What's this?

[florentny]

Anyone knows what this is?
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/3789/password/0/sort/1/cat/500/page/1

I took this picture last week in Bimini (~25 feet deep) and have no clue what this is.

 

[diver_paula]

It looks like a sea pen to me. I'm sure some more knowledgeable SCUBABOARDERS will chime in soon, so we'll have a more educated answer.

In the meantime, here is some info. on sea pens...

http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/living_species/print.asp?inhab=494

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Pen

Paula

 

[archman]

Paula's right, looks like a sea pen. Kinda funny place and depth to see one, however. They like soft bottom, and a bit deeper water. They shouldn't be next to a gorgonian (which attached to hard bottom), certainly.

 

[Mako Mark]

that is part of the family known as "squidgy gooey fishy things"

as opposed to the other two families of sealife: the creepy crawly crunchy things and the scaly slimy bitey things"


It looks like a sea pen to me...

 

[adshepard]

Anyone knows what this is?
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/3789/password/0/sort/1/cat/500/page/1

I took this picture last week in Bimini (~25 feet deep) and have no clue what this is.

That is not a sea pen! It is an egg case I believe. Of what I'm uncertain. But definitely looks like an egg case.

DSDO

Alan

 

[Nay]

that is part of the family known as "squidgy gooey fishy things"

as opposed to the other two families of sealife: the creepy crawly crunchy things and the scaly slimy bitey things"


It looks like a sea pen to me...

LOL!!!
I'm sitting here at my desk and I'm sure that if a co-worker looked over they'd think I'm nuts! Thanks for a Friday giggle.

I have no idea what's in the picture unfortunatly.

 

[archman]

That is not a sea pen! It is an egg case I believe. Of what I'm uncertain. But definitely looks like an egg case.

Oh yeah! Egg case is more plausible, 'specially if it's ATTACHED to the gorgonian as opposed to being sitting next to it. Maybe an elasmobranch egg case...

As to it "most definitely" not being a sea pen, please post the reasoning. As the axial polyp cannot be seen from the angle of the photo, and the secondary polyps could be retracted, I see no clear cut visual reason arguing it NOT being a sea pen. A lot of the Virgularia-type pennatulaceans look very much like this.

 

[adshepard]

Oh yeah! Egg case is more plausible, 'specially if it's ATTACHED to the gorgonian as opposed to being sitting next to it. Maybe an elasmobranch egg case...

As to it "most definitely" not being a sea pen, please post the reasoning. As the axial polyp cannot be seen from the angle of the photo, and the secondary polyps could be retracted, I see no clear cut visual reason arguing it NOT being a sea pen. A lot of the Virgularia-type pennatulaceans look very much like this.

The object you are looking at is cylindrical sea pens are not cylindrical! Sea pens are in most all cases burrowed into a soft substrate. Go do a search either on the Internet or in texts of Virgularia species and find one that is cylindrical. Be serious. The object in question is an egg case.

Sometimes your know-it-all postings about marine life are very annoying and wrong.

DSDO

Alan

 

[glbirch]

The object you are looking at is cylindrical sea pens are not cylindrical! Sea pens are in most all cases burrowed into a soft substrate. Go do a search either on the Internet or in texts of Virgularia species and find one that is cylindrical. Be serious. The object in question is an egg case.

Sometimes your know-it-all postings about marine life are very annoying and wrong.

DSDO

Alan

Wow. They posted opinions, admitted to uncertainty, and Archman even asked you for more info on your reasoning. Hardly the postings of "know-it-all's".

 

[adshepard]

Wow. They posted opinions, admitted to uncertainty, and Archman even asked you for more info on your reasoning. Hardly the postings of "know-it-all's".

It's a comment on reading many of his postings.

DSDO

Alan