Scotch bonnet (sea snail) - Semicassis granulata (Born, 1778) - Cyprus

Family:Cassidae

 Is a medium-sized to large species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Cassinae, the helmet shells and bonnet shells. The common name "Scotch bonnet" alludes to the general outline and color of the shell, which vaguely resemble a tam o' shanter, a traditional Scottish bonnet or cap. The shell is egg-shaped and fairly large, 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) in maximum dimension, with a regular pattern of yellow, orange or brown squarish spots. The surface sculpture of the shell is highly variable: the surface can be smooth and polished, have grooves, be granulated, or even be nodulose on the shoulder of the whorls.

This species lives intertidally and subtidally on sandy substrates, and is found primarily in the tropical and subtropical Western Atlantic Ocean, from North Carolina to Uruguay. It is the most common species in this subfamily in North America. A similar-appearing sea snail in the Mediterranean Sea and Northern Atlantic Ocean, Semicassis granulata undulata, is currently considered to be a subspecies. The exact taxonomy of this species has been unclear in the past: as well as the current combination Semicassis granulata, 38 other combinations and synonyms exist.

In the spring, the adult females of this species lay eggs in tower-shaped structures. The eggs hatch as veliger larvae, which can float in the plankton for up to 14 weeks before settling onto the seabed as tiny snails. Crabs are a predator of this sea snail. After the death of the snails, if the shells are still intact they are often used by hermit crabs.

In 1965, in the US, the Scotch Bonnet shell was named as a state symbol of North Carolina, the first designation of a US state shell.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos and video by George Konstantinou
Underwater photos  Akrotiri by Kostas Aristeidou

Pelican's foot - Aporrhais pespelecani (Linnaeus, 1758) - Cyprus

Family Aporrhaidae.

A shell of Aporrhais pespelecani, from  Cyprus

Aporrhais pespelecani, common name the "pelican's foot" (or more precisely "common pelican's foot" to distinguish it from congeners), is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Aporrhaidae.

Until the early 20th century the scientific name was usually written with a hyphen and spelled "pes-pelicani"

The specific name pespelecani is Latin, and means the same thing as the common name: "pelican's foot". This name is based on the shape of the three-pointed (or four-pointed) expanded outer lip of the adult shell, which resembles the webbed foot of a sea bird such as a pelican.

The specific name is often spelled pespelicani by analogy with the modern spelling of the word "pelican", however this is incorrect. It was not the original spelling as used by Linnaeus, the original authority of the species, which he called Strombus Pes pelecani. The rules of the ICZN state that the original spelling of a species name is the correct one, even in cases where the word was originally misspelled, or is not in line with current spelling. However in this case, the specific name must now be written as one word, not two, and cannot be hyphenated.

This snail lives in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, from Norway to the Mediterranean Sea and also in the Black Sea

This species of sea snail lives below the low tide level, in the sublittoral zone, from 10 to 130 m depth, on mud or muddy sand. The empty shells do sometimes wash up on beaches however.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photos by George Konstantinou

Purpuradusta gracilis (Gaskoin, 1849) - Cyprus

 Family Cypraeidae,

A lessepsian migrant
Purpuradusta gracilis is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. 
Lessepsian migration (also called Erythrean invasion) is the ongoing migration of marine species across the Suez Canal, usually from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, more rarely in the opposite direction. It is named after Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French diplomat in charge of the canal's construction.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photos by George Konstantinou

Dirty cowry - Erosaria spurca (Linnaeus, 1758) - Cyprus

Family Cypraeidae

Shell of Erosaria spurca from Cyprus

Erosaria spurca, common name the dirty cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries
The shells of these very common cowries reach on average 23–28 millimetres (0.91–1.10 in) of length, with a minimum size of 12 millimetres (0.47 in) and a maximum size of 39 millimetres (1.5 in). They are very variable in pattern and colour. The surface is smooth and shiny, the dorsum basic color is whitish or yellowish, with a variegated orange-brown, yellow ocher or reddish indistinct spotting on the dorsum. The yellowish margins are crenulated or bordered by a series of dimples. The base is whitish or cream, sometimes with shades of orange and some dark spots near the edge, while the teeth are usually large and white. In the living cowries the mantle is greyish, with quite long tree-shaped sensorial papillae.
Erosaria spurca occurs in the central and southern Mediterranean Sea (southern Italy, Crete, Malta, Lampedusa Island, etc.), in the Red Sea (introduced) and in the eastern Atlantic Ocean along the West African coast (from Morocco to Angola, including Ascension Island, Canaries and Cape Verde Islands).
These cowries commonly live at 2–20 metres (6 ft 7 in–65 ft 7 in) of depth, but they can also be found in deeper waters up to 50 metres (160 ft). During the day they are usually hidden under rocks, in crevices or in underwater meadows of Posidonia oceanica, as they start feeding at dusk.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos by George Konstantinou

Conus ventricosus mediterraneus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792) - Cyprus

Family:Conidae

Conus ventricosus mediterraneus is a subspecies of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.

Like all species within the genus Conus, these snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of "stinging" humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all.

The size of an adult shell varies between 13 mm and 63 mm. The color of the shell is yellowish brown, pink-brown or olivaceous ; sometimes chocolate-brown, very closely nebulously spotted and reticulated ; and sometimes interrupted-lined with chestnut, with a narrow, light band below the middle. The elevated spire is rudely gradate and maculated. The interior of the shell is light chocolate, with a light band. 

This subspecies occurs in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean off Senegal.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos by George Konstantinou

Greater argonaut - Argonauta argo (Linnaeus, 1758) - Cyprus

Family: Argonautidae
Argonauta argo, also known as the greater argonaut, is a species of pelagic octopus belonging to the genus Argonauta. The female of the species, like all argonauts, creates a paper-thin eggcase that coils around the octopus much like the way a nautilus lives in its shell, hence the name paper nautilus. The Chinese name for this species translates as "white sea-horse's nest". A. argo was the first argonaut species to be described and is consequently the type species of the genus. A. argo is the largest species in the genus and also produces the largest eggcase. Live animals have a characteristic blue sheen on the first arm pair and around the eyes. The eggcase is characterised by two rows of small, sharp tubercles running along a narrow keel, smooth ribs across the walls of the shell, and a thickening along the shell aperture, which forms distinct protrusions or 'horns' on either side. Argonauta cygnus Monterosato, 1889 was described based on a shell which lacked these protrusions, although it is now considered a junior synonym of A. argo. The greatest recorded size of an A. argo eggcase is 300.0 mm.

A. argo is cosmopolitan, occurring in tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. A dwarf form exists in the Mediterranean Sea, which was described as Argonauta argo mediterranea Monterosato, 1914, although this taxon is now regarded as invalid.

A. argo is thought to feed primarily on pelagic molluscs. The species is preyed on by numerous predators. It has been reported in the stomach contents of Alepisaurus ferox from the south-western Pacific.

Males of this species reach sexual maturity at a mantle length (ML) of 8 mm. Females mature at about double the size of Argonauta bottgeri and Argonauta hians. They begin to secrete an eggcase at 6.5–7 mm ML. Eggs are usually laid when females reach 14–15 mm ML, although the size at which this takes place differs across the animal's range. A small A. argo residing in an 88 mm long eggcase was estimated to be carrying 48,800 embryos.^[7] Females grow to 100 mm ML, while males do not exceed 20 mm ML

In the open ocean, A. argo has been observed attached to jellyfish. This behaviour has been known for a long time, although little was understood about the relationship prior to the work of Heeger et al. in 1992. In "Predation on jellyfish by the cephalopod Argonauta argo", Heeger et al. describe their observations of a female A. argo found atop a host jellyfish. The argonaut was seen holding on to the aboral (exumbrellar) surface of the jellyfish using its lateral and ventral arms. The authors found that about half of the animal's aboral surface was damaged and large pieces of mesoglea were missing, presumably removed by the argonaut. Additionally, two holes, apparently bite marks, were found in the center of this area with channels leading from these holes into the gastral cavity of the jellyfish. The argonaut presumably used these channels to suck food particles from the gastral cavity. Heeger et al. suggested that "the association provided shelter or camouflage for the argonaut"

Observations of captive A. argo females suggest that the expanded webs of the dorsal arms may aid the animal in feeding. Mark Norman mentions that "when food was touched against the spread webs, an arm shot out of the shell in a sweeping action, grabbing the prey". It is speculated that argonauts do not actively hunt, but employ this method to catch animals that bump into them in the open ocean.

A. argo is occasionally involved in mass strandings along the South African and southern Australian coastlines. The strandings are seasonal and generally occur between April and August, towards the end of the animals' spawning season.

A damaged beak of a female A. argo (ML = 40.0 mm; caught at 20°56′N 175°33′W), measuring 4.30 mm in hood length and 7.80 mm in crest length, is mentioned in A Handbook for the Identification of Cephalopod Beaks.

The type specimen of A. argo was collected in the Mediterranean Sea and is deposited at the Linnean Society of London. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Kormakitis by George Konstantinou

Emerald nerite - Smaragdia viridis (Linnaeus, 1758) - Cyprus

 Family Neritidae

Smaragdia viridis. common name the "emerald nerite" is a species of small, green sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Neritidae, the nerites.
The distribution of Smaragdia viridis is disjunct, consisting of the Mediterranean Sea and the Caribbean Sea.

The shell is oval, depressed, light green with a yellowish hue, smooth and shiny. The shell often has interrupted fine bands or lines in white and/or purple. The columellar region of the shell is greenish white, broad, convex, margin curved and with fine teeth. The maximum length of the shell is 7.5 mm.

The visible soft parts of the animal are the same shade of green as the shell.

Smaragdia viridis is a marine littoral species. It is documented to feed directly on seagrasses, rather than on their algae epiphytes, as is the case with many other seagrass-associated snails. The species it feeds on are different in the two different areas of its distribution. In the Mediterranean the species has been recorded feeding on Posidonia oceanica, Zostera marina and Cymodocea nodosa whereas in the Caribbean it consumes Thalassia testudinum, Halodule wrightii and Syringodium filiforme.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos  by George Konstantinou

Persian Conch - Conomurex persicus (Strombus decorus) (Swainson, 1821) - Cyprus

Family Strombidae

A lessepsian migrant

Conomurex persicus, common name : the Persian Conch, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs
The shell size varies between 35 mm and 75 mm
This species is found in the Mediterranean Sea along Greece, in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf
Lessepsian migration (also called Erythrean invasion) is the ongoing migration of marine species across the Suez Canal, usually from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, more rarely in the opposite direction. It is named after Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French diplomat in charge of the canal's construction.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos  by George Konstantinou

Umbrella slugs - Umbraculum mediterraneum (Lamarck, 1819) - Cyprus

Family Umbraculidae.

Umbraculum, common name the "umbrella slugs" is a genus of unusua sea snails or false limpets, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Umbraculidae.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos  by George Konstantinou

Tricolia pulla (Linnaeus) - Cyprus

Family Tricoliidae.

Tricolia is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Phasianellidae.

This genus formerly belonged to the family Tricoliidae.

This genus consists of small species with a head without frontal lobes. The shell is ovate, elongated, and imperforate. The radula has a broad, simple median tooth, overlying the bases of the inner laterals. These are subrhomboidal, produced at their outer angles into wings which overlie the bases of the adjacent tooth outward, and have denticulate cusps. The outer lateral is narrow, not produced on the outer angle. The marginal teeth have long simple cusps, The columella is smooth, arcuate, and not dentate.

The species occurs in all tropical and subtropical seas. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos  by George Konstantinou

Holocnemus pluchei (Scopoli, 1763) - Marbled cellar spider - Cyprus

 Family: Pholcidae

Holocnemus pluchei, commonly known as the marbled cellar spider, is a species of Pholcidae, a family commonly referred to as "cellar spiders" or "daddy long-legs". This species is distributed across the North Pacific region of the United States, as well as in parts of North Africa, Europe, and the Mediterranean.  It is considered a common household spider and builds its nest in attics, basements, and eaves of houses.  Although some members of the species live in solitary webs, the majority join already existing webs and migrate to new webs multiple times throughout the course of their lives. A unique feature of H. pluchei is that while in many species of spiders, stridulation commonly occurs by males during sexual encounters, in H. pluchei, females also possess stridulatory organs, and both sexes engage in stridulation.

Description

Males and females of the species are approximately the same size, with males ranging between 5–7 mm and females ranging between 5-7.5 mm. H. pluchei have long fragile legs with black and white circles around the joints.  Immature members of the species resemble adults. Females have swollen pedipalps that resemble the pedipalps of a male before his final molt. Females also have a sternum projection, which is thought to play an important role in mate selection by improving females’ control over copulation. Both females and males have stridulatory organs of the type where the pedipalp rubs against the chelicera, and no morphological differences in these organs have been observed between the sexes. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos at Geri, 19/9/2015,  by George Konstantinou

Photos  at Lakatamia, 8/06/2016, by Michael Hadjiconstantis

A female holding its eggs 

                                      Photos at Geri, 11/8/2023,  by George Konstantinou

Arhana herb or Turkish pickling herb - Echinophora tenuifolia subsp. sibthorpiana - Cyprus

arhana herb or Turkish pickling herb, Echinophora sibthorpiana or Echinophora tenuifolia L. subsp. sibthorpiana (Guss.) Tutin(Turkish çörtük), is a herb sometimes used as a flavoring in tarhana and in pickles. It may also improve the fermentation of tarhana. (Deghirmencioghlu 2005)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

.Photos Limpia 19/9/2015  by George Konstantinou
T

Lace bugs - Stephanitis (Stephanitis) pyri (Fabricius 1775) - (Τίγρης της μηλιάς και της αχλαδιάς) - Cyprus

Σε  τριανταφυλλιά

Tingidae is a family of very small (2–10 millimetres or 0.08–0.39 inches) insects in the order Hemiptera that are commonly referred to as lace bugs. This group is distributed worldwide with about 2,000 described species.

They are called lace bugs because the pronotum and forewings of the adult have a delicate and intricate network of divided areas that resemble lace. Their body appearance is flattened dorso-ventrally and they can be broadly oval or slender. Often the head is concealed under the hood-like pronotum.

Lace bugs are usually host-specific and can be very destructive to plants. Most feed on the undersides of leaves by piercing the epidermis and sucking the sap. The then empty cells give the leaves a bronzed or silvery appearance. Each individual usually completes its entire life cycle on the same plant, if not the same part of the plant.

Most species have one to two generations per year, but some species have multiple generations. Most overwinter as adults but some species overwinter as eggs or nymphs. This group has incomplete metamorphosis in that the immature stages resemble the adults, except that the immatures are smaller and do not have wings. However, wing pads appear in the second and third instar and increase in size as the nymph matures. Depending on the species, lace bugs have four (few) or five (most) instars.

Lace bugs sometimes fall out of trees, land on people and bite, which, although painful, is a minor nuisance. No medical treatment is necessary. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Διαχειμάζει ως ενήλικο σε προστετευμένες θέσεις επάνω στον κορμό του ξενιστή ή και στο έδαφος. Έχει 3-4 γενεές ανά έτος. Τα θηλυκά τοποθετούν τα αυγά τους στα φύλλα έτσι ώστε το μισό αυγό να είναι μέσα στο φύλλο και το υπόλοιπο απ' έξω και εν συνεχεία τα καλύπτουν με σκούρο έκκριμα.

Ζει σε αποικίες στην κάτω επιφάνεια των φύλλων όπου συνυπάρχουν προνύμφες και ενήλικα άτομα και τρέφονται μυζόντας τους χυμούς των φύλλων.

Προσβάλλει κυρίως τα γιγαρτόκαρπα (μηλιά, αχλαδιά, κυδωνιά) και δευτερευόντος άλλα είδη όπως την δαμασκηνιά, την κερασιά, την ροδακινιά, τον πυράκανθο, την τριανταφυλλιά, την φουντουκιά κ.α.

Τα προσβεβλημένα φύλλα γίνονται χλωρωτικά και έχουν πολυάριθμα κίτρινα στίγματα στην άνω επιφάνεια. Η κάτω επιφάνεια των φύλλων είναι γεμάτη με μαύρα στίγματα, εκδύματα και άτομα του S. pyri. Σε σοβαρές προσβολές μπορεί να έχουμε φυλλόπτωση και μείωση της παραγωγής αν και αυτό είναι σπάνιο. Πηγή http://www.greensupport.gr

Photos Nicosia 17/9/2015 by George Konstantinou

Κουρτελλόροτσος - Kourtellorotsos

 Βρίσκεται στον δρόμο μεταξύ Κόρνου - Δελίκηπου 

Photos  by George Konstantinou