[Cuttlefish]: Ramses

[Hajar]

Some first pictures of "Ramses". We're off out to collect some crabs from the rockpools.

 

[Hajar]

So we had our fun as ambush hunters and now Ramses has some crabs and blennies to hunt.

Some more photos.

 

[Hajar]

This animal has very beautiful eyes.

 

[DWhatley]

Is the clam also a new addition?

There is something about ceph eyes that make them particularly appealing. It may be that their iris (as least I believe that is the covering over the eye) appears very much like an eyelid and gives them a land animal appearance or at least sets them apart from fish. Perhaps it is that humans use eyes to signal emotion and animals that can't change their eye shape seem less friendly.

 

[cuttlegirl]

Oh so cute! Was it interested in the crabs?

 

[Hajar]

No hunting seen yet, but the crabs seem wise to the danger and swim rapidly away. The fish are also looking slightly wary.

The clam was not new D, but was right next to Ramses so I took its photo. This crinoid was new yesterday, something I had never seen alive before. It is spectacular when it walks on its cirri up onto a high rock and unfurls its arms.

 

[Hajar]

Can anyone confirm the ID of this cuttlefish? Now that I can study this one up close it will hopefully be possible to know. From the photos of the wild ones Thales thought Sepia pharaonis.

 

[cuttlegirl]

I would think it was Sepia pharaonis also but I will have to do a little more research. It appears that there are 5 different clades (and maybe even species) of the group. Your cuttlefish would be part of the Persian Gulf/Arabian Sea clade.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/963r31x7gr45u7j6/

 

[skywindsurfer]

Its sepia down right beautiful in my opinion.

 

[DWhatley]

I love the crinoid too. I had two for several years but not this kind and both stayed hidden in the LR most of the time.