reefwalk at labrador 9 jul - part II

what's eating sea grape - part II

more lucid now after a good night's sleep...

the nature walk was conducted at such an unearthly hour yesterday cos it was very low tide (which can be checked from the tide tables or from the newspapers). during ebb tide, the reef flat is exposed and we get to explore what can normally be seen only while snorkelling or diving.



the reef flat is covered mostly with algae and sea grass, with some small encrusting or boulder-shaped hard corals here and there, a sprinkle of soft corals, zoanthids, sponges and squirts. i dont know if it's because it was too early and they have not woken up yet (like me), but the little guys living on the reef flat were all pretty still or in hiding. guess maybe they were feeling vulnerable being exposed during the low tide and were trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. despite all their efforts, we managed to spot some of them.

and here's a lowdown on what we spotted and what they eat or who eats them:

sea hare


this slimy guy eats seaweed and algae. curls up into a ball at low tide. when he moves, looks like an overweight nudibranch.

snapping shrimp
this guy has one greatly enlarged claw which snaps loudly to create shock waves in the water in order to stun nearby victims.

onchidium sea slug

this oval guy can be found on the rock in intertidal zone. looks like he has warts all over him and eats algae and detritus.

blue dragon

apparently the blue dragon feeds on hydroids and also farms zooxanthellae in its own body. the zoox photosynthesizes and provides food for the blue dragon.

eel

somebody tried to lure him by offering the finger but he wouldnt budge...

spider conch
this classy looking guy prefers more rocky areas and reefs. feeds mainly on larger forms of algae. is yummy...

cone shells
ever since my friend described how the cone shell attacks the prey after she watched it on discovery channel, i've not touched another one. this guy has a mean harpoon with potent toxins to stun victims with. likes fish.

feather-duster worm
this beauty is a filter feeder. waves her long, feathery tentacles on her head to trap small plankton.

sea grapes
looks juicy and yummy and is in fact, eaten fresh in some countries. there have been reports, however, of poisoning caused by some species due to the alkaloid Caulerpin. don't say i didnt warn ya..

tape sea grass
a favourite of dugongs. their flowers are white and very small. must be so small that i cldnt spot any.

red seaweed Gracillaria
can be used for making agar-agar. my dad actually brought a bunch home one day, cooked it and refrigerated the 'soup'. true enough, it turned into jelly. but it was grey and dirty-lookin and nobody ate it. methots this couldnt be the commercial agar-agar until i searched the web...

sponge

filter feeders. the individual cells work together to produce a unidirectional current flow through the colony from which food particles are trapped. talk about cooperation!

unknown bird
there was a little brown bird chomping relentlessly on the flower buds of the coastal tree simpoh air. i don't know his name... maybe a flowerpecker?

brought to you by a bigeyefish. some of the stuff above extracted from A Guide to the Coral Reef Life of Singapore by Prof Chou Loke Ming. photos are by yvonne m.