Posted by Lucy Aron on September 21, 2015 at 9:03 PM
Can anyone identify these tracks? They're on a bay on the California coast. Thanks.
lucy
Posted by Igor Doncov on September 24, 2015 at 4:05 AM
The holes are made by it's dwellers who live in the substrate below them. Judging by their size I would say it's either a large clam or the ghost shrimp. There's no way to be sure without digging it out. In central California I would often dig out butter clams about 2-3 feet below surface. They extend their siphon to the surface when submerged and retract it during low tide.
The wavy lines are caused by water flowing, much the sand patterns caused by wind on a sand dune. I add this because I'm not sure which 'tracks' you are referring to.
Posted by Jim Gavin on September 24, 2015 at 7:38 PM
The holes could be made by small crabs. You could wait a bit by them and see if one peeks out. They"throw" the sand out of and around the hole they are digging. The sand looks too dry to have been made by a clam. Then, again, I might be completely wrong.
Discussion
2 repliesCan anyone identify these tracks? They're on a bay on the California coast. Thanks.
lucy
The holes are made by it's dwellers who live in the substrate below them. Judging by their size I would say it's either a large clam or the ghost shrimp. There's no way to be sure without digging it out. In central California I would often dig out butter clams about 2-3 feet below surface. They extend their siphon to the surface when submerged and retract it during low tide.
The wavy lines are caused by water flowing, much the sand patterns caused by wind on a sand dune. I add this because I'm not sure which 'tracks' you are referring to.
The holes could be made by small crabs. You could wait a bit by them and see if one peeks out. They"throw" the sand out of and around the hole they are digging. The sand looks too dry to have been made by a clam. Then, again, I might be completely wrong.