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The Bubbling Reefs flora & fauna
Alpabetically sorted, the list is not complete, and it will be continuously updated. Click on the Google tekst to search Google for more information on subject.
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Agonus cataphractus (Agonidae)
Agonus cataphractus has a wide, flattened, triangular head (around 3.5 times the body length) with an elongated, tapering body. Instead of scales this fish is completely covered in hard bony plates, that form lateral rows of sharp spines. This fish typically grows to 10-15 cm but has been recorded at a length of 21 cm.
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Alcyonium digitatum
Attached to rocks, shells and stones where the otherwise dominant algae are inhibited by a lack of light and occasionally on living crabs and gastropods. Generally found in situations where strong water movement prevails. Occasionally on the lower shore but more common sublittorally, down to about 50 m.
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Asterias rubens
Asterias rubens is the most common and familiar starfish in the northeast Atlantic region. Asterias rubens is variable in colour, though usually orange, pale brown or violet. It has five tapering arms, broad at the base that are often slightly turned up at the tip when active.
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Aurelia aurita
Aurelia aurita, which do not sting humans. They feed mostly by trapping microscopic plankton in a film of mucus which flows over the surface of the bell and is picked off as it reaches the edges by the thick mouth tentacles underneath. They swim by pulsing the bell, pushing themselves slowly forwards through the water.
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Cancer pagurus
Crab with a heavy, oval shaped body, easily distinguished from other species by its 'piecrust' edge and massive black tipped pincers. It is reddish-brown in colour with very large individuals having a carapace width of up to 25 cm although individuals are typically up to 15 cm.
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Carcinus maenas
The shore crab has a shell (carapace) that is much broader than long (up to 8 cm across). The front of the carapace is serrated with five teeth on either side and three rounded lobes between the eyes. The first pair of legs (pereopods) have well developed pincers (chelae). Its colour is highly variable from dark green to orange and red.
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Cyanea capillata
Cyanea capillata is one of the largest species of jellyfish and is commonly referred to as Lion’s mane jellyfish due to the highly distinguishable mass of long, thin, hair-like tentacles. Usually yellowish brown or reddish in colour. It generally grows to 30-50 cm in diameter.
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Cyclopterus lumpus
The ventral fins of the lumpsucker are modified to form a suction disc used to cling to rocky substrates. The skin is coloured slate grey to blue and is scaleless. Small bony lumps cover the body, with lateral rows of larger bony thorns along the body. The dorsal fin is situated behind a distinct dorsal ridge that is taller in the females.
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Gadus morhua
The colour of the body can vary depending on the habitat in which the fish is found, but ranges from reddish or greenish where the water is populated by algae, and pale grey where the fish is found in deep water or near a sandy bottom. The cod has a barbel on the end of its chin and, in common with several other members of the family, three dorsal and two anal fins.
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Metridium senile
Metridium senile is an anemone of very variable form. The base is wider than the column and often irregular. When expanded, the numerous tentacles form a 'plume' above a conspicuous parapet at the top of the smooth column. Large individuals may be 30 cm high.
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Myoxocephalus scorpius
A small fish with a stout body (flattened out wide about the same as it is high) with a head as large as the rest of its tapering body. Large cottid, or sculpin. This family of fish are usually regarded as ugly in appearance with a drab colour and this species has four short spines (two on each side, on the gill cover) that stick out when the fish is removed from the water.
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Pagurus bernhardus
A large hermit crab with a carapace length that reaches 35mm. It is reddish in colour and will occupy any suitable shell such as Buccinum undatum. Both pincers are covered with thick, pointed protrusions, the massive right pincer has two rows of large protrusions and is devoid of bristles.
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Pleuronectes platessa (Pleuronectidae)
The plaice is Europe's most important commercial flatfish. Adults have a roughly diamond-shaped outline, and are readily identified by their bright orange or red spots. The upperparts are greenish-brown, the underside is white, and they are able to change their colour to match that of their surroundings.
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Syngnathus acus
The Greater Pipefish has distinctive body rings, coloured a sandy brown with darker bars all along the armoured body. The fish are regularly 33 cm to 35 cm in length with a reported maximum length of 47 cm. They are quite common on the bubbling reefs. They are almost square in each segment of the body, and feel really rigid when handled.
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Reef flora & fauna
