Know Your Neighbours:
Caribbean Inverts
October-November 1999
This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
by Bryan Nichols
Well, 'tis the season to be pointing your bow or your airmiles south and heading for warmer waters, however briefly. Since you're energetic vacationers, you'll be doing more than just sunburning your nether regions for a week or two down south. You'll want to do some paddling in between beaches.
Now, because you've been DEDICATED readers of this column for the last while, you're also interested in meeting a few southern invertebrates while you're down there, other than the mescal worm (it's not my fault, honey— blame it on the worm!)
So in the spirit of travel and meeting new faces (or things without faces), this issue's checklist shall provide special introductions to a dozen balmy, well-tanned Caribbean invertebrates.
Spotting inverts while paddling those azure Caribbean seas isn't as easy as you'd think. To be frank, our Northwest inverts kick butt. They tend to be bigger, more colorful and more obvious than their warm water relatives.
There are a few exceptions of course, and plenty of nifty boneless beasts down there regardless. The biggest exceptions to my 'Northwest is better' rule are the cnidarians (list #2), mainly because of the stony corals. These puny polyps form big colonies that we call coral reefs. Reef building corals are the reason tropical waters are so amazing they provide both energy and habitat complexity to what would otherwise be clear but sterile water. Though their skeletons might be limestone and crunch your rudder or feet, their living skin is thin and very fragile. Corals all over the world are in deep trouble these days— don't add to their woes by touching them with hands, feet or hulls.
Conversely, I should mention that warm water inverts tend to have more aggressive biological defences than our own. Don't touch, step on, swim into or lick anything you're not sure of— or you'll have plenty of rashes, welts and empty painkiller bottles as souvenirs of your sojourn south.
As a visiting Caribbean paddler, you'll likely notice the paltry intertidal life down there. If you're used to our four meter tide changes and dazzling tidepools, the twenty cm change that drains a sun scorched shallow pool with a few heat addled periwinkles in it will likely not impress you.
Fortunately, those clear Caribbean waters make up for it— you can really see things under your boat. On good calm days you'll spot coral patches tens of meters below. And of course, that warm water just invites you to pop on a mask and hop in...
For this checklist I've chosen one or two Caribbean representatives from each of the eight previous 'Know Your Neighbors' checklists (close, but not quite formal taxonomy I'm afraid). If you find a kayak down there, you have a decent chance of spotting these critters (providing your tequila— fogged vision clears up enough by mid afternoon).
I've spent far too many months working in the Caribbean, avoiding winter drizzle and jeopardizing my relationship. While kayaking, snorkeling and diving the clear blue seas down there I've had the good fortune to frolic with oodles of warm water inverts. Head south or dream south this winter— either way, say hello to these Caribbean natives for me.
Lifelist # 9 Caribbean Inverts to Vacation With
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FIRE CORAL Millipora sp (Checklist #2— cnidarians) This is not a true coral but a hydrozoan, related to many of the nastier stinging jellies. It grows in shallow water as a smooth, mustard yellow crust and can form blades or fingerlike projections. If you forget you should not be touching its fragile relatives, it will give you a jolt (so be careful near reef crests where it can be abundant).
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BOULDER CORAL various (Checklist #2— cnidarians) The numerous boulder corals are essential reef builders and what most of us think of when we think of coral reefs. Usually tan or greenish when healthy, they grow in colonial clumps of various shapes, from lumpy castle structures to those excellent giant brains. All are an effective combination of animal (the anemone-like coral polyps), vegetable (symbiotic algae that harness energy from the sun) and mineral (limestone, which they precipitate out from seawater for construction purposes).
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COMMON SEA FAN Gorgonia sp (Checklist #2— cnidarians) These purple critters do look like delicate fans— instead they are colonies of cnidarians that grow perpendicular to the current and nab plankton as it drifts by. One species grows in very shallow water and extreme low tides often leave bits of it dead and sticking up, good warning posts of coral heads lurking just below the surface.
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PORTUGESE MAN-O-WAR Physalia physalis (Checklist #3— jellies) At first you might think it's a cellophane bag drifting past— but up close you'll notice spiralling tentacles and beautiful purple hues. Don't touch (of course) or this colonial hydroid will show you how effective its powerful stinging cells are.
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SPINY LOBSTER Panulirus argus (Checklist #7— sea bugs) If Caribbean sand flies or mosquitoes are annoying you on shore, take to the water and look for this big bug, which is far more interesting. While it should be abundant in many shallow water environments, overharvesting has made it rare. It has long, spiny antennae instead of the big claws of its northern relatives.
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CHRISTMAS TREE WORM Spirobranchus giganteus (Checklist #4— worms) Yes— worms can be festive. This common critter lives in a tube stuck to coral heads and its pair of feeding/breathing cirri look a lot like— well, figure it out. Take a close look, but not too close or you'll spook it and it will snap back in
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CONCHS various (Checklist #5— shelled molluscs) Say 'conk' or you'll sound like a tourist. If you're lucky enough to paddle an area where these whopper snails (usually queen or horse conchs) haven't been over-harvested then you'll find them easy to spot— they roam turtle grass beds right into the shallows. Alas, they are more familiar dead— for the stunning pink colors inside their shells as well as their tasty flesh done up in fritters.
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REEF OR COMMON OCTOPUS Octopus sp (Checklist #6— naked molluscs) Though they certainly don't get as big as our locals, they make up for it by being easier to spot— they often roam through shallow water, even in broad daylight. I've seen them dragging conchs home to their holes and had them mosey right up to kayakers lunching on turtle grass flats.
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LONGSPINE SEA URCHIN Diadema antellarum (Checklist #8— leftovers) These are nifty urchins with long, nasty looking spines. Definitely a look but don't touch (or step on) critter— the spines are sharp, barbed, brittle and mildly poisonous. The urchin can actually point them at things that disturb it, (like your feet) but cannot 'shoot' them— you have to molest one to get spined (they do consider being stepped on molestation). They graze by night and hide, usually among coral heads, by day.
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GIANT GREEN ANEMONE Condylactic gigantea (Checklist #2— cnidarians) Common throughout shallow water habitats, this hefy (to 30cm) anemone is usually greenish with thick tentacles. They're big enough to spot from your kayak, sticky predatory 'flowers' dotting the bottom below you. Some have tentacles with swollen purple tips that look like a bunch of eyes on stalks— creepy. © Bryan Nichols 1999 No reproduction without permission of the author
Bryan Nichols (brynance@pacificcoast.net) will be guiding down in Belize this winter, happily reacquainting himself with the local invertebrates, the rum bitters and Amelia's cooking.
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