Tuesday 27 May 2014

Scavenger Hunt Project

1.)
Common Name: Ochre Star

Description

  • Shape and Size - Shaped like a star with five 4-10 inch rays protruding out of a central; depth of about 3 inches.
  • Skeleton - Endoskeleton modified into flexible plates
  • Symmetry - Pentaradial
  • Features - pedicellariae used for manipulation of food, double row of tube feet on each dorsal side of arm (hydraulic system), can evert stomach to ingest prey, spiny skin ventral side, dorsal mouth, advanced coelom, and primitive nervous system, primitive eye on end of arms.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Echinodermata
Class- Asteroidea
Order- Forcipulatida
Family- Asteriidae
Genus- Pisaster
Species- Pisaster ochraceus

Ecology: Feed on dead and decaying matter, and top predator carnivores but prey to seagulls. They are capable of  regenerating lost limbs. The limb can also regenerate into a sea star. As a young larva, the ochraceus filter feeds for plankton. As an adult, the sea star hunts for prey, using its tube feet for moving and handling prey. For large prey, the ochraceus everts its stomach and ingests the prey out of its body. It is a keystone species and prey to gulls and otters. Its preys upon mollusks, crustaceans, and other echinoderms.
  


2.)
Common Name: Sea Cucumber

Description:

  • Shape and Size - 3-12 inch cylinder
  • Skeleton - Endoskeleton with tiny spicules scattered throughout skin.
  • Symmetry - Secondary bilateral
  • Features - Buccalpodia with sticky ends to suspension feed, mouth and anus, and spiny skin.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Echinodermata
Class- Holothuroidea

Ecology: Clean seabed by breaking down dead, decaying matter, and juvenile stages provide food for small fish. Its mouth is surrounded by tentacles, which are part of its water vascular system. The tentacles are used in feeding. Unlike starfish, sea cucumbers' water vascular system uses bodily fluids rather than water. For locomotion, the cucumber uses tube feet.
  


3.)
Common Name: Red Rock Crab

Description:
  • Shape and Size - Circular/heart/oval carapace with five jointed legs on either side. 16 cm. wide body.
  • Skeleton - Hard and flexible exoskeleton
  • Symmetry - Bilateral
  • Features - two pairs of antennae, compound eyes, black tip pincers, jointed appendages, and cephlothorax. Brick-red dorsal and yellowish-white ventral.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Arthropoda
Sub-Phylum- Crustacea
Class- Malacostraca
Order- Decapoda
Family- Cancridae
Genus- Cancer
Species- Cancer Productus

Ecology: Carnivores that eat barnacles, and are prey to giant pacific octopus. Often prefer to feed upon clams, mussels, and other bivalves. Its strong pincers are used as a tool to crack open shells and hard protection of prey. The crab also scavenges dead fish.


4.)
Common Name: Black Prickelback

Description:
  • Shape and Size - Slender 5-10 inch body. Shape like eel or snake.
  • Skeleton - Endoskeleton of bone
  • Symmetry - Bilateral
  • Features - Large hinged jaw, closed gill slits, air bladder, and scales.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Chordata
Superclass- Osteichthyes
Class- Actinopterygii
Order- Perciformes
Family- Stichaeidae
Genus- Xiphister
Species- Xiphister atropurpureus

Ecology: Can stay out of water for 10-23 hours if kept moist. Preys on crabs, worms, and some algae. Predators include sea birds, eels, and larger fish. Eggs are externally fertilized by the male.


5.)
Common Name: Bristle Worm

Description:
  • Shape and Size - 9 inch cylindrical segmented worm.
  • Skeleton - No skeleton
  • Symmetry - Bilateral
  • Features - Ventral nerve cord, segmentation, soft-bodied, mouth and anus, and setae. Anus is located in the pygidium on the posterior end.
Taxonomy
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Annelida
Class- Polychaete

Ecology: Move in an undulating fashion. As an errant form, its head has sensory structures such as tentacular palps to gather food. As a free living worm, it can crawl, burrow, and swim. It has a muscular proboscis to aid in its digging.
 


6.)
Common Name: Earthworm

Description:
  • Shape and Size - Thin 7 inch cylindrical segmented worm.
  • Skeleton - No skeleton
  • Symmetry - Bilateral
  • Features - A pair of setae on each segment, clitellum, nephridia, ganglia, softbody, and coelom
Taxonomy
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Annelida
Class- Oligochaete

Ecology: Improve and recycle soil by leaving wast in casts. Prey for birds. Aerates and mixes soil. Break down organic matter in environment, which is recycled as soil. Important contributors to the recycling of nitrogen.


7.)
Common Name: Northern Clingfish

Description
  • Shape and Size - Round, thick anterior with long, slender posterior. About 10 inches long.
  • Skeleton - Endoskeleton of bone
  • Symmetry - Bilateral
  • Features - Closed gill slits, air bladder, hinged jaw, two-chambered heart, and fins
Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Chordata
Superclass- Osteichthyes
Class- Actinopterygii
Order- Gobiesociformes 
Family- Gobiesocidae
Genus- Gobiesox
Species- Gobiesox maeandricus

Ecology: Eats worms, crabs and other crustaceans. Prey for larger predators such as seagulls. Uses pectoral fins as strong suction cups to attach to rocks.


8.)
Common Name: Hermit Crab

Description
  • Shape and Size - Long spiral abdomen often inside gastropod shells for protection. Five pairs of legs from main cephlothorax ranging from a couple mm to about 14 inches.
  • Skeleton - Hard, flexible exeskeleton
  • Symmetry - Bilateral
  • Features - Long spiral abdomen hidden inside gastropod shells. Jointed appendages, cephlothorax, compound eyes, and gills.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Arthropoda
Subphylum- Crustacea
Class- Malacostraca
Order- Decapoda

Ecology: Uses gastropod shells for protection. Omnivore, eats both plant and animal material. Some of its prey include small fish and worms. Although retracting into shell offers effective protection, sometimes they end up being food for several species of fish, true crabs, octopuses, and birds. If grabbed by a predator, the appendage may break off and can later regrow back. Has a symbiotic relationship with sea anemones; the anemone sits on the shell for a ride to gather food, and in return fends off predators.



9.)
Common Name: Rock Weed

Description: It is large, brown seaweed with long straps and heart shaped air bubbles at each interval. About 0.5-2 meters in length and is very dominant at shore and has no skeleton. Bilateral symmetry.

Taxonomy:  
Kingdom- Protista
Phylum- Phaeophyta
Class- Phaeophyceae
Order- Fucales
Family- Fucaceae
Genus- Fucus
Species- Fucus gardneri

Ecology: Rock weeds relationship with other organisms is that it provides food, shelter, and habitats for many different small animals. They are very effective in absorbing nutrients and minerals from the seawater.


10.)
Common Name: Brown Algae Sargassum

Description: It is a large form of brown algae that grows in large colonies. It has a cell wall with two layers: the outer layer of algin, which is gummy when wet but hard and brittle when dry, and the inner layer, which is composed of cellulose.  It has no skeleton and is bilaterally symmetrical.  

Taxonomy:  
Kingdom- Protista
Phylum- Phaeophyta
Class- Phaeophyceae
Order- Fucales
Family- Sargassaceae
                 
Ecology: Act as a home and protection for 3000 species of small prey in the intertidal zone including leeches, flatworms, isopods, and crabs.  It is never attached to the ocean floor, instead it drifts and is considered to be pelagic. Its small float bladders provide buoyancy to float. It is vital food to many endangered species of turtles and fish. Commensalism relationship with sargassum fish(Histrio histrio), as the algae provides it with camouflage. 


11.)
Common Name: Red sponge

Description: A small blob that grows around 15 inches. It is a bright red colour and has tiny black pores and has spicules as well as spongin protein. It is a loose aggregation of cells and is sessile.

Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Porifera
Class- Demospongiae
                 

Ecology: Helps recycle calcium in the ocean, and provides food for many marine organisms. It can asexually reproduce through fragmentation, budding, or branching.



12.)
Common NameMarine Isopod

Description: They have a hard flexible exoskeleton and are segmented with jointed appendages. Each have two pairs of antennae, 7 pairs of legs and 14 jointed limbs. It has a cephlothorax with a flat, green, plated body about 3-4 cm in length. This species is usually green in colour.

Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Arthropoda
Sub-phylum- Crustacea
Class- Malacostraca
Order- Isopoda
Family- Idoteidae
Genus- Pentidotea
Species- Pentidotea wosnesenskii



Ecology: Prey to many shallow water fishes and other organisms such as birds, reptiles, and mammals. Has the ability to change colours to adapt to its environment. Large population of scavengers, some are also predatory. It can roll up in a ball for protection. It is often found hidden under rockweed. It has the ability to swim gracefully.



13.)
Common Name: Pacific Oyster

Description: Mollusks with irregularly shaped shells and are attached to rocks other shells or to the ocean floor. They move by other creatures, by wave and occasionally by their strong muscular foot. They have a shell as an exoskeleton and are bilaterally symmetrical.

Taxonomy
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Mollusca
Class- Bivalvia
Order- Lamellibranchia
Family- Filibranchia
Genus- Crassostrea
Species- Crassostrea gigas

Ecology: Introduced to North America's western coast form Japan. Have a lifespan of about twenty years. Feed on phytoplankton and are prey to large fish. Feed by filter feeding through current created by incurrent siphon.



14.)
Common Name: Periwinkles

Description: They are small organisms 16-38 mm with a single spiral shell that protects them from predators. It includes a foot, a tail and two antennae on the top of its head that act as sensor organs and  are used to see and taste. They have a  shell exoskeleton and are bilaterally symmetrical.

Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia 
Phylum- Mollusca
Class- Gastropoda
Order- Prosbranchia
Family- Littorinidae
Genus- Littorina
Species- Littorina littorea

Ecology: Prevent water loss by sealing off aperture with operculum. Use radula to eat algae. They are mostly abundant on rocky surfaces in tidepools. A main predator of the periwinkle is the crab.


15.)
Common Name: Dogwinkle

Description: Small shell with rounded ridges in a spiral shape often a dull white with orange, brown or grey and rarely purple. Their shell is very strong and can grow to be 4 cm long but is often under 3 cm. They consist of strong flaring lips and a shell exoskeleton. It is bilaterally symmetrical.

Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Mollusca
Class- Gastropoda
Order- Neogastrpoda
Family- Nucellidae

Ecology: Drill holes in shell of prey before digesting its tissue. It uses paralyzing chemicals and digestive enzymes in prey before sucking the food out with its proboscis. Help control mussel populations. Raspy radula help in hunting. Crabs and birds are main predators.



16.)
Common Name: Limpet


Description: They have a conical circular cup-like shell on the outer surface that is grey and white. It has a fairly tall shell and attaches itself to stone on the sea shore. It has an exoskeleton, often in between 2-7 cm in length and is bilaterally symmetrical.

Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Mollusca
Class- Gastropoda
Order- Patellogastropoda
Family- Parellidae
Genus- Patella
Species- Patella vulgata

Ecology: They are herbivores that feed on algae they scrape off and leave slime behind themselves to help them know where they have already gone. The slime helps the algae grow so they restore numbers. Against other limpets, they ram into each other to compete for food and use the "bulldozer" method to get barnacles or mussels off the rock.



17.)
Common Name: Sea Lemon

Description: A group of medium-sized to large shell-less colourful sea slugs or nudibranchs (up to 25cm), specifically dorid nudibranchs. No skeleton, and have a bilateral symmetry. They are visually similar to a lemon with an oval shape and are a yellowish orange colour.

Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Mollusca
Class- Gastropoda
Superfamily- Doridoidea
Family- Discodorididae
Genus- Anisodoris
Species- Anisodoris nobilis


Ecology: Sea Lemons feed on sponges and other sessile animals or even on dead organic matters. They have horn-like projections from their heads and a feather-like set of gills coming from the anus. It is one of the largest nudibranchs on the Pacific Coast. For protection, it emits a strong odor that predators seem to avoid.
 


18.)
Common Name: Bald Eagle

Description: The bald eagle is completely dark brown with a white head and tail. The beak, feet, and irises are bright yellow. Their body length can be 70-102 cm, their typical wingspan is 1.8-2.3 m, and the eagle's mass is normally between 3-6.3 kg. It has an endoskeleton with a bilateral symmetry.

Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Chordata
Class- Aves
Order- Accipitriformes
Family- Accipiridae
Genus- Halliaeetus
Species- Halliaeetus leucocephalus

Ecology: The bald eagle is a powerful flier and soars on thermal convection currents. It is also a carnivore that can predate a variety of different prey. Its skeleton is hollow to allow for flight easier flight. It is a raptor bird that preys upon turtles, rabbits, snakes, and fish. A vital contributor the food chain, as it keeps population numbers in check. Eagles are extremely strong fliers and can fly for up to 65 miles in a single flight.



19.)
Common Name: Seagull

Description: A medium-sized gull that's length can range from 46-55cm and it's wingspan is 122-137cm. They have  grey wings and a white head and underside, with a yellow beak and legs and black tips on the end of wings. It has an endoskeleton with bilateral symmetry.

Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Chordata
Class- Aves
Order- Charadriiformes
Family- Laridae
Genus- Larus

Ecology: These birds forage in flight or pick up objects while swimming, walking or wading. They mainly eat fish, insects and eggs but are also known to scavenge through garbage dumps or docks. Sometimes display a mobbing behavior to attack predators or threats.
 


20.)
Common Name: Crow

Description: Distinctive bird with black feathers all over, with also a black beak, feet and bill. They measure from 40-53 cm in length, and 24.5-33 cm wingspan. Crows have a bilateral symmetry and endoskeleton.

Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Chordata
Class- Aves
Order- Passeriformes
Family- Corvidae
Genus- Corvus

Ecology: Omnivorous that will eat any invertebrate, and scraps of human food, seeds, eggs and nestlings. Crows are active hunters and will prey on mice, frogs and other small animals. They will also scavenge landfills.



21.)
Common Name: Sand Dollar

Description: Extremely flattened, burrowing sea urchins in a circular shape varying in sized and have petal-like patterns. They have a radial symmetry but display a secondary front-to-back bilateral symmetry, and an endoskeleton with pores for gas exchange.

Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Echinodermata
Class- Echinoidea
Order- Clypeasteroida

Ecology: The mouth of the sand dollar is on the bottom of the sand dollar at the petal-like pattern in the sand dollar and the anus is on it's back. They are mainly found at the bottoms of oceans buried in the sand.


22.)
Common Name: Barnacles

Description: A small saltwater animal with a protective shell-like covering. They are sessile and live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosive settings. The types of symmetry in barnacles are asymmetrical, bilateral, and radial. Barnacles also have a tubular skeleton.

Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Arthropoda
Class- Maxillopoda

Ecology: Barnacles attach themselves permanently on hard surfaces. Most barnacles are suspension feeders, feeding off of things that float around in the water. They are prey to whelks, sea stars, and crabs.



23.)
Common Name: Green Algae

Description: Most diverse group of algae with 7,00 different species and come in many different shapes and sizes depending on how much light it gets. Spread over variable amounts of space. No skeleton and asymmetrical.

Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Protista
Phylum- Chlorophyta
Class- Ulvophyceae

Ecology: Green algae makes its own food and grows year-round. It is food to many different animals. They live and thrive in colonies. Contain chloroplast called shyrogyra to photosynthesize.



24.)
Common Name: Sea Lettuce

Description: A bright green algae composed of lobed, ruffle-edged leaves that are coarse and sheet-like and resemble a leaf of lettuce. It's size ranges from 6 inches to 2 feet. No skeleton and asymmetrical.

Taxonomy:
Kingdom- Protista
Phylum- Chlorophyta
Class- Ulvophyceae
Order- Ulvales
Family- Ulvaceae
Genus- Ulva

Ecology: Sea Lettuce is eaten by a number of different sea animals, but is also a food source for humans in some countries. Leaves may appear flat, thin, bread and rounded but its leaves are perforated with holes of various sizes. Can colonize very quickly; it doubles in size in two or three days.

Transect Data Sheet Pictures
Low Tide

Middle Tide

High Tide

Bonus*
Photos with multiple species of Mollusca/Arthropoda/Crustacea/Echinodermata/Porifera
 

Example of parasitism(barnacles on crab)
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