Semakau Walk on 31 Jan

As promised, there's my blog post! (: Went to Semakau for walk this afternoon! :D It was my 2nd OJT and my lead guide was Peiya. Had a group of students from Punggol Sec and I realised that they're all as old as me! Haha. The weather was quite hot in the afternoon but when we reached Semakau, some dark clouds are starting to form in the sky. I was hoping that it won't rain and i'm glad that it didn't.

This was taken at the Southern most point of Singapore that is accessible to the public during the landfill tour. Tadaaa the dark clouds were forming x_x

The first animal that we saw is the male Orange Fiddler Crab (Uca vocans)! The male Fiddler Crabs have a gigantic right claw to show its 'sexiness' to the females. The males will wave their big claws to attract mates. The bigger the claw, the 'sexier' they are because it shows that they have the resources and the ability to protect the females. This is very important in the animal world as they need to pass on their genes and ensure the survival of their own kind. However, the big claw may also be a burden to the males as they have to rely on their left claw to feed themselves. Also, the claw makes them more vulnerable to predators as they can be spotted easily.

These little brown things that we see almost everywhere at the sandy area are sponges! Many thought that they are plants, but they're actually pore-bearing animals that filter feeds on the tiny particles in the water. Some may start to think of Spongebob but unlike Spongebob, real sponges do not have legs and don't move around much too. Although these sponges may look very cute, it is important that we should not touch them because they have tiny spikes in them called spicules, which can sting quite badly. Hands that got stung may develop allergic reaction or even go numb!

Group of Gobies before they enter the 'Death Zone' at the Seagrass lagoon.

The first Sea Cucumber of the day - the Synaptid Sea Cucumber! Although this may look like a worm or a little snake, it is actually a sea cucumber! This species of sea cucumber has very thin body wall, thus we should not handle them out of water as their body may break.

The second Sea Cucumber, the Sandfish Sea Cucumber (Holothuria scabra)! This is the species that we usually find on our dining tables. However, they must be properly processed before it can be consumed.

Sea stars! Many of them were excited to see so many sea stars around them. This is the Sand-sifting Sea Star (Archaster typicus). The pair at the top is mating! During mating, the male will climb onto the female and alternate his arms with hers. Then they'll release their eggs and sperms into the surround water and external fertlization will take place. The one at the bottom is a 4-armed seastar! Isn't it cute? :D

Along the way, we saw a moon snail (Polinices mammilla)! We're actually very lucky to be able to see this as it usually only comes out at night to hunt for food. Although the white shell may look very pretty and harmless, it is actually a fierce predator! It feeds on smaller bivalves and snails. Thus, we should not judge the book by its cover. (:

An Anemone Shrimp (Periclimenes brevicarpalis)! There were actually two of them there but only managed to take picture of one of them. Usually, the Anemone Shrimp will hang around the Carpet Anemone as it provides the Anemone Shrimp with shelter and protection. Similar to other anemones, the Carpet Anemone can sting too. Thus, we should not handle them with our bare hands.

As we walked further out, our hunter seekers found us this very beautiful Flat Worm (Acanthozoon sp.) which is swimming gracefully in the water. As the name suggests, it is a very very flat animal. Being flat, it can hide in small crevices or go into small cracks to feed on stuff like sponges or other small animals. As they're very flat, it makes them very fragile too, thus we should not handle them with our bare hands as they may break into pieces.

Along with the Flat Worm, there is this Polka Dot Nudribranch (Jorunna funebris) beside it too. Nudibranch literally means naked gills which is present on the back of the animal. This is also another animal that we should not touch as it may discharge toxins when disturbed.

These little cute round things are the Cushion Stars (Culcita novaeguineae)! They have some colour variations and i personally like the yellow one more (: Like the other Sea Stars and Sea Cucumbers, they have a water vascular system in them. Sea water to them is like blood to us, thus we should not leave them out of the water for too long as they may end up very stressed.

Beside the Cushion stars, there is a Noble Volute (Cymbiola nobilis). This one is laying its egg capsules thus we did not touch it. Many people actually likes to collect them as it has a very beautiful shell.

As we walked more, there is an Upside-down Jellyfish (Cassiopea sp.)! Unlike other Jellyfish, this species likes to stay upside-down as they have algae living in its tentacles which helps it to photosynthesize and provite the plant with more food.

Finally, we met the Star of Semakau - the Knobbly Sea Stars (Protoreaster nodosus)! They're called the Knobblies probably because of the knob sthat they have on their arms and body. This species has a hard Calcium Carbonate skeleton and protects it like an armour. Some of these sea stars can grow even larger than our faces! When you look at the underside of the sea star, you can see little tube feet that helps them move about.

Also, we saw this Swimming Crab (Thalamita crenata)! Some fishermen like to collect these for food. They have a pair of paddle-like hind legs which enables them to swim very fast in water.

We also managed to see a Gymnodoris rubropapulosa before reaching the reef edge. Although it may look very cute and harmless, this nudibranch actually exhibits cannibalistic behaviour thus we should not put two of them together as they may end up eating each other!

Another nudibranch (Phyllidiella nigra)! This is one of the most toxic nudibranchs.

Some of them spotted this Snapping Shrimp (Alpheus sp.). It may snap very loudly when it wants so stun its prey. Also, it may snap its claws when disturbed. They can swim quite fast thus we're quite lucky to be able to see it today.

 This is probably the thing that amazed me the most today. On the left, it is the ULTRA BIG Ocellated Sea Cucumber (Stichopus ocellatus). Ocellated means fake eyes which refers to the spots present on the body of the Sea Cucumber. This is the biggest one that i've ever seen. LOL.
On the right, it is the Stonefish Sea Cucumber (Actinopyga lecanora). The body feels very smooth and slimey.

And finally, we reached our resident Giant Clam (Tridacna squamosa)! Giant clams are the largest clams we have in the world. It is amazing that we have a giant clam in such shallow waters as it is usually found at deeper parts of the water. There are actually symbiotic algae that lives in the tissue of the giant clam. They can photosynthesize and share their food with the clam.

Had a long but enjoyable today today! (: Hope you all learnt something and hope that you liked the walk! :D Thankyou for listening to us, and thankyou peiya! (:

And of courseee, we have the lovely Goby girls! :D