Have you ever wondered how corals make more corals? They can’t move, so how do they reproduce? To understand coral reproduction, you must first understand asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction involves only one parent and the offspring produced are genetically identical to the parent. Two parents are needed for sexual reproduction. Corals can […]
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Sponge?
April 5, 2011 
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I noticed this sponge-looking thing all over the rocks on the ewa side of the MLCD. Is it just me or has this stuff been here all along? I don’t remember seeing it before! Anyone know what it is?
Continue readingMarine Invertebrate of the Week: Marbled Shrimp
March 29, 2011 1 Comment
Have you ever been snorkeling and looked under coral heads or in the cracks and crevices between coral colonies? Lately, I have been investigating little cracks and I keep finding Marbled shrimp. Unfortunately, I have only found the shrimp on the east side and I want to put a challenge out to all of the […]
Continue readingMarine Invertebrate of the Week: Violet Snail
March 17, 2011 0 Comments
Every so often you might notice little purple shells washed up on the beach, usually during strong on-shore winds. The common name for these animals is Violet Snails (Janthina spp.).
Continue readingMarine Invertebrate of the Week: Red-margined Spanish Dancer
March 7, 2011 1 Comment
Since I moved to Oahu in 2009 I have wanted to see the infamous Spanish Dancer. Divers, friends and scientists have all told me about about the beauty and grace of the Spanish Dancer. Now you are probably wondering, has Heather gone crazy and started seeing human dancers underwater? Well, I have not gone crazy […]
Continue readingMarine Invertebrates of the Week: Hermit Crabs…and a Barnacle!
March 1, 2011 0 Comments
Hermit crabs are related to crabs but the rear half of their bodies are soft bodies that they must conceal inside an empty gastropod (marine snails and slugs) shell. When they grow too big for their shell, they must find a bigger one. They are especially active at night but can be found by day […]
Continue readingMarine Invertebrate of the Week: Rubbery Zoanthid
February 24, 2011 0 Comments
This past weekend I went snorkeling on the east side and found a peculiar creature that I’ve never seen before. Turns out it’s actually a type of zoanthid, Palythoa caesia. Zoanthids are cnidarians and consist of colonies of individual polyps. The polyps in this picture were closed, which they usually are in areas of high […]
Continue readingMarine Invertebrate of the Week: Crust Coral
February 16, 2011 0 Comments
Crust coral, Leptastrea purpurea, are cnidarians in the family Faviidae. We are lucky to have seen this coral in Waikiki because it is actually very rare in the main Hawaiian Islands. In the picture, you can see the large corallites connected together by smooth, white tissue. A corallite is comprised of the coral polyp and […]
Continue readingMarine Invertebrate of the Week: Mantis Shrimp
February 11, 2011 4 Comments
During the survey on Wednesday morning, I noticed a Mantis shrimp hanging out right next to the transect line. I quickly snapped a picture before the shrimp darted into a hole. Mantis shrimp, also know as stomatopods, are crustaceans. They have modified forearms that are shaped like stout clubs or serrated swords, which they keep […]
Continue readingWhat are those holes on the Cauliflower coral?
February 4, 2011 0 Comments
Have you ever noticed those small holes, usually pink around the rims, on Cauliflower coral? It’s actually made by a crab. The crab (Utinomiella dimorpha), referred to as the Cauliflower Coral Crab or Kahe Point Crab, is small, only up to 1/4 of an inch. You can see a picture of what it looks like here. […]
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Reef Watch Waikīkī 