Snorkeling & Collecting Discussion Group

[Ron Reefman]

Thanks for the response, Ron. Makes sense. Sorry to derail the thread.

Happy to try and help. And you didn't derail the thread at all. This is why I started it in the first place.

I love snorkeling in general, and the Keys happen to be close enough I can do it several times a year. My goal here is to try and find other good snorkel locations (world wide or specifically in the Keys). Some other snorkelers have offered up locations we didn't know about! And I thank them for their help.

And if anybody is considering vacation time in the Keys and wants to try some snorkeling, I want to try and make it as enjoyable as I can. I can help with expectations, locations, equipment, weather, accommodations... whatever. And for those that may want to collect (probably anybody doing this should live within a days drive home) I can offer some real world experience.

 

[TDEcoral]

Are you able to ID this snail? I believe it came in on some keys live rock. From what I've found, it is possibly a murex of some kind?

 

[Ron Reefman]

Good call!

It is in fact a Murex. I'd say I'm 90% correct to say it's an Apple Murex. We do find those down here, but I wouldn't recommend you put it in your tank. They are carnivores and even worse, they are drillers and will attach to bi-valves like clams and oysters, drill a hole through the shell and eat the bi-valve from the inside out!

However, they do have very nice looking shells. Finding ones that still have good fringe on the ridges is the real trick. Those get broken of in the roll and tumble of getting washed onto the beach.

 

[TDEcoral]

Good call!

It is in fact a Murex. I'd say I'm 90% correct to say it's an Apple Murex. We do find those down here, but I wouldn't recommend you put it in your tank. They are carnivores and even worse, they are drillers and will attach to bi-valves like clams and oysters, drill a hole through the shell and eat the bi-valve from the inside out!

However, they do have very nice looking shells. Finding ones that still have good fringe on the ridges is the real trick. Those get broken of in the roll and tumble of getting washed onto the beach.

Thanks! I don't have any bivalves in my tank, but it has survived in there since last March. I found it on a vermetid snail and I'm wondering if it's been feeding on them. I've put it in an isolation container until I decided what to do with it. I've got another unidentified snail in my sump. Next time I see it I'll take a pic of that one too.

 

[315wall]

Headed down to the Pompano beach area the end of February for scuba and snorkeling. Do you know any good dive shops in the area ?

 

[Ron Reefman]

Headed down to the Pompano beach area the end of February for scuba and snorkeling. Do you know any good dive shops in the area ?

Sorry, I don't. A) I don't scuba dive and B) I live on the other side of the state.

Hopefully somebody else will jump in with some info for you.

 

[Nick Steele]

Headed down to the Pompano beach area the end of February for scuba and snorkeling. Do you know any good dive shops in the area ?

Force E scuba
Pompano dive center
Gold Coast scuba

All three are in the same area and they are pretty good in my experience. Ive rented tanks from Force E, snorkeled/dove off pompano dive center’s boats. Never used Gold Coast scuba but they are active on the Meetup app and it’s very close to the beach.

 

[315wall]

Thanks Ron for the info on your methods and thanks Nick for the recommendations. I am hoping to get both some critters and fish I checked for the fishing license limits but i could not find anything on most fish seen in the hobby.

 

[Nick Steele]

Here’s some info on collecting marine ornamentals. I collected some urchins and hermits before for a preschool touch tank that turned out pretty well!

Marine Life and Tropical Ornamentals

Marine Life Tropical Ornamentals

myfwc.com

 

[Ron Reefman]

Regs for most things you'll consider are listed here:

Marine Life Regulations - Florida Saltwater Fishing

Marine life regulations Requirements for marine life (aquarium species) harvest: Recreational saltwater fishing license Organisms must be landed and kept…

www.eregulations.com

 

[Ron Reefman]

I just went through a strange week with a small 1/8" to 1/4" RFA. It was on a rock I had in a 10g holding tank while I'm treating for aiptasia. The water got bad enough that even the RFA which I never got close to, dropped off the rock.

So I pulled it out and put it in a PVC end cap and set it out on the stand over night to attach. But it was floating rather than sinking to the bottom? It looked fine, open and nice bright colors. I did several water changes each day and made sure there were no bubbles stuck to the nem, but it still floated. After 3 full days it finally sank to the bottom of the end cap.

But then it wouldn't attach it's foot and if I tried to put it in the tank it would get blown out of the cap. So I did a couple of water changes in the end cap (right from the main tank) and left it in the cap on the stand. Finally, after 3 more days it attached. It's been in the big tank now for 2 days and appears to be doing fine!

All that for a tiny RFA! But it's got a bright fluorescent orange face and green tentacles, too cute to give up on it!

 

[TDEcoral]

I found the other snail! It has what look like two antennae with yellowish tips. Here's a couple pics.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I found the other snail! It has what look like two antennae with yellowish tips. Here's a couple pics.

I'm pretty familiar with shells for the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Keys, and that one isn't something I could ID. I've seen some similar shells, but nothing that was anywhere close to saying, "It' this."

Maybe somebody else will have more help. #reefsquad

 

[TDEcoral]

I'm pretty familiar with shells for the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Keys, and that one isn't something I could ID. I've seen some similar shells, but nothing that was anywhere close to saying, "It' this."

Maybe somebody else will have more help. #reefsquad

Yeah I tried using some online ID guides, but came up empty as well. Those squares on the paper are 1 cm each I believe, so it's quite a small snail. It'll be interesting to see if it stays this size or gets any bigger. Thanks for taking a look!

 

[Wolf89]

Any good snorkeling spots on the east cost near Orlando @Ron Reefman ? Looking for coral, fish, anything cool really

 

[Ron Reefman]

2Wolf89, not that I am aware of. But maybe others in the area can help out.

We do all of our snorkeling in the Keys and a very little of it near home in Cape Coral. I know there are a few pretty good snorkel and dive spots in and around Miami /Ft Lauderdale. But I think the further north you get there is less and less potential for reefs or corals. But that doesn't mean there aren't spots to snorkel that may have other things worth seeing. I just haven't tried out the area at all.

If you do some research, like checking in with local dive shops along the coast east of Orlando and find any spots, please, please, please come back and share them here. That's a big part of why I started this thread! It's as close as we can come to having R2R open a Snorkeling & Collecting forum!

 

[Nick Steele]

Here is a site map from one of the local shops in Ft Pierce/ Vero beach. Can’t speak for when it was last updated but I have been to a few sites a year ago and you just have to hit them on the right day so viz is good. Pepper park is a cool spot when viz is good. Little sketchy with low viz due to proximity to the inlet and frequent sharks.

http://www.deepsixintl.com/PDF/BeachDiveGuide.pdf

Not much hard coral up in Ft Pierce but still visual pleasing.


Lots of overhangs with plenty of fish and lobsters


Nurse Sharks under a ledge (not the sharks I’m worried by) had a bull shark rush me here on night evening while lobstering

 

[Ron Reefman]

Nurse Sharks under a ledge (not the sharks I’m worried by) had a bull shark rush me here on night evening while lobstering

Please, more details. Not to scare people, but to make people aware, let them know what sharks do and how you dealt with it! I've been up close and personal with a couple of nurse sharks. They were as afraid of me as I was of them. I've been in the vicinity of a few bigger reef sharks, but never really at risk. I think I know what I would do, but you never know until it happens. So what did you do?

 

[Keiki]

Here is a direct link to what can be collected and size limits for people who aren't familiar with the regs.

Marine Life Regulations - Florida Saltwater Fishing

Marine life regulations Requirements for marine life (aquarium species) harvest: Recreational saltwater fishing license Organisms must be landed and kept…

www.eregulations.com

Ron have you ever been snorkeling at the sub pens on Boca Chica? We used to go diving and snorkeling there all the time in the early '90s when we lived in Key West. We never saw anyone else there. It was like a hidden treasure. We would do most of our diving and snorkeling where you had to use a boat, but there are some great places along US 1 so keep your info coming. We live in Fort Lauderdale now so we don't go down very often like we should.

I do have a question for you or anyone else that can help me. Does anyone know if the hermit crabs are as abundant during February or March in South Florida? I have collected before and there was a time or 2 where there weren't very many. I don't remember if it was during winter or something else was just off. I want to go in February or March, but if it's a bad time for them then I don't want to freeze my tush off. Also I just had foot surgery (op peroneum removed) so I don't want to push it. I also hate paying for them when it's easy to go and collect some.

 

[Keiki]

Also curious what Nick did. When we lived in KW sometimes people would get bit by nurse sharks. They are harmless and tourist were told this and not to worry about them. Believing they wouldn't get bit they would yank on the tails when found hanging out under a ledge. Dumb, dumb people. No respect for them.