Array of pink sea fans on the Mohegan
cuckoo wrasse, but their colour does not indicate gender in the same way, although larger individuals are probably male. I find ballan wrasse social behaviour particularly fascinating( not to mention baffling!) and nearby Porthkerris, a great base for Manacles diving, is a particularly good place to observe it.
Pink Sea Fans( Eunicella verrucosa) – The currents sweeping past the Manacles carry plentiful plankton that sustains hordes of static invertebrates, which define the wonderful scenery. Most obvious here are the sea fans that, typically, are all orientated in the same plane. This will be across the main current flow, ensuring that all the polyps in each fan get good access to the drifting food supply.
Large boring sponge among sea fans on a Devon reef
Potato crisp bryozoan with a back-drop of scattered jewel anemones
Close-up of a particularly colourful Devonshire cup coral
Potato crisp bryozoan( Pentapora foliacea) – The reddish-brown mass below the ballan wrasse is a very different type of animal( despite sometimes being called ross or rose‘ coral’) but is also a colony of tiny creatures that like current-swept locations. The crevices in between its fragile folds provide shelter for a variety of small animals that could probably make a miniature‘ On the spot’ piece of their own.
Boring sponge( Cliona celata) – named after its habit of excavating into limestone, a typical example of this bright yellow sponge can be seen on the rock face behind the cuckoo wrasse.
Devonshire cup coral( Caryophyllia smithii) – Common around most of the UK, definitely not just Devon, these small animals are dotted across the rocks. Their colourful soft body and tentacles sit atop a hard skeleton but they are solitary unlike their tropical or deep-water, reef-building relatives.
Dead man’ s fingers( Alcyonium digitata) – These distinctive soft corals are mainly showing as white blobs in the photo; they are rarely seen at their best when diving is easiest at slack water. They are most often found with feeding tentacles extended and that attractive‘ furry’ appearance when there is current running.
As well as the obvious animals described, there is a‘ turf’ of encrusting animals such as hydroids and less obvious bryozoans on the rocks which, along with seabed crevices, will house a wealth of mobile critters including brittlestars, crustaceans and small fish – a rich world indeed. �
Paul’ s photos and video clips capturing UK marine life stories are on Instagram @ paulnaylormarinephoto
Ballan wrasse in another typical colour form
Dead man’ s fingers soft coral with feeding tentacles extended
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