Download Starfish (Sea Stars) Green Sea Anemone

Starfish (Sea Stars)
There are many different species of starfish, in many different colors. Starfish cannot live very long without water. Starfish have no
head, tail or a true brain. Their skin is rough and leathery and usually has spines. Starfish usually have 5 arms, although some have
as many as 44. All starfish can grow back arms that they have lost.
Their arms are dotted and rough-feeling with blunt spines. These
bumps are actually pinchers that keep other animals away. Each
arm also has rows of tube feet that are used in crawling, attaching
to things, and feeding. Sea stars move and capture their prey with
these tiny suction cups called tube feet. If you flip over a sea star
you will see hundreds of tube feet wiggling about. Although the sea
star’s tube feet are tiny, they are powerful enough to pull open the
tightly closed shells of its favorite food—the mussel. The sea star
actually inserts its stomach into the opened shellfish and slowly digests its meal outside of its body. Starfish have a flattened body with
their mouth located underneath its body. They are carnivores (meat
eating animals). In addition to mussels, they eat snails, barnacles,
chitons, limpets, and sea urchins.
Green Sea Anemone
The sea anemone is considered to be the flower of the sea. Sea
anemones look like plants, but they are really meat-eating animals
related to jellyfish. They have a central foot and mouth, as well as
multiple tentacles that are used to capture food ranging from small
fish to plankton to detritus. The tentacles are equipped with specialized cells like mini spear guns that can harpoon and paralyze prey
allowing it to be digested with ease. (The stinging cells are too small
to penetrate human skin.) In the center of the sea anemone is their
mouth. In order for the sea anemone to eat, they must wait for their
food to swim by. After they sting it with their tentacles, they then
push it into their mouth. Sea anemones come in different sizes and
many different colors. The sea anemone can attach itself to rocks or
coral. Some even bury themselves in the mud. Sea anemones spend
most of their lives in one place.
Purple Sea Urchin
Limpet
Sea urchins are spiny-skinned animals. The sea urchin’s name comes
from the Old English word for spiny hedgehog. It looks like one because of its spines, which are used for protection. They are able to
regenerate their spines when they break off. Their bodies are round
and covered with sharp, brightly colored spines making them easy to
recognize. The spines are movable and protective. In fact, some sea
urchins dig out sheltering holes in the rocks with their sharp spines,
where they can live with protection from predators and strong surf.
If you look at a sea urchin carefully in the water you’ll notice tube
feet extending beyond the spines. Sea urchins can move surprisingly fast on their tube feet, which are their main means of moving. Moving about on their tube feet allows them to snag pieces of
kelp (seaweed), their favorite food. The sea urchin’s mouth is on the
lower surface and it uses a feeding system made of 5 hard plates
that form a beak. The beak-like mouth is used to scrape algae off
rocks. They can grow new “teeth” if the old ones break or wear down.
Sea urchins eat plankton, kelp, periwinkles, and even barnacles and
mussels. They need highly oxygenated water to survive, so they are
well adapted to living in the surf.
Limpets are in the group of sea snails that are found all over the
world, mollusks closely related to abalones. There are several different species of limpets. They range in size from 1⁄2 inch to 3
inches. You may find them clinging to rocks or pieces of timber.
The shape of their shells often helps them stay affixed to the rocks.
Their homes are usually a scraped out region of a rock as large and
as thick as their shells. During the day, they look for food. Limpets are herbivores that live on algae. Limpets use their tongues to
scrape algae off the rocks. At low tide, the limpet will grip tight to
the rocks and trap small amounts of water under the shell which
the animal will use until water is available again at the next tidal
change. During high tide when water is covering the animal it will
range over a meter or so of rock in search of food. As the tide
recedes, the limpet will return to its original place on the rock to
remain until the next high tide.
Hermit Crabs
Hermit crabs live in abandoned shells, like those from black turban and striped dog winkle snails, which is why shells should not be
collected anywhere along California’s coastline. They are found in
rocky high areas. Some species have compound eyes that adapt to
both day and night. These crabs feed at night on brown algae and
dead animals. Pile Perch, Sheephead, and Kelpfish love to eat them.
Porcelain Crab
There are several different species of porcelain crabs. These are
flat little crabs that easily slip under the rocks to hide, so you won’t
find them unless you look under a rock. This in the most prolific
crab in terms of overall numbers in our tide pools. A study in Pacific Grove, California, found nearly 900 animals per square meter.
They are small, up to 3⁄4 of an inch, with long antennae. Some rocks
may have hundreds under them. Porcelain crabs are filter feeders
or feed on detritus—decaying plant and animal matter. This is one
of many species that relies on the protection of the rocks for its
livelihood, so never leave a rock overturned after you look under
it. If you find one, be gentle!
Striped Shore Crab
Bat Star
A crab is an animal with a hard protective shell that can withstand
heavy waves. Their flat shape allows them to squeeze into tight crevices. Crabs can survive out of water for extended periods of time.
They eat bits and pieces of plants and animals. These green to red
or purple crabs with black stripes are active during daylight hours.
They are so well adapted to living out of water that they spend at
least half of the time that way. They have excellent eyesight, which
adapts well to both day and night. For the most part, these crabs
feed on land on diatoms and algae. Occasionally they will prey on
hermit crabs and Black Turban snails, and they’ve even been observed capturing kelp flies with their very dexterous claws. Seagulls,
raccoons, and octopus love to prey on these crabs. Because they are
well adapted to life on land, Striped Shore Crabs will be found in the
rocks along the shallows.
These sea stars are found to depths of about 870 feet. These stars are
not very large sea stars; in fact, their arm radius is only four inches.
They usually have five arms but they can have as few as four or as
many as nine. They can be almost any color. Bat Stars are omnivores
and scavengers, which means they will try to eat almost anything
they can get their tube feet on. Spawning usually occurs in May and
July when the males and females release their gametes into the water column. This is where the eggs are fertilized. When the sea stars
hatch, they are plankton. A week or two after they hatch they settle
to the bottom where they will spend the rest of their lives.
Northern Clingfish
The northern clingfish is also known as the flathead clingfish, the
common clingfish or scientifically, Gobiesox maeandricus. The clingfish is an oddly shaped fish that looks similar to a tadpole. They are
commonly found from Baja California to southern Alaska. These fish
are very common in the tide pools, though they are rarely seen because they hide under rocks that are exposed only during the lowest
tides of the year. These small fish have the ability to literally cling to
the rocks by using their specialized pelvic fin as a suction cup. The
largest northern Clingfish on record was 6.5 inches long. They will
feed on small snails, worms and shrimp. Because of its small size the
northern clingfish has no real economic use, so no one fishes for it.
Tide Pool Sculpin
The tide pool sculpin is a very common fish. Though these fish only
reach about 3.5 inches and live a maximum of five years, they thrive
in the turbulent waters of the intertidal zone. Other interesting
characteristics of this species is their uncanny ability to find their
way back to their favorite tide pool as well as the fact they have
no scales. Tide pool sculpin survive by eating isopods, amphipods,
shrimp and worms. In turn, they are often eaten by larger fish like
the kelp greenling. They range in coloration from gray to brown
and even green with multi-colored speckles. They are oviparous,
meaning they lay eggs. The coloration of the eggs seems to depend
on where they are laid. Eggs laid in protected areas tend to be a
greenish color, but eggs subject to a lot of water movement will be
a pinkish color.
Chitons
Perhaps the most mispronounced animal in the ocean is the chiton.
It is pronounced with a hard “k” sound. Chitons are a type of mollusk
that identified by eight shell plates held together by an outside oval
of tissue called a girdle. Most chitons are light sensitive so they’ll be
found under rocks. Some species are brightly colored while others are
well camouflaged. While a colored shell can give them some camouflage, they probably depend on their shells for armor to protect it from
shorebirds and other predators. Chitons are found almost everywhere
in the ocean – from cliffs to as deep as 4000 meters, sometimes in
small holes within a rock for extra protection. Most chitons are vegetarians, but some are carnivorous. They hold on tight to the surface
of a rock. Chitons move slowly, grinding away the tiny plants that they
find on the surface of the rock. At high tide they feed on a type of
red algae called Corallina which often grow right on their shell plates.
Western Sea Gulls eat
Brown Sea Hare
Sea hares are large mollusks that lack an external shell, and they get
their name because their antennae resemble rabbit ears. These little
animals are plump and soft and their color is reddish brownish with
dark spots. For defense they shoots out purple dye that blinds the
enemy or enemies. They can be very large, more than a foot long and
live near the water’s edge to a depth of 60 feet. These animals are
active during the day making them easy to spot in spring and summer. Sea hares are herbivores, feeding primarily on red algae. They
have a complicated digestive system with three stomachs. Purple ink,
which is their defense system, is derived from the algae they eat. Be
careful when handling, as the ink will stain clothing. Living only for
a year, these sea hares are hermaphrodites having both male and
female reproductive organs. All they have to do is locate another sea
hare of the same species. They lay up to a million eggs that look like
yellowish spaghetti. The eggs hatch in 12 days. After hatching, the
larvae swim for about a month before settling on red algae.
Black Turban Snail
The Black Turban Snail is a common snail with a distinctive heavy
bluish-blackish shell with a pearly layer underneath shell. In size,
its shell is about 1 to 11⁄4 inches or 3 centimeters in diameter. The
diet of the Black Turban consists mostly of soft seaweed: a variety
of algae, especially the microscopic film that grows on the surface
of rocks. They can be found in dense clusters that may go up to
hundreds. If you examine the snail’s shell closely, you might find a
small Black Limpet living on it. Tiny algae live on the Black Turban’s
shell that these Black Limpets eat. During low tide, Black Turbans
will often group together and during this time the Black Limpets will
move from shell to shell. Blue-banded Hermit Crabs love to live in the
abandoned Black Turban
Acorn Barnacle
Barnacles are actually part of the same group of animals, called crustaceans, as crabs, lobster, and shrimp. Adult barnacles look very different from their crustacean relatives. After birth, barnacle larvae
look just like larvae of other crustaceans; however, when a barnacle
metamorphoses, it attaches it self to a hard surface head first and
creates a cone around its body made of calcium. Its modified legs,
called cirri, act like little nets that filter plankton and detritus from
the water. Most species can easily spend half of their lives out of
water. Some species only need to be wetted with ocean spray. When
Barnacles are still larvae they float around in the water. When they
become mature they will attach to things like rocks, bottoms of boats
and shellfish. Acorn Barnacles are mostly found in temperate and
cold salt water. They like to attach to hard surfaces. Acorn Barnacles
eat plankton by sucking in the water around them, while closing
their teeth and opening their mouth. Then they lick all the plankton that got stuck in their teeth. The Acorn Barnacle is usually 3-4
inches across. The Acorn Barnacle shell is made with six big pieces
of shells connected by smaller pieces of shells.
Aggregate Anemone
Ever heard the word Aggregate? Aggregate means to form a group.
Just like the Solitary Green Anemone, in general appearance, the aggregate anemone rarely exceeds an expanded diameter of 7 cm. Aggregate Anemones form a tight (dense) mat that completely covers
large areas of rock and pier pilings. This species is especially abundant on steep rock slopes facing the sea. When the tide is out, each
separate anemone folds in on itself, forming a flat spheroid. Since
the surface of the column is covered with bits of gravel and shell,
these colonies look like the rock it’s living on. Beach visitors have
been dismayed by finding out that they are stepping on colonies of
aggregate anemones!
Gumboot Chiton
Chiton are marine mollusk. Its shape is a low, oval mound. All chiton
have a series of 8 bony plates on the back and are arranged much
like shingles. Gumboot chitons are one of the largest species and can
grow as big as 30 cm. Gumboot are red to dark maroon with orange
underneath. Chiton are herbivores. Their diet consists of seaweed
and algae. The chiton uses a radula that works like a tongue to eat.
The only enemies chiton have are sea gulls and in California a predaceous snail. Chiton move like a snail and are slow moving; however,
they can roll into a ball for protection. Chiton do not have eyes or
tentacles, but are able to sense touch and perceive light from sensory cells within the shell plates
California Mussels
One of the most common animals found on the rocky shelf is the
mussel. The mussel uses strong fibers to attach to rocks. Usually
they live in clusters or colonies. All the mussels are either attached
to the rock or to each other by a secreted string-like substance
called a byssal thread. Byssal threads hold the mussels firmly to
rocks and other mussels. Mussel beds are often large enough to
be a home to many other creatures, like snails and worms. Mussels close their shells tightly while the tide is out to prevent the
sun from drying them out. Believe or not, mussels hatch as tiny
free-swimming larvae. Somehow they are able to chemically detect
clusters of other mussels and then attach themselves to any available space. Once attached, they remain in the same spot for life.
Mussels filter plankton from the water they suck into their bodies.
An average-sized mussel can filter up to three whole quarts of water in an hour. A large mussel may process as much as 16 gallons of
seawater in a full day of feeding.
Eroded Periwinkle
A dirty-gray eroded shell camouflages this periwinkle on rock
faces. Only salt spray and splashes from high waves reach them,
forming pools that dry in the sun. Out of reach of the tide, eroded
periwinkles live out of the water most of the time. During dry periods, the periwinkle draws into its shell and closes its operculum
(trap door)—this keeps its gills moist, and also keeps fresh water
and dry winds out. A periwinkle secretes a mucous glue that holds
its shell to its rocky home. Adult eroded periwinkles can survive in
this mode for extended dry periods—up to 17 weeks. Periwinkles
can survive in fresh water—like puddles made by rain—for several
days; most marine animals cannot. A periwinkle, like most molluscs, uses a radula (a rough tongue or band of horny teeth) to
scrape diatoms and algae from rocks. The rasping activity of the
periwinkle may deepen high tide pools by almost one-half inch
(1.25 cm) every 16 years. When a periwinkle population is thriving,
it can considerably erode tide pools.
Dogwinkle
Goose Barnacle
Nucella Emarginata is another name for the Dogwinkle. It is commonly found at the water’s edge in rocky substrate where mussel
beds are plentiful. It feeds on Acorn Barnacles and small mussels. A
carnivore, it hunts down intertidal barnacles and mussels and uses
its radula to drill through their protective shell. After drilling the
whelk injects digestive enzymes into the barnacle’s body cavity and
sucks out the dissolved tissue. This species is a formidable predator
that aids in controlling the population of barnacles and mussels. The
Dogwinkle’s length is about 3cm. The color is usually black or white.
Its predators are gulls, sea stars and other sea birds.
The goose barnacle should not be mistaken for the barnacle goose,
which is a waterfowl. A long time ago, people believed that the goose
barnacles were mollusks (such as clams, snails, oysters, and others).
If you look at a picture of goose barnacles like the one above, you
can see that they grow together in groups and are attached to plates
unlike clams, which can move around. Their larvae (babies) are the
same as the other crustaceans’ larvae, until they attach themselves
on hard surface. Goose barnacles can move and twist but cannot
move to a different area. The goose barnacle’s foot is what allows
them to move and twist. They also use their foot to carry food to
them. It doesn’t always need water to live. A goose barnacle can live
outside of the water for a long time because it doesn’t have gills that
get the oxygen from the water.