Pleurobranchus testudinarius Cantraine, 1835 - Cyprus

Pleurobranchus testudinarius,with eggs,
19mts deep,30.04.2017,Protaras

Pleurobranchus is a genus of sea slugs, specifically side-gill slugs, marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pleurobranchidae

Underwater photos  by Costas Constantinou

Pilgrim hervia - Cratena peregrina (Gmelin, 1791) - Cyprus

Cratena peregrina, with eggs,20mts deep,Protaras,29.04.2017
Cratena peregrina, commonly called the "pilgrim hervia", is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.

The pilgrim hervia is small aeolid sea slug, its average size is between 3 and 5 cm. The body is thin and slender, with a long sharply pointed tail. Its body coloration is milky white with 8 to 10 clusters of dorsal cerata which can be bright red, purple, brown or blue, with the tips coloured in luminescent blue. Those cerata act like gills, and each one contains a terminal outgrowth of the digestive gland, a diverticulum.

The head, which is the same colour as the body, has a pair of bright orange rhinophores, and with two whitish long buccal tentacles, which look like horns.

This species occurs in the Mediterranean Sea and in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the Channel south to Senegal.[3] This sea slug prefers to live on rocky bottoms and slopes in clear and well-oxygenated water, between 5 and 50 m in depth

The pilgrim hervia feeds on hydroids in the genus Eudendrium.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cratena_peregrina

 Underwater photos  by Costas Constantinou

Berried Anemone - Alicia mirabilis - Cyprus

Lessepsian migrant from Red Sea

Alicia mirabilis (commonly known as Berried Anemone) is a sea anemone species in the genus Alicia which changes shape as night falls expanding its column and tentacles to catch its food. It can be found in such countries as Azores, Portugal, Spain and such seas as Mediterranean and Red Seas
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicia_mirabilis


Underwater photos  by Costas Constantinou

Forkbeard - Phycis phycis (Linnaeus, 1766) - Σαλούβαρδος ή γάρος - Cyprus

Phycis phycis, the forkbeard, is a species of phycid hakes in the family Phycidae

Genus and species names Phycis derive from Greek, phykon meaning seaweed, as these fishes usually live hidden among seaweeds.

Phycis phycis commonly can reach a length of 25 centimetres (9.8 in), with a maximum length of 65 centimetres (26 in) in males.

These fishes have a wide mouth with thick lips. A barbel is present on the chin. They do not have any thorn in the fins, but show elongated pelvic-fin rays reduced to bifid filaments, with 2 soft rays. The dorsal fin is a double and rounded (the first can have 9 or 11 soft rays, the second 56 or 65). The caudal fin is rounded, with 27 or 29 soft rays. Vertical fins distally reaching the origin of the anal fin. They are dark, sometimes with a pale margin. Body color is dark brown or gray on the back, but ventrally the color becomes paler.

Forkbeards are nocturnal, during the day they hide between rocks. They feed on small fish and several species of invertebrates. Breeding takes place from January to May. They are relatively slow growing and long lived fishes.

This species is present in the western Mediterranean, in Portugal and in western coast of northern Africa and the Azores. These fishes live on hard and sandy-muddy bottoms close to the rocks usually, at depths of 100–650 m.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phycis_phycis

Underwater photos  by Kostas Aristeidou

Spiny starfish - Marthasterias glacialis (Linnaeus, 1758) - Cyprus

Marthasterias is a genus of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is monotypic and the only species in the genus is Marthasterias glacialis, commonly known as the spiny starfish. It is native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

Marthasterias glacialis is a fairly large starfish with a small central disc and five slender, tapering arms. Each arm has three longitudinal rows of conical, whitish spines, usually with purple tips, each surrounded by a wreath of pedicellariae. The background colour is variable and may be brownish or greenish-grey, tinged with yellow or red and sometimes with purple at the tips of the arms. This species can grow to 70 cm (28 in) but a more usual size is 25 to 30 cm (10 to 12 in). It is sometimes confused with the northern starfish Leptasterias muelleri.

Marthasterias glacialis is native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Its range extends from Iceland to the Azores and the Mediterranean Sea, and it has been observed in South Africa. Around the British Isles it is limited to the western side of Scotland, Wales, the western part of southern England and most of Ireland. Its depth range is subtidal down to about 200 m (656 ft) and it is found on both sheltered muddy substrates and on rocks.

Like other starfish in the family Asteriidae, Marthasterias glacialis is a predator and feeds mostly on bivalve molluscs and other invertebrates. It has been found that secondary metabolites known as saponins, found within the starfish's tissues, have a dramatic effect on the whelk Buccinum undatum. At low concentrations they cause the mollusc to withdraw from the vicinity of the starfish and at higher concentrations they cause convulsions in the mollusc's musculature. The sea urchins Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis and Psammechinus miliaris are also affected by the chemicals. S. droebachiensis flees but P. miliaris has toxic pedicellariae and is able to defend itself.

The reproductive biology of this starfish has been little studied but off the coast of Ireland, individuals gather together in very shallow water in July and August. A few days later, on a warm afternoon, they have been observed to arch their bodies and release spawn into the sea. A rise in the water temperature seems to have triggered the spawning. Male starfish as small as 2.5 cm (1 in) were observed to spawn, and females of at least 9 cm (3.5 in) diameter.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marthasterias

Underwater photos  by Costas Constantinou

Green algae - Palmophyllum crassum (Naccari, 1828) - Cyprus

Palmophyllum crassum is a species of alga.

Underwater photos  by Kostas Aristeidou

Banded Tube Anemone - Pachycerianthus maua - Cyprus

The Banded Tube Anemone Pachycerianthus maua is a nocturnal animal, so it is usually withdrawn during the daylight hours. After dark, however, is when they will push their oral disc out of their tube and extend their tentacles to feed. The aquarist can peak into the “night life” of these curious anemones by Illuminating the nighttime aquarium with a red light, and keeping movements slow.
From http://animal-world.com/Aquarium-Coral-Reefs/Banded-Tube-Anemone

Underwater photos  by Costas Constantinou

Pilot fish - Naucrates ductor (Linnaeus, 1758) - Κολαούζος - Cyprus

The pilot fish (Naucrates ductor) is a carnivorous fish of the trevally, or jackfish family, Carangidae. It is widely distributed and lives in warm or tropical open seas.

The pilot fish congregates around sharks, rays, and sea turtles, where it eats ectoparasites on, and leftovers around the host species; younger pilot fish are usually associated with jellyfish and drifting seaweeds. They are also known to follow ships, sometimes for long distances; one was found in County Cork, Ireland, and many pilot fish have been sighted on the shores of England. Their fondness for ships led the ancients to believe that they would navigate a ship to its desired course.

The pilot fish's color is between dark blue and blackish-silver, with the belly being lighter in color. The pilot fish is also known to have a temporary variation of color when excited; its dark-colored bars disappear, and its body turns silvery-white, with three broad blue patches on its back. It can be recognized by its five to seven distinctive traverse bands, which are of a much darker color than the rest of the body.[9] The pilot fish can grow up to 60–70 cm in length.

The pilot fish is edible and is said to taste good, but it is rarely available due to its erratic behavior when caught.


Pilot fish swimming with an oceanic whitetip shark
While pilot fish can be seen with all manner of sharks, they prefer accompanying the oceanic whitetip, Carcharhinus longimanus. The pilot fish's relationship with sharks is a mutualist one; the pilot fish gains protection from predators, while the shark gains freedom from parasites. It was often said by sailors that sharks and pilot fish share something like a "close companionship"; there were even tales of this fish following ships which had captured "their" shark for up to six weeks[22] and showing signs of distress in its absence.

Whatever the veracity of such reports, it is extremely rare that a shark will feed on a pilot fish, and smaller pilot fish are frequently observed swimming into sharks' mouths to clean away fragments of food from between their teeth. As Herman Melville put it,

They have nothing of harm to dread,

But liquidly glide on his ghastly flank
Or before his Gorgonian head;
Or lurk in the port of serrated teeth
In white triple tiers of glittering gates,
And there find a haven when peril 's abroad,
An asylum in jaws of the Fates![27]

These observations have led to the pilot fish's distinctive markings being copied for decals supplied as shark protection for surfboards.

There are a few possible, conflicting etymologies for the term "pilot fish". One is that seafaring people believed that pilot fish, which would appear around the bow of their ships when they were close to land, were leading (or piloting) them back to port.[29] An alternative etymology is that pilot fish were once, erroneously, thought to be piloting sharks to food, or even (as legends have it) piloting ships, whales and swimmers to safety.

In Greek mythology a sailor called Pompilos helped the nymph Okyrhoe when she was fleeing away from the god Apollo. The sailor moved the nymph from Miletus to Samos and the god punished him by making him a pilot fish.

The pilot fish is sometimes used as a metaphor or simile; "they are like the pilot fish to the shark, serving to lead him to his victim". Pilot fish are also used as a metaphor or simile for scavengers or looters which accompany a greater threat.

In the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, the pilot fish were used in analogical terms for a robotic species who congregated around more dangerous life-forms, such as the Sycorax and the Racnoss. They appeared three times in the series; twice with David Tennant in "The Christmas Invasion" (2005) and "The Runaway Bride" (2006), and once with Matt Smith in "The Pandorica Opens" (2010).

In the Discworld novel Making Money, during a conspiracy to entrap Moist von Lipwig, Heretofore reflects on his current predicament and uncomfortable relationship with Cosmo Lavish and says "Does he think he's Vetinari? What do they call those fishes that swim alongside sharks, making themselves useful so they don't get eaten? That's me, that's what I'm doing, just hanging on, because it's much safer than letting go.

Ernest Hemingway bitterly immortalised John Dos Passos as a "pilot fish" for the wealthy in A Moveable Feast, after falling out with him over the Spanish Civil War
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_fish

Underwater photos  by Costas Constantinou

Sepietta sp.- Cyprus

Sepietta is a genus of bobtail squid comprising four species.

Underwater photos  by Costas Constantinou

Imperial blackfish - Schedophilus ovalis (G. Cuvier, 1833) - Βασιλικός μεδουσοφάγος - Cyprus

The imperial blackfish, Schedophilus ovalis, is a medusafish of the family Centrolophidae found in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, at depths of between 70 and 700 m. Its length is up to 100 cm.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_blackfish

Underwater photos  Cape Pyla, 3m deep ,25.03.2017  by Costas Constantinou

Hermit crab - Calcinus tubularis (Linnaeus, 1767) - Cyprus

Calcinus tubularis is a species of hermit crab. It is found in the Mediterranean Sea and around islands in the Atlantic Ocean, where it lives below the intertidal zone. Its carapace, eyestalks and claws are marked with numerous red spots. C. tubularis and its sister species, C. verrilli, are the only hermit crabs known to show sexual dimorphism in shell choice, with males using normal marine gastropod shells, while females use shells of gastropods in the family Vermetidae, which are attached to rocks or other hard substrates.

The genus Calcinus has its centre of diversity in the central Pacific Ocean, and only two species occur in the north-eastern Atlantic – Calcinus paradoxus and Calcinus tubularis. C. tubularis is a chiefly Mediterranean species; its range extends from Madeira in the west to Lebanon in the east, with outlying records from Madeira, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde and Ascension Island. Although it is distinctively coloured, the sedentary behaviour of C. tubularis allows epibionts to colonise its shells, providing excellent camouflage, and it can easily go unnoticed; it was first reported on the coast of the Portuguese mainland in 2011, but is thought to have been living there for a long time.

The carapace of Calcinus tubularis is bluish in colour, with many red spots, and extends forwards as a short, triangular rostrum. The eyestalks are white with similar red spotting, as is the last segment of each of the walking legs, and both the fixed and movable fingers of the claws. The colour scheme exists in a dark form and a light form, which appears to be linked to camouflage, particularly for females. C. tubularis is of "normal size" for a Calcinus species, frequently exceeding a carapace width of 3 millimetres (0.12 in)

Calcinus tubularis is a rare species, found below the intertidal zone. It is one of only two species of hermit crab (the other being the closely related C. verrilli) in which sexual dimorphism in shell use has been observed. Males inhabit gastropod shells, chiefly those of Pisania maculosa or Cerithium vulgatum, which they can move freely; females occupy the fixed tubes made by the vermetid snail Lementina arenaria.

The only parasite known to attack Calcinus tubularis is a rhizocephalan barnacle, probably of the genus Septosaccus, although it is also targeted by another barnacle, Trypetesa lampas, which is an egg predator of various hermit crabs.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcinus_tubularis

Photos 5 mts deep,07.03.2017,Xylophagou. by Costas Constantinou

Bandtooth conger - Ariosoma balearicum (Delaroche, 1809) - Cyprus

The bandtooth conger (Ariosoma balearicum), also known as the Baleares conger or the Balearic conger, is an eel in the family Congridae (conger/garden eels). It was described by François Étienne Delaroche in 1809, originally under the genus Muraena. It is a subtropical, marine eel which is known from the western and eastern Atlantic and the western Indian Ocean, including North Carolina, USA; the northern Gulf of Mexico, northern South America, Canada, Portugal, Angola, the Mediterranean, and the Red Sea. It inhabits reefs and littoral shelves, and burrows into sand and mud. It dwells at a depth range of 1-732 metres, but most frequently between 20-100 m. Males can reach a maximum total length of 35 centimetres, but more commonly reach a TL of 25 cm.

The Bandtooth conger is of minor interest to fisheries
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandtooth_conger

Photo by Costas Constantinou

Unknown strafish in dark cave - Cyprus

Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or "basket stars". About 1,500 species of starfish occur on the seabed in all the world's oceans, from the tropics to frigid polar waters. They are found from the intertidal zone down to abyssal depths, 6,000 m (20,000 ft) below the surface.

Starfish are marine invertebrates. They typically have a central disc and five arms, though some species have a larger number of arms. The aboral or upper surface may be smooth, granular or spiny, and is covered with overlapping plates. Many species are brightly coloured in various shades of red or orange, while others are blue, grey or brown. Starfish have tube feet operated by a hydraulic system and a mouth at the centre of the oral or lower surface. They are opportunistic feeders and are mostly predators on benthic invertebrates. Several species have specialized feeding behaviours including eversion of their stomachs and suspension feeding. They have complex life cycles and can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Most can regenerate damaged parts or lost arms and they can shed arms as a means of defence. The Asteroidea occupy several significant ecological roles. Starfish, such as the ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus) and the reef sea star (Stichaster australis), have become widely known as examples of the keystone species concept in ecology. The tropical crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) is a voracious predator of coral throughout the Indo-Pacific region, and the northern Pacific sea star is considered to be one of the world's 100 worst invasive species.

The fossil record for starfish is ancient, dating back to the Ordovician around 450 million years ago, but it is rather poor, as starfish tend to disintegrate after death. Only the ossicles and spines of the animal are likely to be preserved, making remains hard to locate. With their appealing symmetrical shape, starfish have played a part in literature, legend, design and popular culture. They are sometimes collected as curios, used in design or as logos, and in some cultures, despite possible toxicity, they are eaten.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish

Underwater photos  in dark cave 12/02/2017 at Akrotiri by Kostas Aristeidou

Unknown Sea anemone - Cyprus

Sea anemones are a group of water-dwelling, predatory animals of the order Actiniaria. They are named for the anemone, a terrestrial flower. Sea anemones are classified in the phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa, subclass Hexacorallia. Anthozoa often have large polyps that allow for digestion of larger prey and also lack a medusa stage. As cnidarians, sea anemones are related to corals, jellyfish, tube-dwelling anemones, and Hydra.

Many sea anemones form symbiotic relationships with single-celled dinoflagellates, zooxanthellae or with green algae, zoochlorellae, that live within their cells.

The global trade in marine ornamentals for aquariums is rapidly expanding, and threatens sea anemone populations as the trade depends on collection from the wild, and the animals grow and reproduce relatively slowly
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_anemone

Underwater photos  in dark cave 12/02/2017 at Akrotiri by Kostas Aristeidou

Sea anemone - Actinia prasina Gosse, 1860 - Cyprus

Actinia is a genus of sea anemones in the family Actiniidae.

Underwater photos  in dark cave 12/02/2017 at Akrotiri by Kostas Aristeidou

Isopod crustaceans - Idotea sp. - Cyprus

Idotea is a genus of isopod crustaceans, mostly from cold temperate waters. The taxonomy of the genus is still in doubt, and many of the currently recognised species may be taxonomic synonyms, and others may be moved to different genera.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idotea

Photos 6mts deep,Protaras,02.02.2017 by Costas Constantinou

Venus girdle - Cestum veneris Lesueur, 1813 - Cyprus

The Venus girdle, Cestum veneris, is a comb jelly in the family Cestidae. It is the only member of its genus, Cestum

Venus girdles resemble transparent ribbons with iridescent edges. They may grow up to a metre in total length. Canals run the length of the ribbon which bioluminesce when disturbed.

This species is pelagic and is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide in midwater

These animals swim horizontally using muscular contractions as well as the beating of the comb rows. The oral edge leads. They eat small crustaceans.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_girdle

Underwater photos 28/01/2017  at Akrotiri by Kostas Aristeidou