Fluffy Sculpin

Posted on April 12, 2024 by tspuckler

While tidepooling in Central California, we found a few examples of this cool fish.

The Fluffy Sculpin (also known as the Lizard Fish) inhabits the coastal northwestern Pacific Ocean, ranging from Kodiak, Alaska to Baja California. Individuals reach up to 3-1/2 inches in length and are commonly found in tidepools; they are often associated with algae.

The Fluffy Sculpin varies significantly in color and pattern, with a spotted or mottled pattern ranging from emerald green to reddish, to pink with a blue underbelly. They are difficult to detect in their native environment as their blotchy camouflage pattern matches well with their surroundings.

This fish has no scales, but rather has “fluffy flesh” behind its dorsal fin for which it gets its name.

The Fluffy Sculpin is a predator, with a diet consisting mainly of amphipods and polychaete worms. Larger individuals also feed on small shrimp and crabs.

As with many other intertidal fishes, a homing mechanism has been documented in this species. It is suggested that Fluffy Sculpins occupy home ranges of more than one pool. It is also suggested that the fluctuating intertidal environment demands that these fish be able to find and recognize safe spots.

If conditions deteriorate in the pool inhabited by the Fluffy Sculpin when the tide is out, it is able to leave the water and breathe air. This species is a particularly interesting air breather, because its respiratory rates in air and in water are similar and stable.

This is a super cool fish that not only is common, but is also fun to find, due to its variablilty in appearance.

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Sidewinder

Posted on April 5, 2024 by tspuckler

This is a small (usually about two feet) rattlesnake that I occasionally encounter on my visits to the Las Vegas area. The species is nocturnal during hot months (April to October) and diurnal during the cooler months of its activity period, which is roughly from November to March.

The common name “sidewinder” alludes to its unusual sideways form of locomotion, moving its body moving in an S-shaped curve, which is thought to give it traction on loose desert sand. It is often found in arid desert flatlands, loose, sandy washes, hard pan flats and rocky areas. I have only found them at night crossing little-used roads.

This snake is usually light tan in color with dark spots. It has rough, keeled scales, which aid in its unique sidewinding locomotion. The projections over each eye (called supraoculars) are pointed and upturned, giving them a horn-like appearance – providing this reptile with the nickname, “Horned Rattlesnake.”

Juveniles twitch their tails to attract lizard prey, a behavior termed “caudal luring.” Adults lose this behavior as they make the transition from lizard prey to a primary diet of desert rodents, birds, and other snakes.

Like other rattlesnakes, Sidewinders give birth to live offspring, producing an average of 10 babies per litter. Baby Sidewinders engage in a remarkable behavioral homeothermy (thermoregulation that maintains a stable internal body temperature regardless of external influence) that has not been observed in any other type of snake. Following birth, they mass together in their natal burrow. Most often, gravid females select an east-facing, small-diameter rodent burrow for giving birth.

For the first week or so of their lives, babies plug the entrance to this burrow during daylight hours, forming a dynamic multiple-individual mass that takes advantage of the hot exterior environment and the cool interior of the burrow to maintain an average aggregate temperature of 90°F (the optimal temperature for shedding). The dynamic mass of neonates modifies the thermal environment at the burrow entrance so that the young can occupy a location that would ordinarily become lethally hot for an individual snake.

Sidewinders have an extraordinarily accelerated lifecycle, with natural life expectancies of females of about 5 years. Like other rattlesnakes, they are a pit vipers and use venom to subdue their prey.

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Robber Fly

Posted on March 29, 2024 by tspuckler

I have seen this cool insect from as close as just outside my back door, to both the East Coast and West Coast – and a number of places in between.

Also known as “Assassin Flies,” their common name reflects their aggressive predatory behavior; they feed mainly on other insects that they catch in flight.

Robber Flies are powerfully built. They attack their prey by stabbing it with their short, strong, pointed tubular mouthpart. They have long, strong legs that are bristled to aid in capturing prey.

The mouthpart, known as a proboscis, injects the victim with saliva containing neurotoxic and proteolytic enzymes which very rapidly paralyze the prey and soon digest the insides. The Robber Fly then sucks the liquefied material through its proboscis.

These creatures hunt a very wide range of prey, including other flies, beetles, butterflies and moths, bees, ants, dragonflies and damselflies, wasps, grasshoppers and some spiders.

Robber Flies often establish a “perching zone” in which to locate potential prey. The height of the perch may vary, but they are generally in open, sunny locations.

Though they vary widely in appearance, Robber Flies have a characteristic divot on top of the head, which is located between their especially prominent compound eyes.

Different species vary in appearance and some types mimic wasps and bees. Most species are gray-to-black and have a long, narrow, tapering abdomen containing segments that may be banded or contrasting in color.

It is fun to come across the many different types of this very interesting invertebrate wherever I go.

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Beavertail Cactus

Posted on March 22, 2024 by tspuckler

While hiking through the Arizona and Nevada desert, I often seen this classic arid-land plant. Found in the southwestern United States, it occurs mostly in the Mojave, Anza-Borrego, and Colorado Deserts, as well as in the Colorado Plateau and northwest Mexico.

Beavertail Cactus looks like the Prickly Pear Cactus, but does not have long spines. This is a medium-to-small species that grows to about a foot tall, with pink-to-rose colored flowers. This plant can be found in chaparral, desert and grassland. It grows in well drained soil composed of sand, gravel, cobble and even on boulders.

A single plant may consist of hundreds of fleshy, flattened pads. These gray-green, jointed stems are wide and flat resembling the tail of a Beaver. Although they lack spines, they have many small barbed bristles, called glochids, that easily penetrate the skin.

The Cahuilla Native Americans used this plant as a food staple. Its buds were cooked or steamed, and then were eaten or stored. Its large seeds were ground up to be eaten as mush. The Desert Tortoise enjoys eating the juicy pads and the magenta-colored flowers of this plant.

Beavertail is usually the first cactus in the Mojave Desert to bloom, flowering as early as February and through May.

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Louisiana Swamp Crayfish

Posted on March 15, 2024 by tspuckler

I have found this brightly colored crustacean while visiting both southern Nevada and southern California.

The Lousiana Swamp Crayfish is found in rivers, bayous, swamps, ditches, ponds, lakes, and rice fields throughout the southcentral United States and northeastern Mexico. It seems to prefer flooded wetland habitats with periodically flowing, well-oxygenated water. This species retreats into burrows when surface water dries up.

This creature is a physical ecosystem engineer, constructing burrows consisting of a single opening, which may be covered with a mud plug or raised above ground level in the form of a chimney to reduce evaporative loss further from the water’s edge. The opening leads to a tunnel which widens to an enlarged chamber at the end.

Crayfish are opportunistic omnivores. They can detect small amounts of blood and decomposition scents in the water to track down and feed on partially decomposed plant material, living soft plants, and virtually any type of animal matter.

The Lousiana Swamp Crayfish is a very successful invasive species. Not only can it be found in many parts of the United States where it is not native, but can also be found in inland waters on all continents except Australia and Antarctica. In the United States it is readily available though the biological supply trade and specimens and is sometimes released following classroom or laboratory use. It is also popular among anglers as bait for Largemouth Bass.

Part of the reason it is now found in other countries is importation for crayfish farming. Eating freshwater crayfish is common in many countries. The first known introductions of this species took place in the 1920s: 1924 in California and 1927 in the Hawaiian Islands, 1927 in Japan, and 1929 in China. In the mid-1960s, a batch of crayfish was sent to Uganda and Kenya, and soon afterwards, to other African countries.

The life cycle of the Louisiana Swamp Crayfish is relatively short, with an onset of sexual maturity occurring in as few as two months and a total generation time of four and a half months. Although they look attractive (for a crustacean), this species competes aggressively with native crayfish species for food and habitat.

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Black-headed Grosbeak

Posted on March 8, 2024 by tspuckler

While hiking on Mount Charleston, Nevada (near Las Vegas), I spotted a bird which I have never seen before. In western North America the sweet song of the Black-headed Grosbeak caroling down from the treetops sounds like a tipsy American Robin welcoming Spring. The flashy black, white, and cinnamon males and the less flamboyant females sing from perches in desert thickets, mountain forests, and suburbs.

This bird eats pine and other seeds, berries, insects, spiders and fruit. During the Summer, it mostly eats spiders and insects, switching to seeds and berries in the Fall and Winter. At feeders they effortlessly shuck sunflower seeds with their heavy bills.

The Black-headed Grosbeak is one of the few birds, along with the Black-backed Oriole, that can safely eat the poisonous Monarch Butterfly. This species consumes many Monarchs, perhaps over one million per year in the overwintering colonies in Mexico. They eat them in roughly 8-day cycles, apparently to give themselves time to eliminate the butterfly’s toxins.

This bird prefers to live in deciduous and mixed wooded areas. It likes to be in areas with large trees and thick bushes, such as patches of broadleaved trees and shrubs within conifer forests, including streamside corridors, river bottoms and suburban areas.

The Black-headed Grosbeak’s scientific name is well-suited. Its species name, melanocephalus, means “black-headed.” And its genus name, Pheucticus, refers either to the Greek pheuticus for “shy” or phycticus meaning “painted with cosmetics,” fitting for a showy bird that forages in dense foliage.

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Indian Paintbrush

Posted on March 1, 2024 by tspuckler

While hiking on Mount Charleston in Nevada I came across a number of wildflowers; this one was particularly distinctive.

Indian Paintbrush is a hemiparasite, meaning that although it is green and can photosynthesize, it also has the ability to sequester nutrients from other organisms, in this case, perennial grasses.

Despite being parasites for part of their lives, these plants, like other flowering plants, rely on pollinators for reproduction. A variety of insects visit Indian Paintbrush flowers, especially bees. This is somewhat surprising since the color red is difficult for insects to see.

However, like most red flowers, it is especially adapted for pollination by hummingbirds. Hummingbirds have long bills that allow them to reach the nectar rewards at the end of long, tubular flowers.

Ironically, this plant was used by Native Americans as both a love charm in food and as a poison used to against their enemies, as this species is known to have toxic properties.

Indian Paintbrush generally prefers sunlight and moist, well drained soils. Their root systems connect with and grow into the root systems of other planets to harvest nutrients from their host plants. For this reason, they are not able to be transplanted easily.

That red color we so often admire is actually bracts, or specially modified leaves, as opposed to flowers. The plant’s true flowers are actually smaller, slender green growths hidden among the bracts.

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Desert Spiny Lizard

Posted on February 23, 2024 by tspuckler

I often encounter this fine lizard on Cottonwood Trees that line waterways in the Mojave Desert. In some cases I hear them before I see them, as they run up tree trunks making a surprising amount of noise. They are squirrel-like in how they case each other around tree trunks as well as how to go to the opposite side of the tree trunk as a percieved predator.

Usually, during the morning hours, they will be out basking in the sun on rocks or any hard surface that is in direct sunlight, but like many desert reptiles, they seek shelter, usually underground in burrows or any suitable cover that provides shade, during the hottest part of the day.

These are medium-to-large lizards that can grow up to a foot in total length. True to their name, these robust reptiles have keeled, pointed scales and feel rough.

Adult male Desert Spiny Lizards usually have conspicuous blue/violet patches on the belly and throat, and a green/blue color on their tails and sides. They stake out areas and as part of their territorial displays, can frequently be seen doing push-ups on tree trunks, logs, rocks and even roads.

The Desert Spiny Lizard is widely distributed throughout the Mojave, Sonoran and Colorado deserts, as well as parts of the Great Basin and and Central California Coast, in arid and semiarid environments.

They primarily prey on insects such as ants, beetles, caterpillars, flies and grasshoppers. They also feed on spiders, centipedes, and small lizards, as well as consuming some plant material.

These lizards exhibit metachromatism, meaning they change color depending on the temperature. Desert Spiny Lizard change to darker colors during the Winter to allow them to absorb more heat from the sunshine, and become lighter during the Summer to reflect the sun’s radiation. They also change color with the seasons and for mating.

Although not the largest species of lizard in the Mojave Desert, it is spectacular in its own way and quite a challange to catch.

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Wolf’s-Milk Slime

Posted on February 16, 2024 by tspuckler

While hiking in a wooded lot across the street from my house, I noticed tiny orange globs on some on the logs on the forest floor. The fruiting bodies of this organism are small in width and height – about 1/3 -5/8 of an inch.

This slime mold resembles a tiny orangish-pink puffball. Before it is fully mature, you can pop it and a pinkish-orange substance, with the texture of toothpaste, will ooze out. As the fruiting bodies age, they turn brown or purple. Found after rains on well-rotted logs throughout North America, Wolf’s-Milk Slime is probably our continent’s most frequently noticed slime mold. This species feeds on bacteria, yeasts, and fungi that colonize decaying materials such as rotting wood.

Like fungi, slime molds are interesting and strange – and well worth learning about. Slime molds are so weirdly beautiful that they have even inspired science fiction movies (such as “The Blob” in 1958). They are also studied for their unusual cellular characteristics.

Wolf’s Milk Slime Mold is a plasmodial slime mold, a group of slime molds that live part of their lives as a large single cell (from tiny to over 12 inches) containing many nuclei called a plasmodium. The plasmodium spends its time moving through the soil, under logs and over dead leaves and grass feeding on bacteria.

Thought it may seem like one, this species isn’t actually a mushroom or fungus. Slime molds, or myxomycetes are a group of fungus-like organisms that at one time were regarded as animals, then thought to be plants, and then fungi. Now, because of DNA studies, slime molds are believed to be most closely related to protozoa.

Slime molds are colorful, fanciful creatures. Blackberry, Toothpaste, Many-goblet, Chocolate Tube and Scrambled Egg Slime all have interesting stories to go along with their names. Wolf’s Milk Slime, for example, is so named because when the non-moving, reproductive structure is young, the pinkish, milky substance it secretes evidently reminded someone of wolf’s milk.

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White Spruce

Posted on February 9, 2024 by tspuckler

While visiting Indiana I came across this tree which I have never encountered before. Its seed cone is longer than wide, with woody scales attached at the base. White Spruce has the smallest cones of any of the spruces. They are typically 1 to 2 inches long, cylindrical and pendulous, often clustered near the top of the tree.

White Spruce hails from northern climes and is one of the first tree species to colonize after glaciers recede. This evergreen usually grows to heights of 50 to 100 feet. This species is the northernmost tree species in North America, reaching just north of 69°N latitude in Canada’s Mackenzie River delta.

The pale green, pointed evergreen needles are 1/2 to 3/4 inch long. They are four-sided, often crowded on the upper surface of the stem. The aromatic needles can persist for three to four years before dropping. Scientifically known as Picea glauca, the waxy coating on its needles gives them a blue-green (glaucous) appearance, hence the Latin species name.

This tree adapts to a surprising variety of environments and climates. It prefers moist, well-drained alluvial soil, but grows on a wide diversity of sites. White Spruce is rarely found in pure stands.

White Spruce is the most commercially important timber species in the far north woods. Almost white, its wood is soft, light-weight, and moderately strong with a straight grain. It is used for wood fiber, house logs, and musical instruments.

Its bark is thin and scaly, flaking off in small circular plates 2 to 4 inches across. This tree was an important fuel source for early colonists and Native Americans of the north woods. In addition to human use, this tree provides cover for Moose, Martens and Lynx.

White Spruce has been the most popular selection for the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree, being used 13 times (as of 2020) since the tradition began in 1964.

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Tim Spuckler's Blog

Reptile Ramblings and More

Fluffy Sculpin

Sidewinder

Robber Fly

Beavertail Cactus

Louisiana Swamp Crayfish

Black-headed Grosbeak

Indian Paintbrush

Desert Spiny Lizard

Wolf’s-Milk Slime

White Spruce