Unknown species spotted at Whytecliff

[efattah]

Hi all,

I need some help to identify a very unusual creature I saw at Whytecliff Park on Saturday March 1st. In ten years of diving I have never seen anything that even remotely resembles this creature.

On a routine dive, I landed on the sand in the bay at Whytecliff at 22m. I crawled down the slope, deeper and deeper. Soon, in the distance, I saw a lone giant cloud sponge sitting near some sort of man made artificial object.

I crawled along the bottom and was approaching the cloud sponge at 32m, when suddenly a white object bolted away from me at an amazing speed. I saw it weave around the cloud sponge and perhaps hide behind it. By now I had been down there for quite some time but felt I just had enough time left to investigate. I slowly crawled around the big cloud sponge, and there it was, motionless, hovering above the bottom. About 12-14cm long, covered with a white exoskeleton, with black eyes. It didn't look alive at this point. I took my snorkel and slowly moved my snorkel in its direction. Just before my snorkel contacted the creature, it 'swam' or bolted away at an amazing speed, and was totally gone. Unfortunately, the creature was so fast that I was unable to identify how it was actually propelling itself. It did not swim like a fish or squid, and it did not seem to flex its body like a prawn or shrimp.

I then swam back up.

You can see a crude drawing of the creature here:

http://www.liquivision.ca/unidentifi...ff_species.gif

I checked my local marine life books and found nothing resembling the creature.

Anyone have any idea what it could be?

[bgill]

Maybe the "aliens" are approaching from a different angle?

Wow...That thing looks freaky!

If aliens taste like lobster then then I'm glad they're here!

[Adrian]

Eric, try contacting Shadowkiller, he's doing marine biology and has a lot of museum contacts. The way it was swimming sounded like it was a squid of some type, I wonder if there are chitinous squid...

[island_sands]

Where is Sasch these days? I pm'd him the other day but i dont think he has been online...

i think there is also a squid site -

Squid sp identification? Please help... - TONMO.com Forums
Squid Books
MarLIN - The Marine Life Information Network

[Spaniard]

It might be a type of mantis shrimp; they can move when they want to! Did it have any visible appendages?

[naiad]

Probably a crustacean, like a mantis shrimp. They can swim by moving the legs under the tail, without flicking the tail.

[Pablo]

you describe the eyes as black... any more details else than the color? shape, visible patterns?

[cdavis]

A real mystery, Eric. You got a good look at it and your pic doesn't resemble anything like a mantid shrimp, although it moved sort of like one and is about the right size.

There are some deep water amphipods about the right size, shape and segmentation, which look vaguely like the pic, but I don't think they are fast movers, not certain of that.

Could be it is something new.

Keep us posted if you figure it out.

Connor

[efattah]

While a squid cannot be ruled out, I have seen squid before and this creature certainly did not resemble any squid I know.

It did not have any visible appendages -- I could not see any tentacles, any antennae, at all. It could have had feet under its body that were not visible.

The head region was clearly much bigger & wider than the body. This is unlike most crustaceans I have seen.

The eyes -- I can't give any more detail. I don't think they were solid black though.

[LachlanWA]

In Australia we have some species of lobster that look like that. Balmain bug <i>Ibacus peronii</i> | NSW Department of Primary Industries

[Pablo]

We have something really similar in NZ, but they are bottom crawlers... good eating thought

[efattah]

When I approached the creature, my face was less than 50cm away from it. At this range I got a very good look at it for several seconds, during which it was totally motionless.

Thanks for all the suggestions; I've posted it on several lists/forums, and although some suggestions seem kind of close, nothing so far fits the bill.

I did have a strange feeling at the time, that whatever it was, it was very weird and very rare.

[BennyB]

Man - what I wouldn't do over here in the UK for a nice tasty Balmain Bug or a Moreton Bay bug... BBQ'ed with lemon and butter..... aaarrrrggghhhh (dribble dribble).....

[azapa]

preaching to the converted I know, but what a cool experience and only possible in your (freedive) scenario. Imagine trying to get that close "blowin' bubbles"

I swam with 2m round sunfish a month ago, "they don't exist in Chile" everyone from marine biologists to the local dive center tells me, but there you go, arms length away from an enormous sea creature i was...

[Pablo]

You may be the first one to have recorded the creature Effatah... I guess you may hang around that spot a bit more often now

A lot to discover down there... inside us... and maybe up there! I like to think that while most people believe we know so well our world, we obviously can encounter surprises at any turn.

While exploring a little know river in a South American reserve, I found a fairy... the most amazing pink and blue striped wasp, with bigger than usual eyes and riboned wings, and a very longgggg sting (larvae egg laying under bark). For a few minutes I really thought I was intoxicated, and worried as I was a very long way away from any sort of medical support. It was send to be recorded and named by a friend entomolog... 5 new bugs on that trip, but that one was way out of anything expected