The Mind Blowing Dreamfish

There's no getting away from it, this May was very changeable weather-wise but we have a beautiful day today and here we are, back on the cliffs where we left off last week and the Prickly Pear is celebrating the sunshine by bursting into flower.

 

If you look at the lower plates you'll notice that the snails have decided that this is a great place to build their summer city. If it remains dry until October, which is quite possible, then this is where they'll stay all sealed up and conserving moisture.

If you take a look through the binoculars you can see a few Yellow-legged Gulls taking a rest on the clear, calm waters. No, it's not a seagull, there's no such bird (or so pedantic ornithologists maintain). Truth of the matter is we've been calling them seagulls since the 1540s for the simple reason that before we started dropping food all over the place inland and burying heaps of treats in landfill sites gulls were found by the sea where they could find a meal. Gulls, being intelligent, adaptable opportunists now quite happily form colonies far from the ocean waves. Even so, 'seagull' was a bit of a superfluity, after all, we don't call whales seawhales do we? 

That's the cliff path successfully negotiated so let's probe around the rocks and see what's occurring. Quite a few of these little woodlouse like creatures scurrying about. They are related as you might expect; along with shrimps, crabs and lobsters. They are all crustaceans (literally animals that have formed a crust referring to their hard carapaces). This particular one looks almost like two different animals joined together. The front half is quite sturdy with strong legs whilst the back half tapers off with trailing legs. This is rather a neat design; the front legs are land legs and the back ones are sea legs. Crustaceans with this body plan are called amphipods which is derived from the Greek meaning different feet. He's just dropped into the sea – change drive gear! I suggest that we don our snorkels and follow his example. We'll swim out and investigate those offshore islets, round the headland and come in to some rather nice rock pools.

We don't have big tides here in the Mediterranean so you don't have to dive too deep or swim too far to get out of the intertidal zone. Just a few metres down and these islets give us a whole new ecosystem to explore. Now if you thought the amphipod was weird, welcome to the venerable world of the demospongiae. These animals have been around for over five hundred million years. They have no true tissues, organs or nervous systems and they eat and breathe by letting the water flow through them (which is why they are full of holes). You've met them before of course, the familiar bath sponge (see Beachcombin') is a member of this class of ancient animals.

We're about half way to the rock pools now and in slightly deeper water and I see that we have a mixed school of fish swimming along with us which gives me the chance to reiterate the difference between venomous and poisonous. The golden eyed ones are Salema Porgies (which are poisonous) and the others are Dusky Spinefoots, a type of Rabbitfish (which are venomous). Where have you gone? Come back here. The Rabbitfish have a couple of spines containing venom which it uses for defence but don't worry, it's not strong enough to be a danger to us and we're not going to threaten them anyway. The Salema Porgies on the other hand can, in rare cases^[1], be poisonous and cause all sorts of hallucinations if you eat them. Hence their alternative name of Dreamfish. So, if something bites or stings and you get nasties in your bloodstream then it's venomous but if you eat something and get nasties in your bloodstream then it's poisonous. A nice little etymological distinction to muse upon whilst you're recovering in hospital.

Well, here we are at the rock pools which we'll be exploring next time so let's take a leisurely swim back to where we left our clothes and just enjoy the sun and the sea.

The Extra Bit

^[1] Hallucinatory Fish Poisoning (Ichthyoallyeinotoxism): Two Case Reports From the Western Mediterranean and Literature Review

#Jeremy the #Vine Hawk Moth caterpillar has eaten seven vine leaves and has waddled off under a stone to pupate. This may take him some time but I'll let you know when he emerges in his full glory.

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LINKS:

Share your nature thoughts, photos and comments on Naturalists (the facebook page that accompanies this blog)

See detailed pictures on Flickr

Read more about the flora and flora of the island in The Nature of Crete (Flipboard Magazine)

Explore the region with the #CreteNature interactive Hiking and Nature Map

Cretan Flora

Flowers of Crete;

BIRDS OF CRETE

Crete Birding

Greek Butterflies and Moths

Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)

Here Comes Summer!

Ierapetra East Beach

Summer is here at last. It started with the summer solstice on Sunday in this part of the world and yesterday was Midsummer’s Day which always seems odd as by simple mathematical reasoning one could logically deduce that the end of summer must be on Friday (which, if my recollection of English summers of late is correct, may not be far from the truth).  The crux of the matter is that the solstice is an astronomical phenomenon, marking the point when Earth’s tilt is most inclined towards the sun, whereas Midsummer’s Day is a pagan festival celebrating the mid point of the year. Pagans observe the solstice as well of course but this is a solemn occasion so I guess you can think of Midsummer’s Day as a sort of ‘after show party’ but essentially they both mark the same event. 

Yellow Wagtail subspecies

But to return to our Cretan summer: as I’ve mentioned before our Spring has been very cool and wet this year and the little seasonal river to the east of Ierapetra is still running to the sea so I thought we’d head down there and see if there are any wagtails about. We’ve met the White Wagtail (Road to Nowhere) and the Grey Wagtail (Dawn by the Riverside) but today we’re looking for the Yellow Wagtail. I usually see them between March and May but I haven’t seen any this year so maybe they’re running late like the river. He’s a very distinctive bird with his bright yellow colouring and typical wagging tail but he’s a bird of many heads, each pattern denoting a different sub-species. The top one is a Grey-headed, the middle a Blue-headed and the plate at the bottom (from Collins Bird Field guide) shows all of the group. So, keep your peripheral vision on high alert for movement as we’re wandering about and we’ll go and have a look at the plant life.

Beach Flowers

This pink flowered job is Sea Rocket, one of the mustard family and related to the rocket that you put on your salads but I wouldn’t recommend it for human consumption.  The butter coloured lady up by the road is a Yellow Horned Poppy which has spread considerably around here in recent years and this rather inconspicuous plant, down here at our feet, makes good eating. It’s Nettle-leaved Goosefoot and the shoots, stalks, and leaves can be cooked like greens. On the other hand the one with little white flowers on the opposite bank is poisonous. It’s called European Turnsole and horses that eat too much of the stuff have a tendency to walk compulsively and unfortunately there is no known treatment.

Insect inhabitants of the wetland

Where we have plants then of course we have insects and I can see representatives of at least four different families as we push our way intrepidly through the giant reeds like jungle explorers of old. Our old friend the Southern Skimmer dragonfly is taking a breather on a bit of dead cane whilst a rather tatty Wave moth is doing likewise on the Goosefoot. I wonder who’s under this log? That’s a bit of a surprise, an early instar Southern Green Shield Bug. I’d have thought he would have been happier on a living plant – he’s either lost or a slow learner. Still, we’ll put him back as we found him and let him sort it out for himself. But who’s this fellow lunching in the algae? Obviously a large aquatic larva of some sort. Pass him up to me will you and we’ll have a look at him under the field lens. Yes I agree, algae are slimy and smelly, never mind, all part of the fun. Just rub your hands with some hot sand to dry them off – I expect the smell will go in a day or two. Meanwhile look how the head is pointed and sunk back into the thorax. The abdomen tapers to a point as well. This little gentleman is going to be an Aquatic Soldier Fly when he grows up. A bit of a misnomer as it is only the larva that lives in the water but this sort of general habitat will be perfect for him.

The rivulet finally reaches the sea

Shall we follow the stream down to the sea now? Oh dear, a casualty of nature. A little Cretan Water Frog who seems to have resigned from the game of life[1]. Catastrophic amphibian decline is, as you probably know, a worldwide issue of concern for all of us. Since the 1980’s amphibian extinctions have accelerated and are now thought to be running at over two hundred times the background extinction rate. As amphibians occupy both terrestrial and aquatic habitats and because their skins are particularly permeable they are very vulnerable to environmental changes. As such they are a bit like the canary in the coal mine and the implications for other animals (including ourselves) are somewhat dire. However, important as that is, we cannot end the day on such a serious note so let’s go and paddle in the shallows and watch the fish darting around the rocks. [1] A member of the Greek Herpetological Society, who is probably more experienced at identifying dead amphibians than I am, is of the opinion that it was a Green Toad.

Aestivating Snails

There is only one place to be in the height of the Cretan summer and that’s the sea. On land the grasses are turning golden brown, the snails are aestivating on the fence posts in pearly clusters and every other animal with any sense utilises the cool early mornings and late evenings to get their business done. I shall be doing the same – I’ve a host of observations to write up and for those of you who have asked if I have written any books the answer is no, not yet, but I may well do so this summer. What subject should I tackle do you think, a pictorial guide to the flora and fauna of Crete, a month by month country diary or should we all take an imaginary walk together from the mountain tops to the sea taking in the wildlife as we go? Tell you what, have a think about it and drop me a line at steves.summer.book@gmail.com
 

So I shall love you and leave you, here by the sea, and we’ll get back together again sometime in September for more fun and frolics in the Crete countryside.

Until then you can still find me on Facebook (Naturalists) or you can tweet me @cretenaturalist

Enjoy your summer or winter (delete according to hemisphere)

All the best and happy hunting

Steve Daniels

See all the pictures including insets in detail on Flickr

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LINKS:

Naturalists (the facebook page that accompanies this blog)

Cretan Flora

Flowers of Crete;

BIRDS OF CRETE

Crete Birding

Greek Butterflies and Moths

Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)