized; 3 hermits share the space with assorted snails and worms. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
A clamshell, held in my hand, with the open front facing us. The shell is completely covered, inside and out, with barnacles, which prevent the shell from either opening or closing. In the open space can be seen, left to right, a white and cream trophon snail, a mud snail with three or four barnacles on its shell, and then a leg, two chelipeds and another leg of a hermit. Next is another shell which may be holding another hermit. Behind and below these are hints of other beasties, all jammed together in the dark. The hermit is a Grainy-Hand; the olive-green cheliped has pale blue dots, and if you look closely, you can see his orange antennae in the shadows. (There are actually three Grainy-hand hermits here, but only one can be seen clearly. Also present; more snails, many different worms, tunicates. The clamshell was highly desirable housing.) A couple of blades of dead eelgrass drape over the clamshell. Background; water over a sandy beach.
August 18, 2025 at 8:52 AM
wweeta.bsky.social
Undercover. Hairy hermit crab sharing a green-lit hideaway with anemones, pink and green. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
A hermit crab in an eelgrass bed. The hermit, in this light, looks green and yellow. His larger cheliped is folded so that the hairs catch the light; he's a Hairy, P. hirsutiusculus. He wears a well-worn shell, covered with green algae. A few red algae are starting to grow on it, lifting short stalks into the water. Overhead, there's a frayed blade of eelgrass with black patches. The hermit stands on a stone holding the remains of a large barnacle, just the shell walls, and two anemones, a pink-tipped green anemone on the left, with pink tips to its tentacles, and a small orange-striped green anemone on the right; this one has faint orange stripes on the stalk, and (in this light) yellow tentacles. Background; more eelgrass, sea lettuce.
May 8, 2025 at 6:38 PM
wweeta.bsky.social
Hairy hermit showing off those hairy chelipeds and legs. See the second hermit? Look for the eyes. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit
Two hermit crabs. The large one faces us, eyes forward, dotted-line antennae spread wide. All four walking legs and the two chelipeds are visible here. The legs are orange and greenish brown, and have white and blue patches. The large cheliped is a bright orange. The smaller cheliped, in focus, shows the many sensitive hairs along its full length. Between the two chelipeds are the third pair of maxillipeds (mouth parts). The second hermit, the same species but much smaller, faces away from us; look for the two black eyes on their stalks above the mouth of the brown and white mudsnail shell. On the right there's an old abalone shell and part of a brown kelp holdfast.
May 31, 2025 at 9:09 AM