Was walking towards 74 stop after work when RY spotted a Tanimbar Corella (Cacatua goffini) flying over to a Pong Pong tree (Cerbera odollam). A second one flew by soon after.
To my surprise, they started plucking the unriped, green fruits of the pong pong tree, and munching on it. I knew that they are poisonous, but apparently, according to YC from BESG, only the seed is reportedly poisonous, hence used to kill rats locally.
Heres part of the fruit dropped down by the bird, clearly showing the beak markings.
Look at the link earlier for a previous similar and more detail posting by BESG.
On the sandy lagoon, we saw tons of fiddler crabs, trails of moon snails and creeper snails and sand balls made by sand bubbler crabs.
Over at the natural rocky shore, I started flipping, rocks to see if there were any interesting animals hidding beneath. A brown flatworm was seen. RY said that this worm is more terrestrial compared to others.
To my surprise, I also found a baby pipefish (about 1cm) under a dried rock. Luckily it is still alive and started swimming in the container of water. Pipefishes belong to the same family as seahorses (Syngnathidae), so their males also play the role of the pregnant mother (see my previous post). However, not all of them have a developed pouch to carry the eggs, some have a partial one or even just a patch of spongy skin to contain them.
Another interesting animal which I found under a rock is this bivalve, Lima sp. This genus is characterised by their long byssal tentacles, which can break off easily, perhaps to distract its predators while it swims away by "clapping" its shells. If I'm not wrong, one of the tentacles (not visible here) which is thicker is the siphon of this animal.
Lastly, the find of the day (by LK), a stonefish! Can you spot it? Its at the centre, covered with green algae. Stonefishes are considered the most venomenous fish in the world due to the 13 spines located dorsally. The venom itself contain a mixture of hemolytic, neurotoxin and cardioactive proteins so can imagine how deadly that can be :S... In addition, being so well camouflage, one can easily step on one if not careful!
Lots of the common sea star (Archaster typicus) can be found half buried in the sand. Its so amazing to see their 'starprints' all over the sandy habitat. :)
The anemone shrimp (Periclimenes brevicarpalis) is often thought as a commensal shrimp that lives inside its host, the sea anemone. But it may be sometimes parastic by feeding on their tentacles.
I also found two nudibranchs, Jorunna funebris and Glossodoris atromarginata. Both of them feed on sponges which might contain toxins so do not touch them!
Heres our resident giant clam, all exposed during the low tide. Giant clams feed through fliter feeding as well as obtain extra nutrients through their symbiotic algae on their colorful mantle.
The ocellated sea cucumber (Stichopus ocellatus) have many pimpled like structures on their skin. It is said that they can eject their innards or melt when stressed.
A check on 1001 Garden Plants in Singapore showed that this is the Red Pineapple, Ananas bracteatus, which is in the same genus as the commercial pineapple we eat, Ananas comosus. This plant also originates from Brazil and the fruit is also edible though it not as well developed. Because of the sharp spines on the leaves, they are sometimes grown as hedges for security.