Bar-tailed lark - Ammomanes cinctura (Gould, 1839) - Μικρή αμμογαλιάντρα - Αμμοτράσιηλος - Cyprus

The bar-tailed lark, or bar-tailed desert lark, (Ammomanes cinctura) is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae. Two other species, the rufous-tailed lark and the Cape clapper lark are both also sometimes referred to using the name bar-tailed lark. It is found from Morocco to Pakistan. Its natural habitat is hot deserts. This is in many places a common species, but elsewhere rather less common. It has a very wide distribution and faces no obvious threats, but surveys have shown that it is slowly decreasing in numbers. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern"

The bar-tailed lark was originally placed in the genus Melanocorypha. Alternate names for the bar-tailed lark include: bar-tailed finch-lark, black-tailed desert lark, black-tailed lark, and black-tailed sand lark.

The bar-tailed lark is similar to the desert lark in appearance, but at 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in), is slightly smaller, with a smaller, more domed head, a smaller beak, thinner legs and a shorter tail. The upper parts are sandy-buff washed with grey, while the underparts are whitish with little if any streaking, and the breast and flanks washed with buff. The rufous wings have dark trailing edges and the rufous tail has a terminal black band

The bar-tailed lark has a large distribution across North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East and western Asia. Its range includes Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Cape Verde, Chad, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara and Yemen. Its typical habitat is sandy or stony desert or semi desert, with low scrubby vegetation. It is generally shier than the desert lark and has a preference for level ground whereas the desert lark tends to frequent rocky slopes and hillsides.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar-tailed_lark


Photos and video Cape Greco 14/4/2017 by George Konstantinou 

Photos and video Cape Greco 11/4/2023 by George Konstantinou

 

Ixodes vespertilionis

Silene behen L. - Cyprus

Silene is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Containing approximately 700 species, it is the largest genus in the family. Common names include campion (which is shared with the related genus Lychnis) and catchfly. Many Silene species are widely distributed, particularly in the northern hemisphere

Silene is the feminine form of Silenus, a Greek woodland deity.

Silene undulata (syn. S. capensis) is known as iindlela zimhlophe ("white paths") by the Xhosa of South Africa. A Xhosa diviner identifies and collects the plant from the wild. The roots are ground, mixed with water, and beaten to a froth, which is consumed by novice diviners during the full moon to influence their dreams. They also take it to prepare for various rituals. The root has such a strong, musky essence that the diviners who consume it exude the scent in their sweat

Silene was originally described by Linnaeus, and members of this genus have been the subject of research by preeminent plant ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and geneticists, including Charles Darwin, Gregor Mendel, Carl Correns, Herbert G. Baker, and Janis Antonovics. Many Silene species continue to be widely used study systems, particularly in the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology. The genus has been used as a model for understanding the genetics of sex determination for over a century. Silene species commonly contain a mixture of hermaphroditic and female (or male-sterile) individuals (gynodioecy), and early studies by Correns showed that male sterility could be maternally inherited, an example of what is now known as cytoplasmic male sterility. Two independent groups of species in Silene have evolved separate male and female sexes (dioecy) with chromosomal sex determination that is analogous to the system found in humans and other mammals. Silene flowers are frequently visited by flies, such as Rhingia campestris.[9] Silene species have also been used to study speciation, host-pathogen interactions, biological species invasions, adaptation to heavy-metal-contaminated soils, metapopulation genetics, and organelle genome evolution. Notably, some members of the genus Silene hold the distinction of harboring the largest mitochondrial genomes ever identified.

If the related genera Lychnis, Melandrium, and Viscaria are included in Silene, it contains about 700 species. Divisions of the genus into subgenera or sections before 2003 do not seem to be well-supported by molecular evidence
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silene

Photos Lapithos 2017 by George Konstantinou

Forkbeard - Phycis phycis (Linnaeus, 1766) - Σαλούβαρδος ή γάρος - Cyprus

Phycis phycis, the forkbeard, is a species of phycid hakes in the family Phycidae

Genus and species names Phycis derive from Greek, phykon meaning seaweed, as these fishes usually live hidden among seaweeds.

Phycis phycis commonly can reach a length of 25 centimetres (9.8 in), with a maximum length of 65 centimetres (26 in) in males.

These fishes have a wide mouth with thick lips. A barbel is present on the chin. They do not have any thorn in the fins, but show elongated pelvic-fin rays reduced to bifid filaments, with 2 soft rays. The dorsal fin is a double and rounded (the first can have 9 or 11 soft rays, the second 56 or 65). The caudal fin is rounded, with 27 or 29 soft rays. Vertical fins distally reaching the origin of the anal fin. They are dark, sometimes with a pale margin. Body color is dark brown or gray on the back, but ventrally the color becomes paler.

Forkbeards are nocturnal, during the day they hide between rocks. They feed on small fish and several species of invertebrates. Breeding takes place from January to May. They are relatively slow growing and long lived fishes.

This species is present in the western Mediterranean, in Portugal and in western coast of northern Africa and the Azores. These fishes live on hard and sandy-muddy bottoms close to the rocks usually, at depths of 100–650 m.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phycis_phycis

Underwater photos  by Kostas Aristeidou

Spiny starfish - Marthasterias glacialis (Linnaeus, 1758) - Cyprus

Marthasterias is a genus of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is monotypic and the only species in the genus is Marthasterias glacialis, commonly known as the spiny starfish. It is native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

Marthasterias glacialis is a fairly large starfish with a small central disc and five slender, tapering arms. Each arm has three longitudinal rows of conical, whitish spines, usually with purple tips, each surrounded by a wreath of pedicellariae. The background colour is variable and may be brownish or greenish-grey, tinged with yellow or red and sometimes with purple at the tips of the arms. This species can grow to 70 cm (28 in) but a more usual size is 25 to 30 cm (10 to 12 in). It is sometimes confused with the northern starfish Leptasterias muelleri.

Marthasterias glacialis is native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Its range extends from Iceland to the Azores and the Mediterranean Sea, and it has been observed in South Africa. Around the British Isles it is limited to the western side of Scotland, Wales, the western part of southern England and most of Ireland. Its depth range is subtidal down to about 200 m (656 ft) and it is found on both sheltered muddy substrates and on rocks.

Like other starfish in the family Asteriidae, Marthasterias glacialis is a predator and feeds mostly on bivalve molluscs and other invertebrates. It has been found that secondary metabolites known as saponins, found within the starfish's tissues, have a dramatic effect on the whelk Buccinum undatum. At low concentrations they cause the mollusc to withdraw from the vicinity of the starfish and at higher concentrations they cause convulsions in the mollusc's musculature. The sea urchins Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis and Psammechinus miliaris are also affected by the chemicals. S. droebachiensis flees but P. miliaris has toxic pedicellariae and is able to defend itself.

The reproductive biology of this starfish has been little studied but off the coast of Ireland, individuals gather together in very shallow water in July and August. A few days later, on a warm afternoon, they have been observed to arch their bodies and release spawn into the sea. A rise in the water temperature seems to have triggered the spawning. Male starfish as small as 2.5 cm (1 in) were observed to spawn, and females of at least 9 cm (3.5 in) diameter.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marthasterias

Underwater photos  by Costas Constantinou

Vermileonidae - Wormlions - Cyprus

Family: Vermileonidae

The Brachyceran family Vermileonidae (the sole member of the infraorder Vermileonomorpha) is a small family of uncertain affinities and unusual biology, containing fewer than 80 rare species in 10 genera. Historically the Vermileonids had been regarded as belonging to the family Rhagionidae, possibly in a subfamily Vermileoninae. Their biology and morphology is so markedly distinct from the main Rhagionidae sensu stricto, that the placement as a separate family has been widely accepted.

Larvae

The larvae of vermileonids are called wormlions which amounts to a direct translation of Vermileo. They have evolved the same elaborate mechanism for trapping prey, as one sees in many species of the Neuropteran family Myrmeleontidae, the so-called "antlions"; that is, they make cone-shaped "pits" in sandy areas and feed on insects that fall into the pits. The mechanism is elegant in that in both groups of insects, the larva creates the pit by flinging particles out. Much of the material falls back, coming to rest at effectively the critical angle of repose.

Thus, when a small insect, commonly an ant, blunders into the pit, its weight causes the sand to collapse below it, drawing the victim toward the center, where the larva lies in wait under a thin layer of loose sand. As soon as it is alerted by falling sand grains, the larva assists this process by vigorously flicking more sand out from the center of the pit. This undermines the pit walls and causes them to collapse toward the center. The sand that the larva now is flinging also pelts the prey with so much loose, rolling material as to prevent it from getting any foothold on the easier slopes that the initial collapse of the slope has presented. The combined effect is to bring the prey down to within grasp of the larva, which then can inject venom and digestive fluids.

Unlike the pit-digging Myrmeleontidae, vermileonid larvae do not travel round and round while digging the pit trap. Instead, they simply lie at the centre with the rear end buried, and dig their heads repeatedly into the sand, flinging it out by vigorously straightening their fore ends. Finally, they cover themselves with a thin layer of sand while lying across the bottom of the cone.

The main enemies of the larvae of either antlions or wormlions are ground-hunting birds such as hoopoes and gallinaceous birds that learn to recognise their pits and probe or scratch them from the sand. If alarmed by such activity, the wormlion larva retracts abruptly into an S-shape under the sand, and if dug out, it retains that shape, not having much option for an alternative strategy at its disposal. Actually, because its skin is coated with sand, and it is very small, it is very easy to overlook while it lies still. However, if it is sufficiently teased after being dug out, it may begin to lash about powerfully, flinging itself away with enough force to escape its tormentor. It does not, however, hook its mouthparts into its hinder end to achieve an efficient leap such as some fruit fly and carrion fly larvae do.

The 10th and 11th segments of the larva each carries a transverse row of long hooklets that it uses in anchoring itself and in shifting sand. The fifth segment has a ventral pseudopod that helps to hold prey. Not having sickle jaws like an antlion, the larva grasps prey by lashing forward and catching the victim by bending the head down to catch it between its two fang-like jaws and its pseudopod.

Like antlion larvae, vermileonid larvae are primarily found in sandy habitats, often semideserts, usually in the shelter of rocks or bushes, and they are voracious predators. The adults are slender, fragile flies, vaguely reminiscent of small crane flies. The adults generally visit flowers for nectar, but adults of some species may not feed at all. Most vermileonid species are found in the drier regions of the western parts of Africa, from the Cape to Morocco, and also in the western parts of the Iberian Peninsula, mainly in Portugal. Info from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermileonidae

Pupal stage

Adult stage 

Photos and Video at Strovolos 20/3/2017, by Michael Hadjiconstantis

Green algae - Palmophyllum crassum (Naccari, 1828) - Cyprus

Palmophyllum crassum is a species of alga.

Underwater photos  by Kostas Aristeidou

Banded Tube Anemone - Pachycerianthus maua - Cyprus

The Banded Tube Anemone Pachycerianthus maua is a nocturnal animal, so it is usually withdrawn during the daylight hours. After dark, however, is when they will push their oral disc out of their tube and extend their tentacles to feed. The aquarist can peak into the “night life” of these curious anemones by Illuminating the nighttime aquarium with a red light, and keeping movements slow.
From http://animal-world.com/Aquarium-Coral-Reefs/Banded-Tube-Anemone

Underwater photos  by Costas Constantinou