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| Creamy mallows, and blushing Ipomoeas. Blue skies and a bright sun. |
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| The waters glimmer and shimmer. I look hopefully. No dolphins sighted. |
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| But hello, what is this? The waves washed over it and it moved tentatively. that one claw looked a bit disjointed. Actually it looked "dirty". See the pink and the brown cover. Yuvan wondered if it was a Decorator Crab. Eh? |
And so I learnt about decorator crabs which cover themselves with all sorts of things as part of camouflage - from seaweed to coral bits, to even moss and sea anemones. Who would have thought!
I also got a response from Vardhan patankar, via Manish Chandi that this is a spider crab, genus Doclea. "Quite common across the Indian coastline, he said. Seen it on the Goa coasts.
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| Bivalves were all over the intertidal area - Siliqua radiata - all empty shells. |
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| This tower snail (Turritella), seemed to be alive and on the move - see the trail behind it. |
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| This Plough Snail was alive too. The snail foot was moving. Such beautiful texture and delicate colouring of its shell. |
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| Ipomoea pes-caprae - a beautiful sight in the mornings. |
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| A Chalky Percher rested on the sands. |
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| I almost missed this ghost crab - it was a brave one - stared at me and didn't vanish down its hole. |
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| Pretty dishes, facing the sun. |
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| With their two lobed thick leaves |
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| Can't seem to get enough of them. |
More, next time.
23rd Feb 2025 - Patan Continued from here. Once again, we needed to check out by 8am and head for breakfast. We were ready early and dec...
