This very often leads to some research as we try to name something that we haven’t seen before… or haven’t seen in a long time.
Every once in while we get stumped and this is one of those times.
I can tell you that they are antenna, they are 2-3 inches long and they will retract if you come real close to them.
Our dive this morning had a long swim, over a plain sandy bottom before we got to the reef. Across that sand there were dozens and dozens (maybe even hundreds) of these sticking up out of small holes in the sand.
They certainly knew we were there and if you tried to touch them… just the instant before contact they would draw back into their hole and would extend again once we moved on.
Maybe someone like our friend Steve Gadd who trained in marine sciences will be able to help us out.
Update
Turns out these antenna are attached to a worm… Mesochaetopterus stinapa. I’m going to call it the Meso Worm for short. A white worm with a very mean looking mouth.
Now that we know that… Lydia remembers seeing one of these guys pop out of his hole and grab a bit of something away from a nearby fish.
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