Ways Animals in the Area Adapt to their Environment
- Stick tightly to a rock
- Hide beneath a rock
- Hide inside a hole in the rock (The organism uses a chemical to dissolve a hole in the rock)
Bivalve
A bivalve is a soft type of sea organisms that is protected by two hard half shells, one on each side. The shells are held together by strong muscles. Bivalves include clams, scallops, mussels, and oysters. They are filter feeders and feeds on loose organic materials. To sea a picture click here.
Horseshoe Crab
Horseshoe Crab, also called King Crab, is an hard-shelled animal that has a long hard tail at the end. It is not really a crab, in fact they don't really resemble crabs at all. They live in warm, costal waters, and they walk on the ocean floor. They prey on worms and young clams they find in the way. They usually work at night time. To view a picture of an Atlantic horseshoe crab, click here.
Sea Urchins
An Sea Urchin is an small, round, hard, and spiny animal. They live on rocky sea floor, they can be located in intertidal zones or much deeper in the ocean. In intertidal zones, they would sit on a rock, use chemicals to melt a hole in the rock and then stay in the hole. Their diet includes kelp, decaying matter, algae, dead fish, sponges, mussels, and barnacles. They are red, purple, blue, black, white, pink, and probably even more colors of urchins. To see an image of sea urchins click here.
Surf Grass
Surf grasses are of a vivid green color marine plants living in tidepools. They grow long flat blades and attaches itself to rocks. Its scientific name is Phyllospadix scouleri. To see a picture click here.
Barnacles
Barnacles are crustaceans. They unlike most other animals would glue themselves permanently to rocks, the bottom of ships, pilings, abalones, and even on the bodies of whales. Their glues are so strong that even after the barnacle itself died, their shells remain stuck there. They are what we call filter-feeders, which are animals that would clean up all the food that washes towards them from the water. They use their feather-like arm to grab at things that come by. To see a picture click here.
Sea Star
Sea stars, also known as starfish, are soft bodies with the shape of an star. Some types of them may sting. Its mouth is located in the very middle of the body, they feed on clams, oysters, snails, dying fish, etc. There are over 1800 different species of them. Did you know that once one of its feet is cut off the feet itself will become another sea star? To see a picture click here.
Sea Anemone
The sea anemone is an animal that looks a lot like a flower. It lives on the ocean floor. For the most part it stays in one spot, however some have the ability to move, but slowly. They usually prey on small fish, zooplanktons, clams, worms, and shrimps. They have a round body with stinging tentacles, their mouths is at the center of the tentacles. They have very long life. They live in high, middle, and low tide zone.To see a picture click here.Shrimps
Shrimps are gray, hard, and small creatures that live on the ocean floor, not too deep in the ocean, near or at intertidal zones. They have a hard core, small and fast legs, and a strong muscle located right behind the head. They prey on plants and small animals, and are preyed on by lots of animals. To see an image of a shrimp click here.
Whelks
A whelk is an soft bodied animal with a spiral, hard, light gray shell. They eat clams and some kinds eat dead fish. They surf the tides with their soft body and get to the beach. If they cannot go back to water, they bury themselves in the sand and wait for the next high tide. To see a picture click here.
Polychaete Worm
Polychaete Worms are marine worms that live in tidepools during low tides. They are usually beneath the sand at the bottom of the tidepools. There are many different kind of them. To see a picture click here.
