Sealife Not Found...

[Force Eleven]

I know I shouldn't take MarLin's website as the God of sealife distribution, but life such as the Little Cuttlefish are recorded all around British coasts, and can be found in rockpools, so why haven't we seen any at all?

The same goes for the Curled Octopus and Sun Star, again both recorded on the east coast, yet we have not seen either in 1 year of very frequent rockpooling!

To make this even more confusing we have even found a Bristly Crab (Pilumnus hirtellus) and a Sea Snail (clingfish) (Liparis liparis) both apparently not recorded here!

The only thing I can think of is that Holbeck (where we rockpool 90% of the time) is just not right for the cuttlefish/octopus and sun star.

[Lancashire Lad]

I think this is part of the fascination with rockpooling - you can go back to the same place many times and (apart from the sessile & very common stuff) never know exactly what you're going to stumble upon.

I've dived a bit on the east coast and have seen quite a few sunstars, usually in the 5-20m depth range, but can only recollect ever seeing two little cuttlefish. Never seen an octopus on east coast either, yet seen quite a few on the west.

Regards
Mike.

[Dogghound]

Holbeck is a very exposed rocky shore, its not great for quite a variety of species, as good as Holbeck is your best checking rockpools throughout the area as they provide different micro-habitats and have different levels of exposure. Sepiola atlantica does tend to like more sheltered locations, try looking in some of the bays up towards Scalby mills, they arnt common but are in this area. Ive never seen Eledone cirrhosa here, however I have found Crossaster papposus throughout the area. Alot of marlins maps etc are generalised so local populations are not always present or well represented on its maps. Also one year is not a terribly long time for some of these less common species which dont always turn up.

[Force Eleven]

Thanks for your informative replies - much appreciated

[Jim Greenfield]

I dive a lot a bit further north around the Berwickshire coast. E. cirrhosa has been extremely common there - and in the Farne Islands by what I hear - for about seven years. No reason to suppose they weren't further south as well. I saw as many as five on one dive and they were a huge nuisance to creel fisherman who hauled many to the surface, sleeping off their lobster meals. This year however they have virtually vanished and I saw none. Generally they were found in 8+ metres
S. atlantica also present in the same area in good numbers although they take a bit of finding. Saw huge numbers of their eggs this year.
Common Sun Stars are very, very common in this area but I don't recall seeing them in shallow water. I am sure they are present further south but you never see them on sand so only where there is plenty of rock.

[Marineboy]

Out fishing the low tide on the muddy shingle lower shore near Minehead in Somerset, I was amazed at the number of sunstars left high and dry by the tide. Not been that far out before, nor since, so do not know if its a regular occurance. I will take a walk over there again sometime.
Other things you might like to know about the area - there are still tree stumps in the mud from a long ago submerged forest. Also an area where I have found icthyosaurus vertebrae and other nice fossils. And another for the geologists there is also a wonderful outcrop of white and deep salmon pink calcite along a really dramatic fault line right on the cliff face
As a diver I get to explore beyond the lower shore too, but sometimes you just can't beat a good rockpooling session. Whatever the books say, the best thing is looking for yourself and just seeing what you can find. I look forward to going again. Wembury is very much on the cards next year.