California Sea Hare (Aplysia californica)

This sea hare was cruising around a tidepool. We observed lots of sea hares in the intertidal during this trip to Santa Cruz Island both in tidepools and on rocks. The sea hares sitting on rocks were not active because they were not submerged.

Santa Cruz Island, February 2007

Black Abalone (Haliotis cracherodii)

Black abalone are rare in the intertidal since their populations declined in the 1980's. This was the first time that I saw a living black abalone in its natural habitat. Note that there is macroalgae growing on the shell of this abalone.

Santa Cruz Island, January 2007

Limpet (Cellana radians)

Limpets are common in the intertidal. Bill Ballantine, a retired professor from the University of Auckland, has been tracking the population dynamics of this species for many years in the Leigh Marine Reserve.

Leigh, New Zealand, February 2008

Giant Keyhole Limpet (Megathura crenulata)

Santa Cruz Island, January 2007

Chiton (species unknown)

This chiton was found hiding in a crevice on the west coast of New Zealand. The waves were small on this day, which is unusual for this coastline. Exploring the intertidal is less hazardous on small wave days.

Herekino Harbor Entrance, New Zealand, January 2006

Whelk (Haustrum haustorium)

These whelks are common in the intertidal in New Zealand and frequently eat barnacles. This whelk found a great feeding spot.

Whatuwhiwhi, New Zealand, January 2008

Owl Limpet (Lottia gigantea)

The rock surrounding this owl limpet is bare because it is maintaining its territorry by bulldozing anything that settles near it. The small limpet that is positioned on its shell is staying out of harms way.

Santa Cruz Island, California, February 2007

Black nerite (Nerita melanotragus)

Black nerites tend to group together in crevices during low tide and then feed during high tide. Moving to crevices during low tides may reduce the risk of harmful body temperatures for this species.

Leigh, New Zealand, February 2008

Green-lipped Mussel (Perna canaliculus)

Blue Mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis)

Little Black Horse Mussel (Xenostrobus pulex)

Three intertidal mussel species live in the same community. The blue mussel is non-native.

Onemana, New Zealand, January 2006

Rock Oyster (Crassostrea glomerata)

Chiton (Sypharochiton pelliserpentis)

I spotted this chiton sheltering under a rock oyster in Matheson's Bay.

Leigh, New Zealand, February 2008

Seastar (Stichaster australis)

This seastar species is common on the west coast of New Zealand. I was looking for mussels (seastar prey) when I found this group, but there were no mussels around. Perhaps, they had eaten them all.

Port Waikato, January 2006

Sandcastle Worms (Phragmatopoma californica)

Sandcastle worms aggregate and build large formations of sand tubes. This close-up photo shows the entrances to the tubes. The worms emerge at the entrances of the tubes during high tide and feed using a purple fan of tentacles.

Bodega Harbor, California, August 2006

Seastar (Pisaster ochraceus)

This purple seastar is stalking some mussel prey.

Lompoc, California, June 2006

Sea Anemone (Anthopleura xanthogrammica)

A cloudy tidepool caught my attention as I was clambering to my field site. Upon closer examination, I realized that most of the sea anemones in the pool were spawning. This is a picture of a female anemone releasing eggs. There were also male anemones releasing sperm.

Bodega Reserve, August 2007