SMSG Blog

Expedition blogs and news from the Shallow Marine Surveys Group

New records are pouring in.

With so many divers in the water each day, it is no surprise that new records for Ascension Island are pouring in almost daily.


In 1980, Roger Lubbock compiled a check-list of the fishes of Ascension Island. Since then, quite a few new fish records have been accumulated, in particular by island residents and visitors Jimmy Young and John & Jane Bingeman. We are planning to update the fish list and additionally produce a number of publications on the invertebrates discovered during the expedition.




[caption id="attachment_472" align="aligncenter" width="584"] A beautiful brown nudibranch, extracted from the maerl pile accumulated by a tilefish, will have to be sent to an expert for identification.
Image: S Morley


[caption id="attachment_473" align="aligncenter" width="584"] The little sea hare, Dolabrifera dolabrifera, is also new for Ascension Island.
Image: S Morley


[caption id="attachment_469" align="aligncenter" width="584"] At night, the tube anemone, Isarachnanthus maderensis, can be seen in great numbers but it, too, has never been recorded from here.


The sea anemone, Telmatactis cricoides, was known from St Helena island but not yet from Ascension.

[caption id="attachment_466" align="alignnone" width="584"] A little fish (centre of image), the dragonet Callionymus bairdi, which lives on gravel and rather looks like a piece of gravel, is also a new record for Ascension Island.
Image: P Wirtz

- Contributed by Peter Wirtz.

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Thursday, 07 December 2023

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Dave John Hunting seaweeds around Ascension
31 August 2013
Great to see underwater photos of this very unusual submarine environment where the ubiquitous black...
Helen Marsh Team Member Stedson Stroud
03 July 2013
Great to hear more about Stedsons work, and how he got started, having met him on Ascension Island l...
Simon Plummer Volunteer Ecological Surveyors
10 June 2013
I can’t stop smiling thinking of what a brilliant time you are having. The fact that I can visualise...
Simon Plummer Black triggerfish anecdotes
10 June 2013
An enjoyable and funny read, thank you steve for making me chuckle.
Simon Plummer Ascension Island fish record
10 June 2013
The photos are brilliant, envious.

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