Marine Biology Section Meeting November 16th 2008 Banque Imbert

We met at Banque Imbert, just south of Bordeaux Harbour, and were pleased to be joined by some members of the Junior Section, who appeared to have a whale of a time.

beach
The top of Banque Imbert Beach.
The top of the beach is a shingle bank that gives the beach its name. Sea Kale grows here but had mostly died down by now. We walked down a long sandy beach to the sea, then over the rocks to another stretch of sand, then back up the beach again. Some of the things we saw:

Molluscs

Several species of Top Shells including the non-British Gibbula pennanti, that only reaches as far north as the Channel Islands, Flat Top Shell, Gibbula umbilicalis, Thick Top Shell, Osilinus lineatus, Grey Top Shell Gibbula cineraria and Painted Top Shell Calliostoma zizyphinium.
Top Shells
Osilinus lineatus, Gibbula pennanti & Gibbula umbilicalis.
Painted Top Shell
Painted Top Shell, Calliostoma zizyphinium
Many of the limpets had the red alga Stragularia clathrata growing in their shells producing interesting patterns.
Stragularia
Stragularia clathrata growing in limpet shell, Patella vulgata.
Trivia monacha
Cowrie, Trivia monacha.
When under water Cowries look quite different as their shell is covered by the patterned mantle and the animal itself is orange.
Trivia monacha
Cowrie, Trivia monacha crawling in a margarine tub.

Crustacea

We found many species of crabs:
Chancre
Chancre (Edible Crab) Cancer pagurus .
Pilumnus
Hairy Crab, Pilumnus hirtellus
Neocora
Lady Crab (Velver Swimming Crab), Neocora puber, fiercely aggressive with red eyes and blue markings
also Shore crabs Carcinus maenas, Long-clawed Porcelain Crabs, Pisidia longicornis and Squat Lobsters, Galathea squamifera

Fish

The big Rockling was fairly certainly the Five-bearded Rockling Ciliata mustela if somebody has a picture please send it to Charles. Wendy also found a Cornish Sucker, Lepadogaster lepadogaster, a clingfish that clings to the bottom of stones using a sucker made from its pelvic fins. If anybody has any other pictures from the meeting please send them to Charles and he may put them on this site.