a mermaid’s purse
A few weeks ago we went to Kelly Tarltons, it was fun, the stingrays were amazing! But I felt pretty bad for the penguins, such a small and indoor space for them, at seemed grim really.
But the smaller tanks with seahorses, eels and other smaller fish were cool, these were the most memorable tanks to explore when I was a kid, almost like real rock pools. Above is a photo of a mermaid’s purse, the name given to the egg case of a skate, ray or small shark, I was so excited having only seen photos and dried ones from other people’s collections. The cases are usually found tangled in seaweed washed up on the beach and it is so named as the oval case has a loops somewhat like handles on either end, that entangle the egg case in seaweed so it stays put. The one in the photo still contained the embryo, which amazingly was moving around, so cool!
Tags: animals, Geek stuff, mermaid's purses, sea creatures