Archive for the ‘Shells’ Category
Sunday, July 18th, 2010
Here he is again carrying his very distinctive red, tube style home.
Hermit crabs or Soldier Crabs are usually very particular about their shells. Shell switching is not uncommon as the crab searches for the perfect shell. Barry and I had laid out four shells we had and it seemed that his preference was for the West Indian Top Snail shell.
We helped him shed the red tube and he gradually worked his way into his new home.
The hermit crab has four tiny legs to hold the shell in place…a fourth leg that clasps the shell and the fifth that holds the shell.
Here's a close up of the Hermit Crab's fourh and fifth legs that grasp onto the shell.
Another view of the additional much smaller legs as the Hermit Crab moves into his new shell home.
In the wild, Hermit or Soldier Crabs feed off of coconut trees, leftovers from humans, and they will scavenge dead organisms, such as fish and other crabs. By the way, if they can’t find an adequate shell, they will use such man made things as plastic glasses, tiny one person jam jars, PVC pipes or whatever they can scrounge.
OK..........finally it's time to move in !
Almost set to go and settling in.
Home Sweet Home and we're on the road again.
Hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I enjoyed photographing this little guy and helping him along in finding his new home.
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: Caribbean Hermit crab, crab, Crabs, Hermit crab, land crabs, shell, Shells, Soldier crab, West Indian Top Snail
Posted in Crabs, Crustaceans, Flora and Fauna, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands | No Comments »
Saturday, July 17th, 2010
Four new homes lie ready and waiting for this Hermit Crab I found in our wild area today
This little Soldier Crab was maneuvering quite easily with his four inch, closed pipe for a home. Barry watched him while I ran to get my camera and play realtor by looking for some shells that might make a new, more traditional home for him.
The reddish pipe or tube like container didn't look all that comfortable.
Checking out a Tulip Shell for size and fit??
Here's a West Indian Top Snail shell that our hermit crab is taking a look at.
Hermit crabs are the only crabs that are able to walk forwards!!
This shell is also known as the Magpie Shell and is a species of large edible sea snail
The West Indian Top Snail shell is very popular indeed as “housing” for the large land hermit crab species and over the years we have gathered quite a few for occasions such as this. They are found at water’s edge and the snail is known as “wilks” or sometimes as “whelks” in the islands here where they are popular food item.
Tomorrow’ post will show the hermit crab moving into his new “shell” home.
Marta
Tags: Caribbean Hermit crab, crab, Crabs, Hermit crab, hermit crabs, sea snail, seashells, shell, Shells, Soldier crab, Tulip Shell, West Indian Top Snail, whelks, wilks
Posted in Crabs, Crustaceans, Flora and Fauna, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
The Sunrise Tellin shell has to be one of the most beautiful you'll ever see with pink, yellow and white radiating stripes.
Marta
Tags: beach, shell, Shells, Sunrise Tellin, Sunrise Tellin shell, Tellin Shell
Posted in Beaches, Flora and Fauna, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
Long Bay beach today was a simply spectacular sight with such clear calm water
I decided to head to Long Bay this morning for a nice long walk on the beach. The day was picture perfect as the ocean was so calm and clear and you could see all the sand ripples in the water.
Long Bay is one of the areas that is loaded with old, discarded conch shells
We walked down to the end of the beach passing by the remnants of several Haitien Sloops that ended up on the shores of the beach. I have some photos of the sloops on this blog. You have to be a little careful when walking as the prongs from old conch shells can do some damage if stepped on.
I saw a school of small fish in the water and was able to get some photos of them since the water was crystal clear
See the school of small fish in the foreground?
I spotted a nice piece of bamboo which we can use at Harbour Club Villas to drape a bouganvillea over. We’ll place it between the villas and tie bouganvillea branches to it to form an archway of sorts.
Mike carries home the bamboo I found on the beach
Check out Long Bay as it truly is a wonderful beach for walking and just enjoying a little bit of quiet heaven on our island. Perhaps we’ll see you there.
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: beach, Beaches, Conch, conch shells, Haitien sloops, Long Bay, Long Bay beach, sloops
Posted in Beaches, Conch, Flora and Fauna, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands, fish | No Comments »
Saturday, September 26th, 2009
A south side beach offers thousands of tiny little shells lying on the sand in a large pile.
A beach walk on one of the south side beaches and a beautiful discovery………….thousands of tiny shells deposited in a large pile on the sand by the ocean.
Here's a closeup of the shells that were different colours and shapes and sizes.
Loads of shells washed up in a large pile on the beach.
Happy shelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands!
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: beach, Beaches, shell, shelling, Shells
Posted in Beaches, Flora and Fauna, Places to go, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands, What to do | No Comments »
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
A perfect afternoon on and in the water with the boys pulling us up to the sandbar..........it simply was the best
We both had family visiting so it was an opportunity to take a leisurely run out to the sand bar at Bonefish Point. We took off from our marina at Harbour Club Villas. There’s a deep water channel ( 12 feet deep or so ) to the right of the sandbar and all of a sudden you’re in a foot of water. The guys put the anchor out and then decided to walk it into the shallows.
Barry floats along in the clear water and enjoys the best view in the world
We saw some beautiful sea cushions ( see my previous post) and some smaller white starfish. Laura explored some rocks in the shallows and found numerous hermit crabs.
Laura shows me her find.............tiny little shells with crabs in them
Here's a small hermit crab just walking along the edge of the water
Barry, Tina and Sheldon stayed in the water pretty much all afternoon.
We all cooled off by staying in the water beer in hand. The Bonefish Point sandbar is on the south west tip of the island and accessible by road now. It never used to be……….the only way of getting here a few years ago was by boat or doing an excursion with Capt. Bill of Ocean Outback. This trip by the way is a great way of seeing the south shoreline. Hope you get to see this part of our island too.
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: Bonefish Point, Bonefish Point sandbar, Crabs, Harbour Club Villas, hermit crabs, Marina, sandbar, sea cushion, sea star, Shells, starfish
Posted in Animals, Beaches, Crabs, Crustaceans, Flora and Fauna, Marinas, Places to go, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands, Underwater | No Comments »
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Late afternoon and the gentle waves had thrown up a shell on the beach
An afternoon trip to “my beach” just down the road from Harbour Club Villas and there I found a beautiful shell just laying there on the smooth sand. The sun was getting low and the water was shimmering and dancing as gentle waves rolled in. Everywhere I go, there seems to be a perfect photo just waiting to be snapped.
See you on the beach!
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: beach, Harbour Club Villas, shell
Posted in Beaches, Flora and Fauna, Places to go, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands | No Comments »
Monday, July 6th, 2009
Skeletons or tests from urchins can be found on our beaches and in the sand.
The above photo shows a test from the Great Red Footed Urchin. I didn’t realise that both sand dollars and sea biscuits are urchins too.
Here's an urchin with a few spines still attached to the test
A pretty pink sea urchin test lying in the sand
Close up view of an urchin test found on the beach at the North West Point.
I just love finding these and you’ll be able to look for them too when holidaying here in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Hope to see you soon,
Marta
http://www.diving.tc
Tags: Beaches, North West Point, North West Point beach beach, Sea urchin, sea urchins, urchin, urchin tests, urchins
Posted in Animals, Beaches, Flora and Fauna, Odds and Ends, Places to go, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands | No Comments »
Saturday, July 4th, 2009
Kai collects sea urchin tests or skeletons found in the seaweed along the beach at the North West Point
Every trip out to this particular stretch of beach at the North West Point results in finding sea urchin skeletons or “tests”. There were hundreds of them this particular day and Kai and Sandra couldn’t believe their eyes at how many had been washed up and were lying in the seaweed.
Some sea urchin tests lie half buried in the sand whilst others were on the seaweed
There are more than 700 species of sea urchins and the name means sea hedgehog, hedgehog being one meaning of the word “urchin”. Some of the most frequently seen colours are black, red, brown, purple and pink.
My favourite sea urchin tests are the greenish ones...........they are so beautiful
Here's a close up ......... it's so interesting especially with that greenish tint.
Did you know that sea urchins in large populations are a good thing as they graze on algae and prevent algae overgrowth on reefs?
Happy shelling,
Marta
http://www.diving.tc
Tags: North West Point, North West Point beach, reefs, Sea urchin, sea urchin tests, sea urchins
Posted in Animals, Beaches, Flora and Fauna, Odds and Ends, Places to go, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands, Underwater | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009
Chitons are unusual creatures that cling to the rocks
Have you ever wandered through the water at low tide and checked out the rocks? For sure you’ll see these interesting looking things attached to the rocks. They are called Chitons, Coat of Mail shells or more locally by the colourful name of “suck rock”. Chitons are armoured, oval shaped creatures that live on the rocks around the tide line and basically are almost impossible to pry off the rocks.
A common resident of the Turks and Caicos Islands is the Fuzzy Chiton and this one had star barnacles living on its' plates
These animals or mollusks are characterised by eight armoured plates. The West Indian Fuzzy Chiton is medium sized and you don’t often notice them because their colour and texture is similar to the rocks on which they live and therefore they blend in. I thought the above photo was unusual because of the tiny star barnacles (also a mollusk) living on it’s back.
Here's a closeup of the West Indian Fuzzy Chiton showing the barnacles.
Apparently the Lucayan Tainos used to harvest the chitons by using tools made from conch shells. They were somehow able to get the meat inside without smashing the plates. The small strip of chiton meat is salty, rubbery and a little slimy.
This chiton shell was found by a guest of Harbour Club Villas and it has the most beautiful markings.
If you are out exploring any of Providenciales’ rocky shoreline, stop to take a look and see if you can find these interesting mollusks.
See you on the rocks!!
Marta
http://www.diving.tc
Tags: Barnacles, chiton, chitons, Coat of Mail shells, Conch, Fuzzy chitons, intertidal rocks, Lucayan, mollusk, Mollusks, rocky shoreline, Star Barnacles, subtidal rocks, Tainos, West Indian Fuzzy Chiton
Posted in Animals, Flora and Fauna, History, Mollusks, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos History, Turks and Caicos Islands | No Comments »