Snorkeling at the Jetties

[yardboy]

So I went snorkeling at the jetties today, for the first time this year, and yes the water was freaking cold. (66d F.)
I'd caught it this time when there seemed to be a lot of pelagic larvae in the water, along with lots of other weird critters.
Two in particular caught my eye, and made their way into my specimen container. These guys swam almost like a fish, with the "tail" end thrashing back and forth, but I'm wondering if it's some type of flatworm or nudi. Any help in ID would be appreciated. 1.5" long

Then there is this. There were quite a few but they were fast swimmers, believe it or not, and I only caught two, and this is the best I could do pic wise. 1/4" long

This one I believe is a mantis shrimp, 2 inches, but he was swimming in the open water column, at about 2 feet of depth with a bottom at 10 feet.

Thanks in advance for any help in ID.

 

[robertifly]

You're hard core! I don't have a clue but the clear ones do look like flatworms.

 

[Sculp1n]

Man this makes me wish I was near the ocean. Great shots, the first one kinda of looks like salps but I'm probably wrong and the last is for sure a mantis.


Sculp1n

 

[charlesr1958]

Hey buddy, I'm of no use with atlantic critters but wanted to say that I agree that you are hardcore to brave such temps and that we enjoyed your visit to the better side of the planet... Was good to see you guys again.

Chuck

 

[yardboy]

Love your avatar Chuck. I want to be like you when I grow up.
I've kinda eliminated flatworms since none of the ones I've seen can you distinguish the internal organs, plus in the second pic you can see some kind of mouth parts, two tentacles or something, a bit like a cucumber. I'm reasearching but still can't nail them down, hopefully the wizard Leslie will magically appear and answer with a flourish of her wand. :rollface:

 

[charlesr1958]

If you would, email me a photo or two of them and I'll forward them onto a flatworm expert and report back if and when I get a reply. I too think its a flatworm but nothing like I've ever seen before.

Chuck

 

[VacavilleFC3S]

4th pic is definately a mantis shrimp, nice catch

 

[yardboy]

Thanks Vacaville. I was surprised to find him swimming freely in the water column. Being so pale looking, I assumed he was just past the larval stage. He survived the night in a shallow tray used for the photo, so I set up a 1 gallon pico with a piece of liverock and some sand. We'll see how he does. Definitely won't be going into any of my other display tanks!

 

[Elysia]

The initial images could be of a pelagic nudibranch of the genus Phylliroe. Check out this site:

http://www.seaslugforum.net/showall.cfm?base=phyllich

 

[yardboy]

I thank you so much for responding to my inquiry. I think you may be right about it being Phylliroe. There are some differences between the two creatures in the photos, but I don't think they are significant enough to have the ones I caught be a different animal.
I am very impressed that you were able to identify it so closely. I love the ocean with all its variabilty. I sometimes complain that the jetties at Panama City aren't as great as the Indo-Pacific, but it certainly has to power to surprise me with its rich diversity.
Thanks again.

 

[Elysia]

No problem, yardboy. I wish I could say it was astounding genius on my part, but in reality I just really like seaslugs and was attempting to identify a trio given to me. So I was just looking at various species on the seaslugforum, and when I came upon that one, I remembered your post. Not only did they look similar, but the circumstances that you collector yours in seemed to match what is known about the genus.

You could always email your photos to the seaslugforum to be sure. The amount of time it takes for the gentleman running the site to get back to you varries -- sometimes it takes less than a week, sometimes multiple months. But he always appreciates getting more information about seaslugs, and your photos are wonderful. Plus, the seaslugforum is based in Oz, and I don't believe the site administrator has ever been to Florida, so he usually is interested in Florida critters. The other creature you posted could be a different type of pelagic seaslug; there are actually two suborders of pelagic seaslugs, the Thecosomata and the Gymnosomata.

Whatever you decide to do, thanks for posting the photos. They are very interesting.