I am back on another guiding trip with RMBR and this time I am leading a corporate group from Gammon Construction.
The weather had not been good for the past few days and a torrential rain was threatening to fall when we first started off to the island. Luckily, it only rained on the mainland.
I must first apologise for the lack in photos as many of them were very low quality thus unusable. It is always hard to take good ones during guiding.
We headed straight to the rocky cliff where we have a few interesting discoveries. First up was this flatworm, Pseudoceros sp.. Some species are known to practise the art of penis fencing so as to impregnate their partner without being stab and fertilise by the other and inheriting the cost of being a pregnant female.
An attractive fiery Fireband Murex (Chicoreus torrefactus) is a predatory snail that drills through shelled molluscs and suck out the flesh of the animal.
The hunter seekers managed to find a small black Sea Urchin (Diadema setosum). These spiny animals have a dorsal orange anal spot surrounding by five eye spots. They are very sensitive to light and their spines can hover and point in the direction of your hand if your shadow is over it.
Here is a Turban Shell (Turbo bruneus) with its rounded and polished lid which is used to clamp and enclose the shell’s opening tightly.
A Soldier Crab (Dotilla myctiroides) is an interesting crab that can walk forward unlike most crabs that can only walk sideways. I guess this has a lot to do with their leg anatomy; and walking sideways also allows burrowing crabs to creep in their narrow holes without getting stuck.
The find of the day is definitely this Mud Spiny Lobster (Panulirus polyphagus). It was found by my participants and I had initially thought that they were joking when they told me about it. Turned out to be a real one except that it was just the moult. This is enough to brighten my day though! Thanks to Richard for taking this candid shot of me using his DSLR.
And thus, we ended our walk by going to to TMSI for a short tour looking at Lionel’s coral nubbins and other stuff. :)
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