#0024 - Split-fan kelp - Laminaria pallida

One of the largest and best known of regional algae, Split-fan kelp creates a kind of understory beneath its larger, floating cousin, Sea bamboo (Ecklonia maxima). As the name suggests, a single broad blade is split into several parallel longitudinal straps that are uniformly light-brown (often a luminous gold when caught in sunlight).

Like other kelp species, Laminaria pallida is anchored to rocks and other hard surfaces by a ‘holdfast’ – a root-like structure designed to grip and stabilise. However, unlike roots, holdfasts do not absorb nutrients, and Split-fans use nutrients directly from the water to photosynthesise and sustain themselves – and, in turn, support many animals.

They are important ‘ecosystem engineers’, creating habitat for numerous smaller species that colonise the holdfasts, stipes and blades. And during storms, they ensure the survival of future generations – the sweeping action of their blades across adjacent rock surfaces brushes away sea urchins and other grazers, giving sporelings a chance to grow into golden adults.

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#0023 - False plum anemone - Pseudactinia flagellifera

These large, purple-tipped anemones are known for their voracious appetite for a wide variety of food – even whole fish. Using their tentacles (of which there can be up to 230), they paralyse their prey with venomous stinging cells and drag their dinner into their mouths. False plum anemones have a penchant for gastropods (marine slugs and snails), bivalves (molluscs), isopods (crustaceans that resemble insects) and echinoderms (urchins, starfish, sea cucumbers), and they are the only regional species to occasionally snag a fish. With three to five rows of globular vesicles immediately beneath the tentacles used for combat, False plum anemones seem to have their attack mechanisms covered. However, they have unusually weak sphincters, which prevent them from withdrawing their tentacles and fully closing up when disturbed, hence they are permanently ‘open’. It seems no species is equipped for every contingency.

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#0022 White-ringed turret sponge // Haliclona stilensis

It can be difficult for us humans to fully comprehend an animal that has no head, limbs or distinct organs, yet can still feed, reproduce and grow – just like us.
While many of us are familiar with the animated TV character, SpongeBob SquarePants, real-life sponges are far more simple in body plan, best thought of as colonies formed from a few types of collaborating cells.

This mauve-coloured endemic species is identifiable by its fragile texture and the white rings around large openings on the body surface. Called oscula, these variably-shaped openings work together with smaller ones to filter-feed. Water is drawn through the small openings, fine food particles are removed, and then the waste water is ejected via the oscula. And all of this happens within a delicate encrustation of about 10mm thick.

White-ringed turret sponges might not be SpongeBob savvy, but their simplicity belies a remarkable synergy that ensures its survival.

Photos: Jannes Landschoff

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#21 Spiny starfish — Marthasterias africana

These large starfish are so ubiquitous in the Great African Seaforest that they sometimes go unnoticed. However, there’s so much to behold when you study them closely. Named in reference to the longitudinal rows of spines along their five gradually tapering arms, Spiny starfish are endemic to South Africa. Peer closely, and you’ll see pastel-coloured lumps and bumps – called papulae – between the spines, which act as organs of gas exchange. Then, train your eye along the contour of a moving starfish, and you’ll notice a multitude of tube feet, which it uses for locomotion. This ability to move around (albeit slowly) is key for helping the Spiny starfish meet its voracious appetite. With a penchant for mussels, barnacles, and sea squirts, the starfish often form dense feeding fronts that advance across reefs, gobbling up all in their path. Even urchins aren’t spared – the second image shows a hapless urchin trying to defend itself with a shell. However, this predation plays an important role in helping to maintain ecosystem balance – one could say that Spiny starfish are one of the backbones of the seaforest.

@saveourseasfoundation #1001seaforestspecies #1001species #seachangeproject #greatafricanseaforest #spinystarfish #taxonomy #marinescience

#0020 — Puffadder shyshark – Haploblepharus edwardsii

Endemic to South Africa, the Puffadder shyshark is so named due to its distinctive markings resembling those of a species of snake found in the country. Approach these small sharks (adults can grow up to 60cm in length) too enthusiastically, and they often curl into a ball, covering their eyes with their tail – hence the ‘shy’ descriptor. This behaviour not only protects their most delicate sensory organs, but also makes the shark harder to eat. When it comes to eating, male and female Puffadder shysharks have different favourites: males have an affinity for polychaete worms, and females tend to prefer crustaceans. The sexes even have different tooth shapes, with males having three-pointed teeth, while females have five-pointed teeth, likely driving their dietary preferences. Females lay pairs of light-brown, rectangular egg cases with long tendrils at each corner (see image 3). Incubation time is about three months, with the young born about 10cm long. Sadly, many of these individuals don’t make it to old age, which is estimated to be at least 22 years. Caught as bycatch during demersal trawls, their populations have declined in the last few decades, resulting in Puffadder shysharks being designated as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Images: Craig Foster and Jannes Landschoff

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0019 Cape rock crab – Guinusia chabrus

The most common shore crab along the southwest coast of South Africa, these medium- to large-sized crustaceans are wily and tough.

A hungry octopus approaching? No problem! Cape rock crabs are excellent swimmers, and use their flattened legs and hair fringes on them as efficient paddles, fleeing to safety onto higher reefs, exposed rocks, and into the kelp canopy.

A heaving tide rolling on? No worries! These crabs have incredibly strong legs and hooked dactyls, which make them perfectly adapted to the wave-exposed shores they dominate.

Cape rock crabs are also not picky eaters – they’re omnivorous and will eat anything from barnacles, amphipods and gastropods to seaweeds. But before they decide what’s for dinner, these crabs have to go through several laval stages, such as the brightly coloured megalopa stage in images 4 and 5.

During this final larval stage, they swim and walk around, scouting for the best neighbourhood in which to settle into adulthood.

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#0018 Cape Triplefin — Cremnochorites capensis

Identifying marine species can be tricky – but, luckily, the scientific team working on our 1001 Seaforest Species project is out there collecting all this information. To a casual observer, this heavily camouflaged fish could be mistaken for a klipfish, but a key feature sets it apart: klipfish have a single dorsal fin, while the dorsal fin of the triplefin is divided into three separate parts. Endemic to South Africa, only one species is found in the Western Cape region, and is usually found hiding among dense growths of invertebrates or algae on the rock faces of shallow reefs. Those ‘bushy eyebrows’ are actually cirri, which the fish uses as sensory organs. Reaching up to 8cm in total length, the Cape triplefin is normally blotchy cream and brown, but breeding males become brightly coloured with broad orange or yellow mottled vertical bands and blue dots.

@saveourseasfoundation #1001species #1001seaforestspecies #capetriplefin #taxonomy #marinescience #greatafricanseaforest #saveourseasfoundation

#0017 — Long-ridged shell hydroid (Hydrocorella africana)

They might at first look like shell stubble, but these raised patches are actually a calcifying hydroid growing on the surface of gastropod shells. Endemic to South Africa, long-ridged hydroids start off building a thin, hard, chalky-white calcareous crust, and later develop complex ridges, elongate spines and fluted processes that often cover the entire shell. Comprised of tiny polyps (about 3mm), these colonies grow on gastropod shells that are either still alive or are subsequently occupied by hermit crabs. While several other hydroid species are also found on the surfaces of mollusc shells, long-ridged hydroids are easily identified by their calcareous skeleton and their colonisation of a broad spectrum of gastropod shell host species.

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#0016 — Rustic lace bryozoan - Membranipora rustica

Bryozoans, often referred to as moss animals, are tiny filter-feeding invertebrates that live in colonies on various structures – even the hulls of ships. The colonies consist of repeated individual units, each of them called zooids, which have about 20 tentacles that expand to feed on particles in the water column. Rustic lace bryozoans, often found on bamboo kelp in the Great African Seaforest, each have a little ‘coffin-shaped’ body wall structure and are often found on bamboo kelp. Sometimes, they can become too abundant, starving the kelp fronds of light and gas exchange. However, our waters seem to be in balance and fronds regrow quickly. An important contributor to this balance are predators such as the orange-clubbed and the crazed nudibranchs, which graze on the rustic lace bryozoans, thereby keeping overgrowth in check. Crazed nudibranchs perfectly match the colour and pattern of the bryozoan and are adapted to only live on these lace-like animals – spotting one takes patience and eagle eyes!

@saveourseasfoundation #1001species #seachangeproject #bryozoan #greatafricanseaforest #taxonomy #marinebiology #1001seaforestspecies

#0015 Cape sole – Heteromycteris capensis

Like all soles and their related flounders, these endemic fish are easily recognised by their extremely flattened bodies. For casual observers, however, seeing a Cape sole – let alone recognising it – can be tricky, as they are often partially buried in sediment, lying on their left sides, and are typically cryptically patterned. They can also be confused with other regional species – of which there are about 50 – as their colour patterns are highly variable and can quickly change in the same individual to match the background. So, what identification features set the Cape sole apart? First, they lack the upper pectoral fin (the small fin situated just behind the fish’s head), and, second, they have a distinctively hooked snout that curves over their mouth. However, getting close enough to observe these can be challenging, as Cape soles swim away on their sides and rebury themselves when disturbed. But in a fascinating interaction, Craig got up close and personal with one individual that decided to cling to his hand. Can you guess why? Read his blog on our website to find the answer (link in bio).

#1001species #1001seaforestspecies #saveourseasfoundation #seachangeproject #marinebiology #greatafricanseaforest #taxonomy #capesole @saveourseasfoundation

#14 Upside-down ascidian amphipod – Policheria atolli

These delicate, 5mm-long shrimp-like animals are expert excavators. They create shallow burrows in the surface of ascidians – which are sessile organisms that grow on rocks – and then lie upside-down inside them with their legs pointing upwards. To protect themselves from predators, these little creatures have nippers on the end of their legs, which can be used to pull their burrows closed – a bit like drawing a curtain. Other specialised legs pump water through the burrow and capture food. Our marine biologist and scientific lead of the 1001 Seaforest Species project, Jannes Landschoff, recently stumbled upon a colony of these amphipods in an unusual place. See his blog for more – link in bio.

#1001species #1001seaforestspecies @saveourseasfoundation #taxonomy #greatafricanseaforest #seachangeproject #storytelling #marinescience