Rare seahorse found off Newquay

 a seahorse in its natural habitat photographed by Paul Naylor 

Thursday 18^th September 2014

Rare seahorse found off Newquay

Marine staff at leading local wildlife charity Cornwall Wildlife Trust were thrilled to hear that a Newquay fisherman has finally proven that seahorses are found on Cornwall’s north coast.

Daniel Gilbert skipper of Newquay crabber ‘Tizardleeon’ found the beautiful yellow seahorse clinging to a crab pot while working four miles north west of Newquay’s Towan Headland last Friday 2nd of September. 

Matt Slater, Marine Awareness Officer for Cornwall Wildlife Trust (formerly curator of Blue Reef Aquarium Newquay) said,

“In my eleven years working at the aquarium we had several anecdotal reports of seahorses being spotted by divers and fishermen in the Newquay area, and washed up dead on beaches but this is the first time that we have definite proof that seahorses live here. Sea horses are protected rare species that are globally threatened and it is very exciting to hear that they can be found in our local waters!”

Newquay is famous for its beaches and night life but many don’t appreciate its wonderful marine wildlife. Local people with a passion for the sea have come together to create Newquay Marine Group which champions this cause and promotes our wonderful marine life, and our small scale sustainable fishing fleet! Please visit the Newquay Marine Group facebook page for information on upcoming events and the latest news.

Photo by Danny Gilbert of the seahorse he found

Seahorses are bizarre looking fish related to pipefish and tropical sea dragons. They are poor swimmers and tend to stay in the same habitat for the whole of their life. Seahorses can live for up to eleven years and are slow growing. They are famous in that the males are the ones that get pregnant, incubating eggs, and carrying young in their fleshy brood pouch.

With their prehensile tails sea horses hold tight to seaweeds and sea fans while waiting for their prey to come past, believe it or not seahorses are deadly predators that feed on small shrimps using their long tube-like mouth and a powerful suction mechanism to pluck their prey out of the water so fast they are instantly turned to soup!

In Europe we have two species of seahorses, the spiny or long snouted sea horse Hippocampus guttulatus and the smaller short snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus, which is the species that was found by skipper Daniel Gilbert. Both species are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act and are Biodiversity Action Plan species, meaning it is illegal to interfere with or harm one.

Matt Slater continues,

“The fisherman Daniel Gilbert did exactly the right thing. On discovering the seahorse he called Cornwall Wildlife Trust straight away to report it and on our advice he took some photographs of it before returning it carefully in the place it was caught.”

“Our seas are mysterious and although we are learning more about them through our research there is still so much out there that we don’t know about. Fishermen spend more time on the water than any other group including most marine scientists so we really want to encourage them to send in more information on marine wildlife. We are really pleased that Mr Gilbert contacted us with the record and we urge all fishermen, divers and water users to do the same and to report any unusual sightings of marine life to Cornwall Wildlife Trust. Our new website ‘Online Recording Kernow and Scilly’ www.orks.org.uk makes it really easy to send in information and allows you to review what you have found and see what others are spotting!”

ENDS

Contacts:
Matt Slater, Marine Awareness Officer, Cornwall Wildlife TrustMatt.slater@cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk Tel (01872) 273939 ext 214

Photographs:

• Short snouted seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus) found by fisherman Daniel Gilbert, photo by Daniel Gilbert
• Short snouted seahorse in fisherman Danile Gilbert’s hand, photo by Daniel Gilbert
• Short snouted seahorse, photo by Paul Naylor www.marinephoto.co.uk provided by RSWT

photo by Danny Gilbert

Giant gobies found at Newquay!

WOW what a a day!

A fantastic ERCCIS fish identification day held at Cornwall college Newquay, organised by Sue Scott and led by Doug Herdson, marine fish authority, was topped off by the discovery of four giant gobies in a Newquay rockpool!

This is the first proper record of this species found in Newquay and further evidence that this area is worthy of protection.

The giant goby is a southern species with a very limited distribution in the south west - Cornwall and South Devon are as far north as they currently range. They live in deep pools usually on the upper shore. They are protected by schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside act 1981 and are a Biodiversity Action Plan species.

 What a fantastic find for Newquay!

Giant goby Gobius cobitus photo copywrite Matt Slater

The only way to prove they are giant gobies are two pointed lobes found at the front edge of the pelvic fin cup on the underside of the fish. Natural England staff were there to witness the discovery!

this is why we all love living in Cornwall! 

Thanks to Sue, Doug and Becs Allan, and all who took part in this fantastic day! 

Stalked Jellies finally found at Newquay!

First Stalked jelly to be found at Newquay! Photo Matt Slater 

This afternoon I joined Marine Conservation students and lecturers from Cornwall College Newquay for a Shoresearch at Newquay's Fistral beach! For a change we were greeted with calm seas, light winds and sunshine. The students were using baited go pro cameras to attempt to film giant gobies in the pools! The habitat there certainly looks good and we all saw large fish darting for cover as we walked past pools. I'm looking forward to hearing if any were caught on camera!
Whilst the students deployed their cameras I had a scout around looking for stalked jellies and YES finally I have found some! This is really significant for Newquay as as far as I know this rare species has not been recorded before here.  As always its just when you feel like giving up and going home that you find one - they are tiny 2 cm maximum height and approx 1 cm wide, and they live on marine seaweed. A few minutes later I saw another one, this one much smaller. Both are Haliclistus octoradiatus - a Biodiversity action plan species, because of its rarity that is only found in very specific habitats!  It will be fantastic to get more records for these rare species within the Newquay rMCZ!

SJ 2 

 both were found living in bushy Cystociera seaweed  (looks very similar to Sargassum but more bushy and paler in colour).

bushy Cystociera seaweed 

It was great to visit a patch of shore that is so often battered by huge surf but is so rich in life! In a cave a few metres from the pool with the stalked jellies we found a really surprising find - a large colony of bright orange solitary corals living in a pool sheltered from the surf by a cave that faces back toward s the shore!
This is a really rare find and although not a protected species there are only a handful of sited in the UK where you can see this species - the Scarlet and Gold Cup coral Ballanophyllia regia

Angus and students at the coral cave

Close up of Scarlet and Gold Cup corals Balanophyllia regia

Stalked jelly with fingertips as scale

Red grape weed Gastroclonium ovatum - Photo Matt Slater

South Fistral - a fantastically biodiverse and underrated shore

Himenthalia elongata - Thong weed, young growth

Beadlet anemone

Newquay Shoresearch

 Once again Newquay's shoreline revealed some fantastic secrets on Tuesdays shore search survey
We started out exploring the boulder zone down at the Gazzle a cove on the North side of Towan headland. this more sheltered but still relatively exposed site is rich in biodiversity and the cliff and large boulders are covered in a thick layer of purple coraline algae and supports a diverse underboulder community of sponges, hydroids, bryozoans, tube worms of many species, and loads of crabs, cushion stars, cowries, brittlestars and broad clawed squat lobsters.

Painted topshell Calliosotma zizyphinum

The Boulder zone at extreme low water - the Gazzle - a truly rich habitat

Closeup of a Gem anemone,  Aluactinia verrucosa taken at Towan beach, Newquay by Matt Slater

Green Sea urchin  Psamechinus millaris

A tube worm possibly Sabellaria spinosa? and a crevice sea cucumber Aslia lefevrei

Found in gulley  a Beautiful Dahlia anemone 

Closeup of a very unusual red colour morph of a Daisy Anemone, Cereus pedunculatus.

Sunlight through the Sargassum - Towan beach pools

Banded pincer weed Ceramium, in the sunlight 

Moving on along the rugged coast there we found several pools that would be great to come to on a low tide but sadly the water had covered them - you need to be very careful rockpooling at Newquay because of the potential for large swells! Today wasn't too bad but make sure you don't get swept off the rocks if you go there yourselves! After surveying I took a quick trip down to Towan beach and enjoyed exploring some of the familiar pools in front of the harbour wall, home to gem anemones, green urchins and beautiful sea weeds - I hope you enjoyed the arty photos taken with my underwater camera!

Thanks to my volunteers Cheryl and Rachel it was a great survey with lots more photos saved into the Shoresearch Dropbox!

Sadly we didn't find any stalked jelly fish but I am still sure they must be there somewhere- It would be good to snorkel this site and see if they are there in the shallow sub tidal! Newquay marine group volunteers please get out and look for them!

Cheers

Matt