Yellow Ray

Common Name: Yellow Ray, or Yellow Stingray.
Scientific Name: Urobatis jamaicensis or Urolophus jamaicensis

Familiy: Urotrygonidae - Round rays
Class: Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes (sharks & rays)

Conservation status: Least concern
Sighting: Infrequent


Not really yellow, but brown with lighter and darker spots. We have seen this amazing fish a few times, always in the same are of the Virginia beach in Key Biscayne. It usually lays down on sand, motionless, in what seems cryptic behavior. We have also seen this behavior when it lays on top of turtle grass.

When it feels threatened, it swims away very quickly. We capture this in the video, below. In most cases, it first tries to "hide" in the environment, then starts swimming  as it notices our focus, and finally, it disappears in a fast swim. 

On another occasion we captured two of them together. In the camera. They are sting rays, so you want to stay a bit apart from them.

According to the Marine Species identification portal, it could be 1.2 to 1.8 meter wide. The ones we have seen are much smaller than that. Wikipedia mentions 70 cm (28 in) long. All the specimens we have seen are more about a foot (30 cm). Probably juveniles, that close to the shore.

We are still trying to see if it changes color, like cuttlefish, or not. Wikipedia mentions they could change coloration in response to the environment, but we have not been able to see that in the videos. So far.

All in all a very exciting sight!.

Paddle blade alga

Common Name: Fan Alga, soft fan alga, Paddle blade alga
Scientific Name: Avrainvillea nigricans (maybe Udotea flabellum?)

Family: Udoteaceae - tropical, calcified alga
Class: Bryopsidophyceae - macroscopic green alga

Conservation status: not yet assessed
Sighting: Occasionally, in sandy areas between turtle grass beds.

We have seen plenty of this beautiful alga in the sandy areas of Crandon park in Key Biscayne. It is a mesmerizing sighting, as they move in slow motion, back and forth, with the waves.

Classifying this one has been a bit challenging. We are unclear if this is the Paddle blade alga (our best bet) or the fan alga. Pictures look similar, and there are some not very encouraging indications "Positive identification requires laboratory examination of the specimens."

We settle for Paddle blade alga, based on pictures and geographic distribution  if any reader can help provide a better identification, we will appreciate.

Turtle Grass

Common Name: Turtle Grass
Scientific Name: Thalassia testudinum

Family: Hydrocharitaceae - aquatic plants
Class: Angiospermae - flowering plants

Conservation status: Least concern, population stable
Sighting: Very frequent, all over Biscayne Key

Turtle grass is the first thing you'll find when you snorkel in Key Biscayne. It is specially abundant in Bill Baggs Cape Park, starting a few feet from the shore. Also in Crandon park, as soon as the sand starts to get covered by green, that is mainly Turtle Grass.
After a strong storm, you will also find large amounts of turtle grass leaves in the seashore, creating a brown dam, in same cases up to a couple feet high.  

As you can read in the links, turtle grass is actually a flowering plan, growing from a rhizome. The name comes form the Green turtle (Chelonia mydas), that feeds on the grass, although is a natural habitat for many animals, and feeds multiple herbivorous fishes of the florida waters, some of which eat the algae that grows in their leaves, rather than the seaweed itself. And of course, manatees graze turtle grass!

Although it looks uneventful, almost boring, if you look carefully, you can discover a variety of creatures hiding in the beds of turtle grass. Starting with other seaweeds and algae, sponges, crabs, conchs, and many different solitary swimming fishes, like pufferfishes. 

In the Crandon park area, turtle grass grows large, specially in the shallow waters on the left of the main beach, by the natural park protected areas.

The interface between the higher beds of turtle grass and the clear sand , like the one in the picture at the right, are also great areas to see all sorts of fish, hiding in the dark shadows created by the turtle grass. If you are patient and quiet, once your the shock for your presence is over, small and larger fishes will start swimming out of the shadows, making for a great beginner snorkeling experience.