If Someone asks where my office is based in Durban (South Africa), the simple answer is usually 'on the beach'. As a marine ecologist (taxonomist at heart), many days are spent on the beach being sand blasted or rained on while trying to complete one of the annual tasks the provincial conservation agency has set for me. Last weekend, together with my dedicated assistant (actually my husband), I completed a monthly sampling trip Reunion Rocks, just south of Durban. The weather was wonderful and the echinoderms on the rocks also played their part in a successful field trip with the exception of the asteroids who never came out to play. Various echinoderms were found and counted, except the brittle stars who were sacrificed for the project. The biggest surprise of the day was the ‘come-back’ of Tripneustes gratilla, who has not frequented the rockyshores of KwaZulu-Natal since late 2007. I have attached some photographs of some species that were found.



Mark - Checking all the specimens were in the bag


Tripneustes gratilla - Has not been seen in KZN since late 2007


Ophiomastix sp. found on Reunion rocks, south of Durban, South Africa


Sea Cucumber being baked in the sun during the low tide

During a Ragged-Tooth Shark dive operation in Sodwana Bay, during which a team of biologists were investigating the movements of Ragged-tooth sharks on the KwaZulu-Natal coast in South Africa, an interesting ophiuroid was found. After the biologists completed the annual deployment and retrieval operation of the shark listening station, the device cover was scraped in the hope to find some interesting little beasts that had settled on the device over the past year. Luck proved to be the order of the day, as an Ophiothrix sp. was found. This little brittlestar is yet to be identified but an update will be posted soon on this site. This just goes to show that when collecting echinoderms, it’s not where you look its knowing what to look for.