Blood sucking sea creatures

O

oldgrowth

New member
Coming back from the Bellingham CBGT, Terri and I stopped at Ketron Island (a small island in south Puget Sound between Anderson Island and Steilacoom). Tide was in and there was a sandy beach on the east side of the Island. Later the tide was going out so we waded in the water to move the boat to a better location and was attacked by hundreds of small sea creatures. They looked like a small pill bug with longer legs and more pointed on both ends. They were the size of a grain of rice to a half-inch long and 3/16” in diameter. When they latched onto you, you would feel it biting and there would be a red mark there. When we got out of the water you could see them swarming around in the water. When I splashed some out, they would immediately burrow into the sand, leaving a hole about twice their diameter in the sand. I looked other places on in the waters edge and did not see any bugs but when I walked in the water they would come up and attack.
Anybody have any idea what they could be?
 
Jeeze, from the subject I thought you were talking about a maritime lawyer or something.

Never heard of a creature like that.

Don
 
Pat Anderson":n081zd13 said:
Watch it, Uncle Don!!!

Sneaks":n081zd13 said:
Jeeze, from the subject I thought you were talking about a maritime lawyer or something.
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OK, then maybe it was a government IRS agent experiment gone bad. How about a nest of breeding politicians?

Besides, you're a brewmeister who happens to have a JD, young man. Hobby businesses don't count.

Actually most colleges up your way should have a marine biologist on staff who would love to expound.
 
Ron on Meander":22tds8o3 said:
Could they possibly be sea lice?
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No – it was not sea lice or sand fleas. They are more like a leach with lots of legs, somewhat of a transparent grey or tan color. They seem to pick up the color of what they are on. You cannot see them when they are in the water because they swim too fast and in random directions. Somewhat like face flies, only in the water. The way I know they are there, is by their shadows from the sun shining on them.

Da Nag":22tds8o3 said:
You might check out "What's That Bug?"...
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It looks like the site is too busy and would need a photo to identify the thing.

I wish I would have captured some.
 
Da Nag":27byykb8 said:
Clam worms, perhaps?
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The picture doesn’t look like the creature but if the head was pointed down instead of up and the legs a little longer than they appear in the picture, it is possible. The key would be, how fast can they swim. And why were we attacked. It was as if they went into a feeding frenzy when we walked across their domain.

on edit - After posting this I did some research and I don’t think they were clam worms. These were too short and small for clam worms.
 
Dave
I've been around the sound for 50 plus years and have never seen your miniature sea monsters(at least when sober) but if I ever want to see them I'll be sure to come get you for bait.
 
Lovin' it...must be something in the air in Rochester!!!!

Larry Q":j2ivq5tt said:
Dave
I've been around the sound for 50 plus years and have never seen your miniature sea monsters(at least when sober) but if I ever want to see them I'll be sure to come get you for bait.
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They seem to pick up the color of what they are on. You cannot see them when they are in the water because they swim too fast and in random directions.

Sounds like the SNOW SNAKES we used to have in Minnesota when we were kids. My dad said they were white so you couldn't see them in the snow but in the deep snow, you could sometimes feel them around your legs. Had my sisters convinced but I knew my dad too well by then. Fortunately, they never bit anyone.

Charlie
 
Dave
After talking to my uncle who was raised on the sound in Bremerton, he doesn't recall being bitten on the feet by your mystery bugs, thats when my aunt reminded him that he always wore rubber boots on the beach.
He thinks maybe you have run into a new arrival from another land...
or perhaps your mystery bug is really a bucked toothed, ringed tailed, Bavarian water weasel with a foot fetish.
 
I knew when I started this thread; many of you would question it and think maybe it was a joke. I know I would have, had I not witnessed it my-self. I have decided I am going back Sunday and capture a bunch of those creatures. Anyone want to go with me or meet me there?
Larry Q":2h72x44p said:
Dave
I've been around the sound for 50 plus years and have never seen your miniature sea monsters(at least when sober) but if I ever want to see them I'll be sure to come get you for bait.
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Larry Q – when I get back I will have a bunch of them in a five-gallon bucket and you can reach in and grab a hand full of bait.
 
Dave-
The factory called and said I can come in the morning to get my boat back from it's first service.
Let me know when your going up to the land of bugs and maybe we can follow along or all of us can take my boat.
 
I asked a buddy of mine about this. Of course my description of what you conveyed on this thread was not accurately conveyed to him as I was trying to remember what you'd written.
That being said.......he suggested Isopod Crustaceans....Whale Lice, which he said dig in and suck blood. He said they are shrimp like but flat top to bottom instead of side to side.
 
DaveS - I believe your friend is right about the animal. I did a Google search for “Isopod Crustaceans” and came up with the following animal. It is not an exact match on looks and size, but very close. I think mine could be a smaller cousin of it.
j24195.jpg

Distinguishing Characters:
The 25 mm body is shiny white with black eyes on the side of the head. The hinder-most legs are broader than those at the front and fringed with hairs. The tail segment is pointed with pointed uropods.

Habitat and Distribution:
Sea lice live on the surface of sand in shallow water and scavenge on dead and dying fishes and other animals. This is one of numerous similar species of Cirolanidae. The family is world wide.

General Biology:
Species of the family Cirolanidae are often very common. Active at night when they swim, they can reduce a dead fish to a skeleton in a few hours. Although usually resting buried in sand they are active swimmers when searching for food. Sea lice can make themselves a nuisance to fisherman by eating their bait, and more rarely to the unfortunate swimmer by inflicting small wounds with their sharp mandibles.
 
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