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Seashore Creaturesthreatened and/or endangeredAll families

1-40 of 137 Seashore Creatures page: 1 | 2 | 3 | >>
Gunpowder Sponge
Halichondria bowerbanki

More than 12” (30 cm) wide, 2” (51 mm) high. Thin crust. Yellow to greenish. Pores prominent in low “volcanoes.” Texture like bread crumbs.… read more

Vase Sponge
Ircinia campana

24" (61 cm) wide, 36" (91 cm) high. Vase-shaped or bell-shaped, with a deep central cavity. Reddish to reddish-brown. Surface irregular, with small pores and coarse longitudinal ribs.… read more

Red Beard Sponge
Microciona prolifera

Varies from a thin encrusting layer less than 1/8" (3 mm) high and covering a few square inches to 8" (20 cm) wide and 8" (20 cm) high with many fanlike branches. Red to orange. Pores inconspicuous.… read more

Velvety Red Sponge
Ophlitaspongia pennata

More than 36" (91 cm) wide, 1/4" (6 mm) high. Flat, encrusting. Coral-red, occasionally red-brown to mustard. Velvety; pores starlike, close together.… read more

Fire Sponge
Tedania ignis

More than 12" (30 cm) wide, 12" (30 cm) high. Massive, amorphous, usually lobed. Bright red or red-orange. Smooth, with few large pores.… read more

Staghorn Coral
Acropora cervicornis

10' (3 m) high, more than 60" (152 cm) wide. Loosely branched, with 1" (25 mm) wide, cylindrical branches of variable length which do not fuse together. Yellowish or purplish-brown, paler at the tips. Surface covered with small, protruding, round cups ...… read more

Elkhorn Coral
Acropora palmata

10' (3 m) high, more than 60" (152 cm) wide. Treelike, with flattened, fanlike branches of extremely variable length and width extending outward from a short, thick stalk. Brownish-yellow to cream-colored, tips of branches white. … read more

Many-ribbed Hydromedusa
Aequorea aequorea

1 1/2" (38 mm) high, 7" (18 cm) wide. Saucer-shaped. Glassy-transparent with thick jelly. Radial canals narrow, 80 or more. Marginal tentacles long, numbers vary. Feeding tube short, wide; mouth with ruffled lips as numerous as radial canals. Gonads ...… read more

Ostrich Plume Hydroid
Aglaophenia struthionides

Polyp colony 5/8-24" (16 mm-61 cm) high, 1/8-4" (3-102 mm) wide. Featherlike. Whitish, yellowish, tannish, or reddish. Stem simple or branching, usually in clusters rising from creeping base; upright stems jointed, with parallel jointed branches in one ...… read more

Aggregating Anemone
Anthopleura elegantissima

Aggregating individuals 6" (15 cm) high, 3 1/8" (79 mm) wide; solitary individuals 20" (51 cm) high, 10" (25 cm) wide. Cylindrical. Column pale gray-green to white; pale, variously colored tentacles with pink, lavender, or blue tips, in 5 rings around ...… read more

Moon Jellyfish
Aurelia aurita

3" (76 mm) high, 16" (41 cm) wide. Saucer-shaped. Whitish, translucent, 8 shallow marginal lobes, sense organs in 8 clefts between lobes. Numerous short, fringelike tentacles. Feeding tube short, stout, expanding as 4 long oral arms with frilly margins.… read more

Upside-down Jellyfish
Cassiopeia xamachana

2" (51 mm) high, 12" (30 cm) wide. Bell gray-green to brownish-yellow. Rather flat, with rounded edges. 80 marginal lobes, with 16 marginal sense organs, no marginal tentacles. Feeding tube stout, with 8 long, green or brown, fleshy oral arms.… read more

Sea Nettle
Chrysaora quinquecirrha

Description: 5" (127 mm) high, 10" (25 cm) wide. Pink with radiating red stripes. 40 tentacles. Bay form 2" (51 mm) high, 4" (102 mm) wide. White. 24 tentacles. Bell covered with fine warts. Margin divided into scalloped, shallow lobes.… read more

Pink-tipped Anemone
Condylactis gigantea

6" (15 cm) high, 12" (30 cm) wide. Large, showy, columnar. White, light blue, pink, orange, pale red, or light brown. Mouth surrounded by 100 or more long, tapering tentacles tipped with pink, scarlet, blue, or green in several rings, usually paler than body. … read more

Lion's Mane
Cyanea capillata

24" (61 cm) high, 96" (244 cm) wide. Bell saucer-shaped, upper surface smooth. Color varies with age and, thus, size; pink and yellowish to 5" (127 mm), reddish to yellow-brown to 18" (46 cm), darker red-brown when larger. 16 marginal lobes. … read more

Labyrinthine Brain Coral
Diploria labyrinthiformis

96" (244 cm) high, 96" (244 cm) wide. Convex, heavy boulders with winding, interconnected valleys 1/4" (6 mm) deep, and 3/8" (10 mm) wide. Bright orange-yellow to brownish-yellow. Walls between valleys thick, with longitudinal groove.… read more

Palmer's Eunicea Sea Rod
Eunicea palmeri

24" (61 cm) high, 18" (46 cm) wide. Colony of slender, flexible branches. Purplish gray or brown. Branches 1/8-1/2" (3-13 mm) thick, almost parallel to each other, surface knobby, each conical projection with a pore.… read more

Common Sea Fan
Gorgonia ventalina

30" (75 cm) high, 30" (75 cm) wide. Flattened; outline fan-shaped, with small branches fusing to make continuous latticework. Pinkish-purple, yellow, or rarely white. Smaller branches wider than thick, compressed in same plane as stem. Numerous fine ...… read more

Whip Coral
Leptogorgia virgulata

Description: 36" (91 cm), 1/2" (13 mm) wide. Stems and branches long, whiplike, tough, pitted with small, evenly distributed pores. Purple, red, yellow-orange, or tan.… read more

Frilled Anemone
Metridium senile

18" (46 cm) high, 9" (23 cm) wide. Smooth. Reddish- to olive-brown or lighter, to cream-colored and white; paler forms may be mottled. Oral disk lobed; tentacles slender and very abundant, 1000 in large specimens, producing a frilled appearance. Long, ...… read more

Crenelated Fire Coral
Millepora alcicornis

More than 24" (61 cm) high, more than 18" (46 cm) wide. Upright, branching or platelike, on coral rock or encrusting mollusk shells or skeletons of horny corals. Brown to creamy-yellow. Covered with tiny pores occupied by whitish polyps.… read more

Portuguese Man-of-War
Physalia physalis

Float 12" (30 cm) long, 6" (15 cm) high, 5" (127 mm) wide. Float gas-filled. Iridescent pale blue and pink, with large, deflatable, pink-ridged crest above. Dense cluster of 3 kinds of polyps suspended underneath. Tentacles of different lengths some more than 60' (18 m) long.… read more

Sea Gooseberry
Pleurobrachia pilius

1 1/8" (28 mm) high, 1" (25 mm) wide. Round to egg-shaped. Transparent, iridescent. 2 tentacles, each fringed on 1 side, can extend over 20 times body length or retract completely. 8 rows of comb plates, equally spaced, extend nearly full length of body. ...… read more

Clubbed Finger Coral
Porites porites

Colony 12" (30 cm) or more long, 12" (30 cm) wide, forming thick clumps of irregular branches swollen at their ends, 1" (25 mm) wide. Pale beige, yellowish-brown to purplish. Branches covered with closely set cups about 1/16" (2 mm) wide and equally high.… read more

Gurney's Sea Pen
Ptilosarcus gurneyi

18" (46 cm) high, 4" (102 mm) wide. Stout, plumelike. Tannish-yellow to orange, translucent. Midrib bearing 20 pairs of flat, wide side branches with rows of polyps along both edges, and swollen base for anchorage.… read more

Northern Red Anemone
Telia (Urticina) crassicornis

5" (127 mm) high, 3" (76 mm) wide. Columnar, smooth. Red, sometimes mottled, occasionally with dull green spots. 100 thick, blunt tentacles arranged in several rings around the mouth; white, frequently ringed with red, white, or dark pigment. Particles ...… read more

Tubularian Hydroids
Tubularia species

Polyp colony more than 12” (30 cm) wide. Single pink polyps 5” (127 mm) high on sparsely branched stems rising from a creeping horizontal stem. Head pear-shaped, with whorl of short, threadlike tentacles around mouth, longer ones around base; 24 ...… read more

By-the-wind Sailor
Velella velella

Float 4" (102 mm) long, 3" (76 mm) wide, 2" (51 mm) high. Float consisting of flat, oval, cartilagelike skeleton full of gas-filled pockets, with vertical triangular crest set diagonally across the top, serving as a sail. Blue, transparent. Single ...… read more

Leidy's Comb Jelly
Mnemiopsis leidyi

4" (102 mm) high, 2" (51 mm) wide. Oval, somewhat flattened, broad at top end. Milky-transparent; iridescent. 2 large lobes longer than half the total body length. 1 pair of short tentacles in sheaths between lobes, 4 ribbonlike structures around mouth, ...… read more

Milky Ribbon Worm
Cerebratulus lacteus

48" (122 cm) long, 5/8" (16 mm) wide. Cylindrical and firm at front end; flat, wide, and soft, very thin at the edges over most of the length; tail present, head shaped like a spearhead, wider than adjacent body. Milky white, yellowish, or pinkish in ...… read more

Lugworm
Abarenicola pacifica

The Lugworm is in the class Polychaeta, subclass Sedentaria. Sedentary polychaetes usually have a head without eyes or sensory appendages, but sometimes with abundant gills and feeding tentacles; a trunk divided into a thick thorax followed by a slender ...… read more

Lugworm
Arenicola cristata

12" (30 cm) long, 1" (25 mm) wide. Firm and sturdy, thick in front, with tapering head and tail end, skin coarse and checkered. Greenish-black. Head without appendages or eyes; mouth with bulbous proboscis covered with short, fingerlike projections. Each ...… read more

Plumed Worm
Diopatra cuprea

12" (30 cm) long, 3/8" (10 mm) wide. In a leathery tube. Front cylindrical, rear flattened and tapered. Reddish to brown, speckled with gray; appendages yellowish-brown; ripe males yellowish, females gray-green. Cuticle thick, wrinkled, iridescent. … read more

Giant Feather Duster
Eudistylia polymorpha

10" (25 cm) long, 1/2" (13 mm) wide. In sturdy, parchmentlike tubes. Body tannish, gills maroon, reddish, orange, or brown, usually with cross-bands of lighter and darker shades. Cylindrical, slightly flattened, tapered; collar at head end; large plume ...… read more

Orange Fire Worm
Eurythoe complanata

6" (15 cm) long, 1/4" (6 mm) wide. Moderately long, flattened. Orange-yellow, with tufts of red gills on upper surfaces of paired appendages, and abundant white bristles on sides. Head with 5 short tentacles; 2 pairs of eyes; smooth, elongate.… read more

Eighteen-scaled Worm
Halosydna brevisetosa

4 3/8" (111 mm) long, more than 3/8" (10 mm) wide. Covered above with 18 pairs of grayish, brownish, or reddish-brown oval scales, each scale with a pale dot. 1 pair of antennae, and 1 unpaired.… read more

Slime Feather Duster
Myxicola infundibulum

8" (20 cm) long, 1 1/4" (32 mm) wide. In a mass of slime. Collar at head end, tapered toward rear. Cream-colored to tannish, with cream, yellow, greenish, bluish, or brownish funnel-shaped whorl of gills interlaced almost to the tips to form a membrane.… read more

Mussel Worm
Nereis vexillosa

The Mussel Worm is in the class Polychaeta, subclass Errantia. The Errantia are worms that move about. Errant polychaetes generally have well-developed, paired appendages (parapodia), trunk segments all similar to each other, good locomotory ...… read more

Clam Worm
Nereis virens

36" (91 cm) long, 1 3/4 (44 mm) wide. Thicker in head region, tapered toward rear. 200 segments. Iridescent greenish, bluish, or greenish-brown above, usually with fine red, gold, or white spots, paler beneath; appendages red, showing blood vessels. Head ...… read more

Sand-castle Worm
Phragmatopoma californica

2" (51 mm) long, 1/4" (6 mm) wide. In sandy tube. Conical. Cream-colored, with cone-shaped lid of black bristles on top of head, and semicircle of lavender, retractable tentacles in front of lid. Tail slender, not segmented, bent under body at sharp ...… read more

1-40 of 137 Seashore Creatures page: 1 | 2 | 3 | >>

 

 

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