Category Archives: Species

Pandion haliaetus: Osprey—The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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This is the first image taken of this species at Race Rocks. Ryan states: “While counting marine mammals from the lighthouse I noticed the sea gulls take flight similar to a bald eagle response.  I then saw this osprey flying SE over Great Race about level with the top of the tower.  The next day I observed a pair of ospreys hunting in the shallows West of Pedder Bay Marina.”.We have seen ospreys previously in Pedder bay, where a pair had a nest up until the early-1980’s.

Image by Ryan Murphy

 

Other Members of the Class Aves at Race Rocks 
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

Ryan Murphy

Ardenna tenuirostris : Short-tailed sheerwater- The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Short-tailed Sheerwater images by Raisa Mira, Ecoguardian

Images by Raisa Mirza
These are the first images taken of this species at Race Rocks. It occurs only rarely around Race Rocks, as it is mainly pelagic.

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Subclass Neomithes
Superorder Neoaves
Order Procellariiformes
Family Procellariidae
Genus Ardena
Species tenuirostris
Common Name: Short-tailed Shearwater
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

 

Pollicipes polymerus – Nakwakto variety of goose-neck barnacle-The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Image by Garry Fletcher,September 7, 2011
This is the first image taken of this variety of gooseneck barnacle at Race Rocks. On the tidal energy generator which was removed in 2011. Two clumps of these barnacles were collected from a join in the housing materials. In Lamb and Hanby, Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest, they state the following:“—Nakwakto goose-neck barnacle, a large and colourful variation of the goose neck barnacle found inlNakwakto Rapids, Slingsby Channel, BC. The glorious red colour is actually the hemoglobin in the barnacle’s blood. The blood is obvious in subtidal specimens like these which do not have black pigment that which protects the sun-exposed populations inhabiting shallow or intertidal zones. Familiar to an ever-increasing number of recreational divers, the unique and isolated population must be preserved via a No-Take Marine Protected Area.”

Link to the regular taxonomy and image file for the more common  Pollicepes polymerus

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Order Thoracia
Suborder Lepadomorpha
Family Scalpellidae
Genus Pollicepes
Species polymerus
Common Name: Goose neck Barnacle Nakwakto (variety)

 

Other Members of the Phylum Arthropoda at Race Rocks 
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

 September 2011- Ryan Murphy

Calidris alba: Sanderling- The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Sanderling photogrepahed by Adam Harding- Ecoguardian at Race Rocks

This is the first image taken of this species. It breeds circumpolar and is a long distance migratory species. It must be back on its way down south having made this stopover here at Race Rocks August 11, 2011

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Charadriiformes
Family Scolopacidae
Genus Calidris
Species alba Pallas,1764
Common Name: Sanderling
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

 

Amsinckia menziesii: fiddleneck–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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gfjun11fiddleneckflo2This fiddleneck, Amsinckia menziesii  was a recent arrival to the islands,  (2011) In that year , although not a garden escape, it colonized many areas at Race Rocks possibly because of its unpalatability to Canada geese.

 

Note the fiddle shaped seed heads of Amsinckia spectabilis.

 

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: (unplaced)
Family: Boraginaceae
Genus: Amsinckia
Species: A. menziesii

Amsinckia menziesii  (Lehm.) Nelson & J.F. Macbr.

Fiddleneck,  Menzie’s fiddleneck, Menzies’ fiddleneck, small flowered fiddleneck

Other Angiosperms (flowering plants) at Race Rock

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

 

Chthamalus dalli: small Northern barnacle– The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Chthamalus dalli in the Intertidal zone at Race Rocks

Physical description:
-Size: Reaches a diameter of only 8 mm (0.3 inches)
Colour: Gray, brown
Shape: It looks like a big brown barnacle but the main the difference is the size – it is much smaller
Texture: They do not have ridges
Geographical range: Alaska to San Diego
Habitat: Intertidal and splash zones but also it can occasionally be seen at lower levels
Feeding: Filter feeders on microplankton
Predators: Predatory snails including Nucella ostrina and sea stars such as Leptasterias. If predators are prevalent, Chthamalus dalli will sometimes grow a slight curve on its shell to protect itself.
Reproduction: They are hermaphroditic and produce sperm and eggs simultaneously. They do not self-fertilize, instead they use their long penis (4.5 cm from the shell) to fertilize another barnacle. Life span: About 3 years
Behaviour: It may spend more than half of its life out of the water because it can live in high intertidal levels
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Cirripedia
Order Thoracica
Family Chthamalidae
Genus Chthamalus
Species dalli
Common Name: small northern barnacle

References:
http://zipcodezoo.com/Animals/B/Balanus_glandula/
http://beachwatchers.wsu.edu/ezidweb/animals/Chthamalus.htm

Other Members of the Phylum Arthropoda at Race Rocks 
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

Alessandra Bustamante Concha-Fernández, Peru ( PC yr 37)

Mergus merganser: Common merganser–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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rmmar2911mergstand

Mergus merganser photos by Ryan Murphy

rmmar2911We see flocks of the common mergansers (Mergus merganser) in the winter and spring months hunting for fish in a line of up to a dozen birds which will dive simultaneously to corral fish underwater. We see this in Pedder Bay, and off Taylor beach. They are not so common at Race Rocks however. This individual is in female plumage, and was perched on the end of the docks. Males are brightly coloured with contrasting white and dark greenish black markings. This is the first record of one on the island.

rmmar2911mergfemale

Mergus merganser photos by Ryan Murphy

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class :Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Mergus
Species: merganser
Common Name: Common Merganser

 

 

Return to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
This file is provided as part of a collaborative effort by the students, faculty, staff and volunteers of Lester B. Pearson College March 2011 Ryan Murphy