Ephemera

“Something transitory; lasting a day”

Last updated 7/12/2008

All materials © 2008 Terry L. Morse. All rights reserved.

Lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox)

Nye Beach, Newport, Oregon, 14 May 2008
I normally go down to the beach at Yaquina Bay State Park and walk north. Today I decided to take the ramp at Don Davis (City of Newport) Park and go south. This was fortunate because, as I headed down the ramp, I saw something long and skinny wriggling around on the wet sand near the tide line, surrounded by a small group of people. The tide seemed about to overtake the wriggler (although it was actually going out), so I hurried to see it. It was a 4' (120 cm) long longnosed lancetfish. The skin of the lancetfish appears irridescent. Its dorsal fin resembles a small sailfish sail. The side of the tail stock is keeled (ridged), as you can see in the lower left photo. The lancetfish has small, sharp teeth in its jaws, and longer, dagger-like teeth in the roof of its mouth. You can see this in the lower right photo, along with the fish’s gorgeous blue eyes.
A well-meaning passerby (left) decided to rescue the fish by dragging it back into the water, although he had been told that others had already tried it and that the fish was too weak to hold its own against the surf. Eventually, he tired of walking the fish around to aerate its gills and let it go. The surf then drove it into nearby rocks (below). Sometimes it is best to let nature take its course. [This photo is posed to the extent that it was taken after I pulled the fish out of the water, where it had been jammed between some rocks.]
The formidable teeth should tell you that the lancetfish is a predator. It ranges from the Aleutian islands south to Chile and hunts offshore waters from near the surface to about 6000' (1800 meters) deep. According to A Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes of North America, by Eschmeyer, Herald, and Hammann, lancetfishes are “rarely encountered; sometimes wash[ing] up on beaches or occasionally caught on halibut longlines or trolling gear.” For more information, see the Wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alepisauridae.

Bill Hanshumaker, a marine educator at Hatfield Marine Science Center, tells me that he has heard of four washing up on Newport area beaches and one in Pacific City since April, an unusually large number. All were alive when they first stranded. Bill collected this one to use in public education programs. According to Andre Hagestedt of beachconnection.net, ten more have been reported between Cannon Beach and Warrenton, on the northern Oregon coast. If you have a sighting to report, e-mail me. Please include your name and contact information, the date and location of the sighting, about how large the fish was and its condition (alive but weak, dead, etc.). Thank you. Watch for updated information (if any) here.
A Cellophane Coating for Nye Beach

27 June 2008
From time to time, the tubes of a polychaete worm, Spiochaetopterus costarum, wash up on Northwest beaches. They were particularly dense on Nye Beach in late June and early July this year.
The left photo above shows the broad band of worm tubes washed up on Nye Beach, extending far into the distance. The closeup at right shows how densely packed the tubes were in places. Spiochaetopterus is a polychaete (pronounced “polly-keet”) worm, informally called “cellophane worm” because of its soft, membranous tube coated with sand grains. The worms live on sandy bottoms in the protection of their tubes and feed on particles of food collected with a net made of mucous. Waves sometimes wash masses of tubes up on the beach. For more information, see the Oregon Sea Grant pamphlet, Flotsam, Jetsam, and Wrack, available at http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/sgpubs/onlinepubs/g01002.pdf
A Fistful of Jellies

Nye Beach, Newport, Oregon, 11 July 2008
This has been an unusual year in that very few jellyfish, comb jellies, or by-the-wind sailor hydrozoans (Velella velella) have stranded on Oregon beaches, including Nye Beach. That changed today, with a minor stranding of penicillate jellies (Polyorchis penicillatus). I counted an average of one jelly washed up per 10 meters of swash line.
Last October, I collected some stranded penicillate jellies from the beach. They revived when put in fresh sea water (see photo below). I tried the same thing today, but only one of four jellies showed any sign of life, and that was very weak.
If you look closely, you can see a ring of tiny red eyes at the base of the jellyfish’s bell.. Date of photo 11 July 2008.
Penicillate Jellies Rescued from the Beach, 20 October 2007
Click on the aquarium to see a 30 second (1 MB) video of the jellyfish swimming. [The clip may take awhile to download, depending on your internet connection speed.]
© 2008 Terry L. Morse. All rights reserved.