At this time of year the pools of water left on sandy beaches at low tide are full of shrimps, although you need to look very carefully to spot them. This one, given away only by its white legs, was hidden in a pool on the beach at Warkworth in Northumberland last weekend. Double click on the picture for a larger image and you can just make out its tail, on the left, and the pair of stalked eyes (with a white mark between them) that protrude above the sand when it buries itself. The speckled pattern on the exoskeleton of the animal provides almost perfect camouflage
In this enlarged image, above, you can see the eyes and legs a little more clearly....
Anyone going shrimping on a sandy shore would be wise to wear shoes when they wade in the shallows at this time of year because venomous weever fish feed on shrimps and when the water warms up they come inshore to catch them. This one was partially buried in the sand on Warkworth beach.
The three spines on the dorsal fin, seen erected in this disgruntled lesser weever Echiichthys vipera , are tipped with venom that causes excruciating pain for anyone who treads on one with bare feet. A trip to the beach then ends with a trip to the local A&E hospital. I rescued this fish from a gaggle of gulls that were attacking it in the shallows but were still very wary of it.
Despite their evil reputation for inflicting pain, weever fish have the most beautiful emerald eyes, set in a gold circlet. Usually the fish would be more deeply buried in the shallows, with just eyes and spines above the sand.
You can read more about weever fish at http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=3221
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