briankpenney's Identifications

Stunning scenery on top of the plateau of "BFW" dive site. I haven't observed Isodictya in the area since Doris pseudoargus got established. Prior to that, this was a common sight on offshore ledges in northern MA.

Common Name: Tortoiseshell Limpet

Location Found: Grimes Cove, East Boothbay, ME. Found intertidally attached to a rock.

Habitat: Enjoys suctioning itself along rocky shorelines and the subtidal, anywhere from the Arctic to Long Island.

Physical Description: The shell is small, oval and flat. It has a very central apex and the outside of the shell typically has a distinct striped pattern with lines radiating the center of the apex. The color is usually dark with more yellowish stripes. The maximum size is 1 inch.

Fun Fact: This is the only "true" limpet (besides the slipper snail) that is found along the New England coast!

Reference: Martinez, Marine Life of the North Atlantic

Common name(s): Orange sheath tunicate, Violet tunicate
Location found: It is native to the Northwest Pacific, from Southern China into Korea and Japan, it is now found in the Northeast Pacific (Alaska, British Columbia to Ensenada, Baja California), Eastern Australia, and the Netherlands, and the Western Atlantic (New England, Canada, Chesapeake)
Habitat types: It grows on a variety of surfaces, include docks, boat hulls, buoys, ropes, pilings, the undersides of rocks, eelgrass (Zostera marina) blades and seaweeds. It frequently displaces other fouling organisms for space and food
Physical description: Their color varies from bright orange to reddish or dull purple, brown, or yellow. The entire colony is one color. These tunicates usually have 8 branchial tentacles and 11 rows of stigmata. colonies are encrusting, usually 2 – 3 mm in thickness and can be large, up to 200 mm x 20 mm. The tunic is soft and easily torn
Fun fact: Colonial ascidians like the Orange sheath tunincate are the only known chordates capable of regenerating all body tissues

Common name: Green Bread-Crumb Sponge

Location found: Found off the coast of Boothbay Harbor in maine in the intertidal zone at low tide on a large rock. It was sessile to the large rock itself in a small tide pool.

Habitat types: prefer to live in intertidal zones, rather than in the deep ocean. There are more waves and currents in intertidal zones,

Physical description: The sponge was a smaller patch only 4cm long. It was a very consistent green/yellow color as well.

Fun fact: the name comes from its crumbly texture when picked up, even though it is smooth when stuck to a rock

This European green crab was found in the intertidal zone in Boothbay, Maine. This species is generally found in the rocks in shallow water intertidally from Nova Scotia to New Jersey. The carapace is wider than long with three frontal teeth and five teeth on either side of the eye socket. The last pair of legs is pointed and somewhat flattened. The carapace is green and male's have a yellow ventral side and female's have a red-brown ventral side. A fun fact is that the mother crab stands on her toes and pokes her eggs with her appendages to stimulate more hatching. (Marine Life of the North Atlantic, Andrew J. Martinez)

Common Name: American Lobster

Location Found: Grimes Cove, ME

Habitat Type: Resides in the benthic layer of rocky or sandy bottoms, shallow waters to up to 600m.

Physical Description: Brown, blue, red, and orange colorations. Segmented body with 4 sets of legs and a tail.

Fun fact: There are phenotypic variations that form half orange and half black lobsters, but these are extremely rare.

Marine Life of the North Atlantic - Martinez

Common name: violet tunicate

Location found: At low water line of the intertidal zone.

Habitat types: Found on hard substrate in bays below the low water zone.

Physical description: Color can be white, yellow, or reddish orange.
Organism consists of dense colonies of zooids .

Fun Fact: Limited regeneration is possible

Marine Life of the North Atlantic - Martinez

-Found at Ocean Point tidepools East Boothbay, Maine

• Common name is Bread-crumb Sponge
• This sponge can be found in coastal areas of the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. They can be found in the intertidal as well as at deep depths.
• This sponge was found attached to some rocks in the intertidal zone at low tide.
• Breadcrumb sponges have a symbiotic relationship with scallops in which the sponge grows on the scallop protecting it and in return the sponge gets extra nutrients.

Source
https://study.com/academy/lesson/breadcrumb-sponge-facts-adaptations.html

≈27m depth. Adult and juvenile feeding on Polymastia.

Despite regularly observing Polymastia in Cape Ann (at depth) this is the first time since their arrival that I've observed Doris feeding on Polymastia colonies. I've previously documented them feeding on Isodictya: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/43869754
And Halichondria: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/56375108

The camouflage at depth is astounding. They're difficult to find even with a dive light. I only saw these individuals because I noticed the obvious damage to the sponge. I've seen a few shallow water observations occasionally posted, but I'm still observing Doris at depth (largely below thermocline).

@jeffgoddard do you have any intertidal D. pseudoargus observations in the GOM yet? There's been a couple recent posts from Rye NH area.