The Keys!

This week in the Keys has been incredible. Every morning we go out on the boat and snorkel all morning and for part of the afternoon. Then we come back and discuss all of the organisms and ecosystems we have seen. What has really impressed me this week is the bio-diversity of the Keys. we have seen so many unique organisms that I never knew existed. Below I have posted some pictures of a few of the many organisms that we have observed.

This is a brittle star that we collected in the sea grass beds right outside the lab station. It was burrowed  inside a patch of dense algae and unlike its relative the seastar it can actually move quite quickly. Each arm moves independently and they look like worms as the brittle star uses them to pull its body across the bottom of the ocean.

This is a ocean trigger fish. We saw many trigger fish in the reefs that we visited. One of them even had markings from were someone had tried to spear him and failed. These fish are very aggressive and mean and are know to bite divers who come to close too their nest (though we didnt personally experience this).

This is a neon goby. These are cleaner fish. When a larger fish such as a snapper gets covered in filth and bacteria they can get sick. These fish have a symbiotic relationship with the reef fish and clean these parasite off of the fish while getting a nice meal for themselves. We saw a cluster of six of these fish that were perched on a coral head after just finishing cleaning a grouper.

This is a four-eyed butterfly fish. They have a distinct eyespot on their tail that confuses and predators and misdirects their attacks. The offshore coral reefs that we explored had many of these beautiful fish inhabiting them. We also saw a few juveniles inside of the nursery seagrasses.