Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine - January 2018

Carriacou’s Underwater Curiosities
by Rowena Barton
no eyes and its rear end is safely tucked up in the reef with only the front one-third
of its body out foraging. It can grow to two metres. It is not that uncommon but,
thanks to its good camouflage, it was only described in 1980!
At the Westsider wreck site, while watching the many stingrays, I spotted a
Magnificent Sea Urchin on the bottom at about 28 metres. They are described as rare
in all sources I have found and they are meant to live at depth, beyond most scuba
divers. I must be very lucky — this is the second one I have seen in my five years in
the Caribbean. The other one was while snorkelling at two metres deep in Deshaies,
Guadeloupe. There must be more to learn about them. Both of mine were orangey,
thus juveniles. The adults have a more purple colour, so maybe the young ones live
in the shallows.
My partner, Richard, and I were in Carriacou in October 2017, so we decided to
join Lumbadive for the Pure Grenada Dive Fest, a four-day event planned by the
Grenada Scuba Diving Association from October 11th to 14th to showcase diving in
Grenada and its sister islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique. This was to be six
dives with different themes on each day. The dive sites are so full of life and colour
that we could not resist a few more!
JANUARY 2018 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 32
Clockwise from top:
Red Serpent Brittle Star
Juvenile Smooth Trunkfish
Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber
Adult Smooth Trunkfish
Magnificent Sea Urchin
Hairy Clinging Crab
There was all the usual sealife in abundance, but I saw several unusual and interesting
creatures, too.
A Hairy Clinging Crab was hiding inside a sponge, which is typical behaviour for
this occasional-to-rare member of the Spider Crab family. The carapace can be up
to ten centimetres but this one was only about half that size. The debris behind him
in the sponge could have been his old shell, or maybe just his leftovers.
There was another Spider Crab on a sandy patch, a Speck-Claw Decorator Crab,
the carapace only about two centimetres. In spite of its red-and-white specked claws
and black beady eyes, all the bits of sponge and other debris attached to its back
make it virtually invisible in my photographs. If it had moved I may have got a better
photograph, but their defense is to stay still, relying on the camouflage.
On Sisters Rock, a Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber was feeding in the sand. I could see
its mouthparts moving as it sucked up sand. It then filters out edible detritus. It has
Hiding in another sponge was a Red Serpent Brittle Star, absolutely still right at
the bottom, with a juvenile Queen Angelfish as a restless housemate. This Brittle
Star can grow to about 30 centimetres but this one was about half that size. These
carnivores come out at night to feed on worms, snails, crustaceans and even small
fish. Sometimes they stand tall on their long legs and wait for prey to swim underneath
and then swoop down and swallow them. Scary!
The cutest was by far the juvenile Smooth Trunkfish. It is about as big as a thumbnail
and the little fins and tail are virtually invisible, so it looks like a black and white
spotted ball bobbing about the reef and magically disappearing into crevices. I think
we all know the adult ones as they whizz about like clockwork toys hunting worms,
molluscs, small crustaceans and even tunicates. They do have a dark side though.
When they are stressed they can produce ostracitoxin that can kill other fish.
These are just some of the interesting creatures that inhabit our Caribbean Sea
floor. There are many more out there to find, so see you under the water!
All the pictures were taken on my Olympus Tough TG-4 compact camera.
I have been sailing the Caribbean since 2013 on Galene, a 36-foot Westerly Corsair
ketch with my partner, Richard Mayhew.