CNY Day 3: Seringat-Kias

It's CNY Day 3 and we are at the reclaimed shores of Seringat-Kias, which is also connected to Lazarus Island.

We enjoyed the pinkish sunset after the rain that poured when we arrived! There's a bloom of the Sea lettuce (Ulva sp.) seaweed that covered the intertidal stretches of the shore.

I was surprised to find the huge Forskal's sidegill slug (Pleurobranchus forskalii) on the seagrass meadow! It's our first time seeing them on this shore.

And thereafter, many more were sighted, including a cute baby one (on bottom right)! This slug is often found in shallow lagoons, reef crests and pools and sea grass beds.

I was searching high and low for the Knobbly sea stars (Protoreaster nodosus) and was heartened to find a baby individual. Believe more of them are at the deeper ends which were not possible to check out due to murky waters after the rain.

When I first found this anemone, it was just a black blob as shown on the left. So I went to touch the body column to check out and it started to reveal its tentacles. Low and behold, it was the Haeckel's anemone (Actinostephanus haeckeli) which are known to sting very badly. Thank God I didn't come in contact with its tentacles. 

After the rain, more critters started coming out, such as this uncommon Spotted moon snails (Natica gualteriana). As the name suggests, they can be identified through the spots on their body.

It's been a while we last saw the Starry flatworm (Pseudobiceros stellae) on this shore. Was nice to see it again.

As usual there were several Common sea stars (Archaster typicus) and that includes the baby versions.

Ria found the special Sundial snail (Architectonica perspectiva)! This beautiful snail produces a detailed pattern of bands and spots and they have rather flattened shells that coil to form a flat disc-shape with a flat base. Interestingly, they feed on the polyps of various types of corals and sea anemones!

Here's a peek at the striped tentacles as it took forever to get easy and come out of its shell.

What can we find at the deeper ends? It was nice to see good growths of the Sickle seagrass (Thalassia hemprichii). These seagrasses are listed as 'Critically Endangered' on the Red List of threatened plants of Singapore.

Below the seawall are many hard corals that have established itself after reclamation. That includes several soft corals.

As well as hard corals!

A special find by Dr Huang Danwei and his students would be this Fluted giant clam (Tridacna squamosa)!

How lovely to have the rainbow right in front of our eyes!

And it's my first time seeing the foot of the rainbow so close. Too bad, the pot of gold is nowhere to be seen. It could be underwater! Haha. :)

More photos of the trip here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154979939158158.1073741933.547198157&type=1&l=7a55d0bbed