Species List for VR Tide Pool

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• Algae
  • Palm Kelp - POSTELSIA PALMAEFORMIS

    "They live almost exclusively among mussels on the most wave-battered coasts, where they depend on the waves to remove mussels to provide space for them to grow. They are annuals and their spores settle below the adults in late summer-fall. After which the adults senesce -- or more likely are torn out by the winter waves, often attached to mussels, thus removing mussels and providing more space for their offspring. Juveniles begin growing up in the spring, taking space before the mussels can recruit." - John Pearse

  • Scouring Pad - ENDOCLADIA MURICATA

    "This common red alga (which is nearly black in color) lives high in the intertidal where it is uncovered by the tides every day. It can loose over 70% of its water content and do just fine. It apparently depends on daily drying to remove diatoms and other fouling organisms that settle on it. It also forms a little community only a few feet wide on intertidal rocks stretching from Alaska to Baja with over 100 species of small animals living within its shelter." - John Pearse

  • Surf Grass - 2 Species, PHYLOSPADIXTORREYI and PHYLOSPADIX SCOULERI

    "These are flowering plants that can only live in shallow, wave-swept sea water. Except in tide pools, they are restricted to depths less than the zero mean lot tide level -- you only see them on very low tides. They have small flowers that produce water-borne pollen and the seeds are formed in pods similar to grasses. Indeed they can be harvested, ground, and made into gread -- Yaqui Indians on the shores of the Gulf of California do just that with related species. The seeds have little hooks on them which allow them to catch pieces of algae to hold them while they germinate and produce roots to anchor themselves on the bottom. Recruitment success is low and they grow very slowly, taking years to produce clumps a couple of meters in diameter. They are especially sensitive to sewage pollution, at least chlorinated sewage, and ther absence is one of the most distinctive features of old sewage discharge sites, such as at Pleasure Point (Soquel Point) near Capitola." - John Pearse

• Anemone
  • Cloning (Aggregating) Anemone - ANTHOPLEURA ELEGANTISSIMA

    "They probably should be called the 'cloning anemones;' they are aggregated because they are clones, but they got their common name before that was known." - John Pearse

  • Giant green anemone - ANTHOPLEURA XANTHOGRAMMICA

    "These are the anemones that live below mussel beds and feed on dislodged mussels. Please note that their striking green color is the result of blue-breen pigments produced by the animals themselves (stimulated by exposure to bright sunlight) and not by the symbiotic algae, which around here are brownish in color." - John Pearse

• Barnacles
  • Acorn - CHTHAMALUS DALLI

    "These are in the highest portion of the intertidal." - John Pearse

  • Acorn - BALANUS GLADULA

    "These are mainly in the mid zone." - John Pearse

  • Acorn - TETRACLITA RUFESCENS

    "These are the largest and found scattered mainly in the low zone." - John Pearse

  • Goose - POLLICIPES POLYMERUS

    It is also called the 'leaf barnacle' (some sticklers insist on that and say the goose barnacle (not goose neck) refers to another species -- but such finger-waving is ignored by most people). Incidentially, the name 'goose barncle' comes from a 16th century claim that these barnacles turned into geese!"- John Pearse

• Bivalves - California Mussel

• Crabs & Hermit Crabs
  • Hermit crab - PAGURUS HIRSUTIUSCULUS

    "It is probably the most common. It is found mainly in the mid zone in worn and what appears to be small and unsuitable shells." - John Pearse

  • Hermit crab - PAGURUS SAMUELIS

    "Common in high tide pools and is the most resistent to extreme temperatures and salinities." - John Pearse

  • Hermit Crab - PAGURUS GRANOSIMANUS

    "Found in the low zone." - John Pearse

  • Stripped shore crab - PACHYGRAPSUS CRASSIPES

    "Also called the 'lined shore crab' and is by far the most common locally." - John Pearse

  • Purple shore crab - HEMIGRAPSUS NUDUS

    The purple shore crab is found more on the outter rocky coast." - John Pearse

• Limpets
  • Finger or Ribbed Limpet - LOTTIA (old-COLLISELLA) DIGITALIS

    "The finger or ribbed limpet is much more abundant and is the one that has a dark form that lives on mssels and rocks and light, lined form that lives on leaf barnacles -- looks just like one." - John Pearse

  • File Limpet - LOTTIA (old-COLLISELLA) LIMATULA

    "File limpets are also common, and like their name implies, have fine teeth on their shell resembling a fingernail file." - John Pearse

  • Rough Limpet - MACCLINTOCKIA (old-COLLISELLA) SCABRA

    "These are the ones that form 'home scars' and sometimes live on owl limpet territories." - John Pearse

  • Owl limpet - LOTTIA GIGANTEA

• Red Octopus - OCTOPUS RUBESCENS

• Purple Sea Urchin - STRONGYLOCENTROTUS PURPURATUS.

  "The common sea urchin here, that often lives in burrows it makes in the rocks." - John Pearse

• Sea Stars
  • Bat Star - PATIRIA MINIATA
  • Ochre Starfish - PIASTER OCHRACEUS
  • Brooding Sea Star - LEPTASTERIAS HEXACTIS
  • Sunflower Star - PYCNOPODIA HELIANTHAIDES
  • Leather stars - DERMASTERIAS IMBRICATA

    "Leather stars, DERMASTERIAS IMBRICATA, are not that common ... except they are of interest because they have a very peculiar and distinctive garlicy odor!" - John Pearse

• Snails
  • Black Turban Snail - TEGALE FUNEBRALIS

    "Turban snails and periwinkles feed on diatoms and other plants growing on the rocks." - John Pearse

  • Scaled Worm snail - SERPULORBIS SQUAMIGERUS

    "One of the most consipicuous southern species that has become quite abundant on our shores over the past 20 years or so... Worm snails feed on detritus caught in a mucous web they produce." - John Pearse

  • Emarginate Dogwinkle - NUCELLA EMARGINATA

    "Common in mussel beds and feeds on acorn barnacles and small mussels." - John Pearse