Creature Feature: Lettuce Sea Slug

Image ID: reef2588, NOAA’s Coral Kingdom Collection
Location: Florida, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Photographer: Paige Gill
Credit: Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/

Put down your salad tongs! This creature doesn’t belong in your vegetable medley!

This week, we asked Felicia our Marine Camp Manager what her favorite marine creature is, and she gave us a perfect vegetarian answer: The lettuce sea slug!

The lettuce sea slug, Elysia crispate, has huge variability in color. It can be found in blue, red, green, tan and a blend of colors. These beautifully shaped slugs have fleshy protrusions resembling that of curly lettuce – hence the name. These fleshy protrusions are an important part of the survival strategy of these creatures.  What survival strategy you ask?  This slug is one of few animals capable of photosynthesis (which is why Felicia says, “It’s my favorite!”)

What? Wait! An animal that photosynthesizes?! Let us recap another one of our blog post (click here) about symbiosis.

Symbiosis is the relationship between two different living organisms where one lives on the other and one or both depends upon the other. We talked about parasitism, like fleas; commensalism, like hitchhiking barnacles on whales; and mutualism, like the spotted jelly and algae. The lettuce sea slug symbiosis relationship is called Kleptoplasty.

That word might sound familiar – you may have heard someone who steals a lot referred to as a “kleptomaniac.”  Kleptoplasty is derived from the Greek work kleptes meaning “thief.” These little slugs are fancy-looking burglars!  While feeding on algae, they will digest almost all of the plant except for the chloroplasts. Chloroplasts are found within the cells of the algae and are responsible for harnessing light during the photosynthesis process. These sea slugs are then able to spread the chloroplast throughout the surface of the tissues on their body and are able to produce their own sugar to feed. Now that’s what we call solar power!

References:

Edited by KC O’Shea

Image ID: reef2588, NOAA’s Coral Kingdom Collection

Location: Florida, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

Photographer: Paige Gill

Credit: Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/

http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/elyscris

http://www.seaslugforum.net/solarpow.htm

https://www.ebiomedia.com/a-leaf-that-crawls-elysia-crispata.html

http://slugsite.tierranet.com/brace/nudwk156.htm

 

Creature Feature: Sunflower Star

The Sunflower Star, Pycnopodia helianthoides, is a one of the fastest sea stars. They can move over 40 inches in one minute. One of the reasons they can move so fast is their tube feet. Tube feet are flexible, hollow appendages operated by hydraulic pressure and are used for movement, anchoring, and trapping prey.  Sunflower stars have over 20,000 attached to the undersides of 20-plus arms. This star does not always start with so many arms. As a juvenile they have 5 arms and continue to grow more. The arms are mobile soft and flexible, allowing them to feed on variety of prey such as urchins, clams and other sea stars.

Even though Sunflower Stars have an insatiable appetite, there are some species that can be difficult to feed on.  Mollusks, like abalones, will twist back and forth until they escape the grip of the sunflower star. Urchins will gnaw at the sunflower star with its many pedicellariae (pinchers).  These animals put up a fight! Even so, most of the time purple urchins are not able to escape and the sunflower star will be able to digest the urchin whole and then spit out the test (skeletal structure) of the urchin.

Sunflower stars are beautiful to look at because they come in a variety of colors, ranging from purple to brown to yellow.  Like most animals living along the coast, urban run-off like oil from cars or soaps can harm these creatures.

Talk with your family and see if there are ways to help keep the waters healthy for these magnificent creatures!

References:

Edited by: KC O’Shea

Photos: MSI

http://echinoblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/what-are-fastest-known-starfish.html

http://www.seastarsofthepacificnorthwest.info/species/sunflower_star.html

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/invertebrates/sunflower-star

 

 

 

Creature Feature: Purple Shore Crabs

 

Have you ever been to the beach and, while climbing over by some rocks, you heard strange scurrying and scratching noises? If you did, it could be a shore crab! Purple shore crabs, hemigrapsus nudus, are found in shallow tide pools from Alaska to Baja California. They get their name from the coloring of their exoskeleton even though they can also be seen wearing greenish and brownish coloring.

The lifecycle of Purple Shore Crabs start the same as all other crabs, in eggs carried under the belly of the female. As she caries them, the female will be sure to flush water through her brood, aerating each little egg. Once the eggs hatch, they become drifting aquatic animals known as plankton. They will go through various stages until the reach their adult form. The Purple Shore Crab may appear small but that doesn’t mean it is a baby.  They are a slow-growing crab and will only reach about 2 inches at full size.

Just like human children when they grow out of their clothes, crabs grow out of their exoskeleton over time. When the crab grows, it will molt which is where it opens a hinge at the back of its carapace and pull its soft and vulnerable body out of its exoskeleton.  The crab chucks out the old exoskeleton to build a new, better fitting body casing.  When crabs are ready to mate, they will stand up and hold each other belly to belly. Together, the male and female produce about 36,000 eggs that are ready to grow! 36,000 may sound like a lot but you’ll remember that just-hatched crabs are plankton and lots of creatures in the ocean eat plankton.  Having thousands of tiny babies ensures that at least some will live to adulthood.  Those lucky babies survive to scurry around the tidepools and produce more Purple Shore Crabs.

References:

Edited by: KC O’Shea

Pictures: MSI

http://www.wallawalla.edu/academics/departments/biology/rosario/inverts/Arthropoda/Crustacea/Malacostraca/Eumalacostraca/Eucarida/Decapoda/Brachyura/Family_Grapsidae/Hemigrapsus_nudus.html

http://animals.pawnation.com/interesting-fun-purple-shore-crab-5243.html

http://centralcoastbiodiversity.weebly.com/purple-shore-crab-bull-hemigrapsus-nudus.html

http://eol.org/pages/1022020/details

Creature Feature: Gooseneck Barnacle

 

Gooseneck Barnacles, pollicipes polymerus, get their name from resemblance to a goose’s neck and head. Barnacles start out as drifting aquatic organisms known as plankton. When they begin to mature, they will do a headstand and settle onto a hard surface in rocky intertidal zones.  By anchoring and no longer drifting, they are now not considered plankton.  Their feathery legs will stick out into the water to catch plankton and detritus, or organic matter, to feed.  Their legs are surrounded by shell-like plates that help to protect these delicate creatures. They can live as long as 20 years and as they grow older, they will form more of these shells.

 

When walking through the rocky intertidal you will notice these barnacles clustered close to crevices.  They are meant to spend their lives in the same place and are made to deal with the stressors of the rocky intertidal habitat.  However disturbances from human activities, like oil spills, being extracted for consumption, or even being walked over can cause this species great harm. Gooseneck barnacles recover very slowly after being disturbed.  It is best for their survival if they are seen, but not touched.

Next time you are wandering around the rocky intertidal habitat, take a look and see if you can get a glimpse of these unique looking barnacles!

 

References:

Edited by KC O’Shea

Photos: MSI

http://oceana.org/en/explore/marine-wildlife/gooseneck-barnacle

http://www.marinebio.net/marinescience/03ecology/tphi.htm

http://friendsoflajollashores.com/marinelife/gooseneckbarnacle/

Creature Feature: Sea Anemone Anthopleura spp.

Sea anemones are unique and vibrant animals. No, that wasn’t a typo  – they ARE animals! Some people may think they are underwater flowers when they see them, but they do not photosynthesize (create energy from the sun) like plants do.  Instead, they consume other living things, like all animals. They belong to the phylum, or grouping of animals, called Cnidarians.  Other cnidarians you may have heard of are things like sea jellies and corals.  To learn the fascinating physiology of anemones, we can start at the base.

The bottom of an anemone is called the pedal disc.  A pedal disc has a thin tissue plate that is used to help adhere to hard substrates such as rocks. Moving up the body (or the “column”), we encounter the acontia, which are thread-like organs that consist of nematocysts (the special stinging cells used to catch its food).

Higher inside the column, the acontia become mesenterial filaments that aid with digestion.  Within the body are gametogenic tissues (gonads), which are the organs responsible for reproduction. The pharynx  is right behind the mouth and is kind of like a throat that leads to the gastrovascular cavity, or the anemone version of a stomach.  As we know, what goes in, must also come out and for anemones, there is only one way in or out.  As gross as it may sound, the oral disc is also the anus.  That’s nature! Above the pharynx are hair-like grooves known as siphonoglyph that help to create water currents into the pharynx. On the top of anemones are the tentacles that help to paralyze and grab food.

There are many types of anemones around the world. For those of us that live on the California coast, there are three species that you can find in our local tidepools.

A. elegantissima, known as the aggregating anemone, has radiating lines on the oral disk. The tentacles can be greenish to pinkish and the column can be covered in small shell fragments. This adaptation can make them difficult to spot. When people explore the tidepools, they sometimes do not realize they are stepping on living organisms! A. elegantissima are able to clone. Each aggregated group of clones like to have their space and will have “clone wars” if their territory is threatened.  May the Force be with you!

Our next two Anthopleura spp. are sometimes hard to distinguish from one another.  Let’s learn a little more about the differences and you will be a master at finding each species on your next tidepool adventure. A. sola, the sunburst anemone, has longer and thinner tentacles than its counterpart, A. xanthogrammica.  A. sola also has distinctive radiating lines on the oral disc.  A. xanthogrammica oral disc lacks radiating lines and is normally some shade of green.

Next time you venture to the coast and delve into the rocky intertidal habitat, make sure to see what is under your feet, it could be an anemone!

References:

Edited by KC O’Shea

Photos: MSI

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/corals/coral01_intro.html

http://www.eeb.ucsc.edu/pacificrockyintertidal/target/target-species-anthopleura.html

 

 

Creature Feature: Bay Shrimp

Bay shrimps (Crangon spp) consist of over 179 species! These semi-transparent organisms usually have black spots or markings and long antennae. Native to the pacific coast from Alaska to San Diego, there are three species of Crangon living in different salinity ranges that are commonly found in the San Francisco Bay estuary.

These shrimp are major components of the food web in the San Francisco bay. Living in muddy substrate helps these invertebrates (animals without a backbone) feed on small shrimp, amphipods, clams, and plants. The small sizes (55mm) of these shrimp make them a delicious meal for striped bass, sturgeon, staghorn sculpin, flatfish, sharks and humans. In the past 100 years San Francisco Bay commercial fishing industries used to collect for human consumption. In recent years the number of catches has decreased because nowadays these shrimp are caught for bait.

http://shar.es/BW4TX

References:

http://books.google.com/books?id=b8YHIsnod3EC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=Crangon+spp.&source=bl&ots=bkr8AjyH-R&sig=3u7Z5v1vuJFtJoDvXXV2xqts2vE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Q6AgU6HzJIe6qgHtg4CQAQ&ved=0CHQQ6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=Crangon%20spp.&f=false

http://www.theseashore.org.uk/theseashore/SpeciesPages/Additional%20Species/Crangon%20Shrimps.html

MSI Benthic Guide

 

 

 

Ocean Views Project: Watershed Adventures

Canoeing through sloughs! A Discovery Voyage aboard our ship! Shoreside programs in our learning aquarium! Kennedy and Peascadero students are having a blast discovering their local watersheds with our Ocean Views program.

For many students canoeing is a brand new adventure and learning how to paddle is one of the hardest tasks. Students work as a team to maneuver the canoes from MSI to BairIsland. BairIsland is a local marsh habitat which houses endangered California clapper rails and salt marsh harvest mice. The students travel through Smith Slough, observing the habitat, spotting animals and taking water samples. Throughout the year, these students will take water samples from their local streams and in the San Francisco Bay Estuary to observe the health of the water.

Check out this video of students exploring on canoes

Pescadero students get to learn all about an urban watershed which differs from their rural watershed where the Pescadero students reside. Click here for more background information on the watersheds that these students are studying. These students used a seine net to collect fish right off the beach at the Marine Science Institute and ventured into exploring the wonders of invertebrates.

Let us see what these students are experiencing through their eyes

For this program, Kennedy students venture into the San Francisco Bay Estuary aboard the R/V Robert G. Brownlee to see where their watershed spills out. Aboard the Brownlee, these students explore plankton, test the water’s health, dig through the mud, and catch some fish.

Take a closer look at their experience here!

Join us for our next adventure, all about Snowy Plovers!

Creature Feature 12/24/13 Revealed: Christmas Anemone!

Copyright © 2005 Mary Jo Adams

Christmas Anemone, Urticina crassicornis, is known for its green and red coloration. You can find the Christmas anemone from Southern California up to Alaska in the low intertidal and subtidal zones. This means they live right along the shoreline, but are usually not exposed to air except at the lowest tide. Like a lot of holiday decorations, you may see these anemones hanging from walls and crevices a long the rocks of the tidepools.

 

Like most anemones these contain nematocysts (stinging cells) which help to paralyze their prey before their tentacles move them to their mouths. These anemones are opportunistic predators, which means they aren’t very picky, and will eat many different kinds of food.  Their prey includes crabs, mussels, fish and even seastars.

Create your own anemone!

For detailed instructions click here!

Materials

• toilet paper roll
• tissue paper (or recycled paper)
• scissors
• glue
• glitter/Paint/embellishments

Directions

1. Give each students a toilet paper roll
2. Using paper: Glue and wrap around roll 2-3 times making sure to have extra paper hanging over edge
3. Using scissors: cut strips into over hanging paper
4. Decorate your anemone

References:

http://aquarium.org/exhibits/rocky-shores/animals/christmas-anemone

http://www.beachwatchers.wsu.edu/ezidweb/animals/Urticinacrassicornis.htm

http://www.shirleys-preschool-activities.com/sea-anemone-craft.html

Creature Feature: 12/17/2013 Revealed

http://waterblogged-by-lynne.blogspot.com/2012/12/oh-christmas-tree-worm-oh-christmas.html

Many people’s favorite part of the holiday season are the brightly colored decorations that go up everywhere. The Christmas tree worm, Spirobranchus giganteus, also comes in a variety of festive colors. This worm is one of the most recognizable marine polycheates because of their shape. Yep, they look like little Christmas trees under water!

These worms live in warm, tropical waters. They build themselves a calcium-based tube to live in, which is then attached to a coral reef. Most of their body remains hidden in the tube, but their two feathery plumes stick out into the water. These spiral-shaped radioles serve two functions – they trap food, and they are also the worm’s gills. These worms are suspension feeders, which means they feed on drifting particles and plankton in the water. When threatened or disturbed they retract into their tube.

So next time you look around and see all the decorations and lights remember the Christmas Tree Worm!

References:

http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=543

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/xmas-tree.html