Category Archives: Species

Solaster endeca: Northern Sun star

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One of the frames from the video on predation on the Psolus chitinoides

 

Predation of a Psolus chitinoides by a sea star is examined and discussed by Laura and Nadege. The stomach of the sea star surrounds the sea cucumber and the soft neck and mouth of Psolus is well inside the cavity of the sea

We see these occasionally at Race Rocks in the subtidal areas.Their favorite prey are various species of sea cucumber. Their puffy arms distinguish them from other orange stars. They can grow to 40 cm. across.

 

Reference: Lamb and Hanby, Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest.

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.

G.Fletcher

 

Flabellina trilineata The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Gastropoda
Subclass: Opisthobranchia
Order Nudibranchia
Family Polyceratidae
Genus Flabellina
Species trilineata
Common Name: Nudibranch

Other molluscs 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

Scorpaenichthyes marmoratus : Cabezon –The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Cabezon:(literally big head in Spanish ) is a benthic fish that lives among the kelp holdfasts and rocky areas, usually very close to the bottom. It is often so confident of its camouflage that it will not move when approached by divers. Note the multi colored eye. These fish will lunge at almost anything that moves on the bottom. Dissections of their stomachs reveal amphipods and small crabs, pieces of kelp (and even rocks they have grabbed when foraging for other invertebrates.)

Cabezon are normally benthic or bottom-dwellers, living among rocks and seaweeds in tide pools. Sometimes they live just below the water’s surface among the marine plants. Their coloration allows them to remain well camouflaged. Their habitat is most likely rocky, sandy and muddy bottoms, living in areas with a depth range of 0 to 200 meters. Moreover, young cabezon feed on small crustaceans like amphipods, shrimp, and crabs. The adults feed on crustaceans, marine worms and mollusks, including clams and abalone. They can swallow a whole abalone and later regurgitate the indigestible shell; therefore, their tropic level is that of a secondary carnivore. In addition, the limiting factors that will affect the development and growth of this population in a certain habitat will be the presence of enough light, temperature and the availability of food and living space

Their maximum length and weight are 99.0 centimeters and 14.0 Kilograms respectively. This organism can be seen in the Eastern Pacific, which covers the areas from Southeastern Alaska to Punta Abrejos, in Central Baja California, Mexico. Race Rocks is located in the centre of this range. In this map we can see the range of this fish.

Reference The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) BioBot
http://www.elasmodiver.com/BCMarinelife/BCML%20Chordata.htm

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. March 15 2005- Diomedes Saldana PC -Greco

Calidris ptilocnemis: Rock Sandpiper

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rmaleutianrocksandpiper

Male Rock Sandpiper photo by Ryan Murphy

Rock sandpiper

Rock Sandpiper photo by Raisa Mirza
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Inset from the photo below showing the rock sandpipers in the foreground. The larger birds are the surfbirds. Several Black Turnstones are also in the image below.

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Click to enlarge to see the difference between the rock sandpipers and the surfbirds. There is also a black turnstone lower right:  Photo by Ryan Murphy

Habitat
During the breeding season, rock sandpipers nest on the  dry, barren tundra. The rest of the year, they are  found on the rocky shores such as at Race Rocks

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Photo by Ryan Murphy

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Rock sandpiper- winter plumage , Nov 22, 2012:  Photo by Raisa Mirza

Behavior and feeding:

Rock Sandpipers are usually found singly, in small groups, or as can be seen above,  in flocks with black turnstones and surfbirds. Unlike the other birds in the photo, rock sandpipers do not get prey attached to the rock,  They move regularly pick up moving prey from the crevices and seaweed among the rocks. Rock Sandpipers are unusual in that they eat vegetable matter, including algae, or seeds as well as invertebrates.

 Classification:

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Charadriiformes
Family Scolopacidae
Genus Calidris
Species ptilocnemis
Common Name: Rock Sandpiper
This file is provided as part of a collaborative effort by the students, faculty, staff and volunteers of Lester B. Pearson College February. 2009 Garry Fletcher

Calidris mauri: Western sandpiper–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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This shorebird breeds in Western Alaska but is very abundant in migration all over North America.

WeSa

Western Sandpiper photographed by Ecoguardian Anne Stewart, October 12, 2014

rmoct092sandpiper

Ryan Murphy took this first picture of the western sandpiper, Calidris mauri in late October, 2009 . The dark legs distinguish it from the Least Sandpiper.

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Charadriiformes
Family Scolopacidae
Genus Calidris
Species mauri
Common Name: Western Sandpiper

See other posts tagged Western Sandpiper

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.

 

Pluvialis squatarola: Black-Bellied Plover- The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Pluvialis squatarola at Race Rocks, September 28, 2009.
This is our first photo of this plover, taken by Ryan Murphy

Ryan photographed these plovers in their non-breeding plumage  (missing the black belly!) on the lawn at Race Rocks. The top one o was here on March 11, 2010.

These are long-distance migratory birds. They were here as a stopover on the migration, fall and spring. They breed on the arctic tundra and winter on sandy beaches and wetlands in coastal areas from central North America through southern South America. They use the run, stop and stab at the food behaviour common to many plovers.

 

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Charadriiformes
Family Charadriidae
Subfamily Charadrinae
Genus Pluvialis
Species squatarola
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Common Name: Black Bellied Plover

Other Members of the Class Aves at Race Rocks.

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
April 2009 Ryan Murphy

Cerorhinca monocerata: Rhinocerous Auklet -The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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This Rhinocerous Auklet was photographed by Ryan Murphy in Race Passage, late September, 2009

Rhinocerous auklet are frequent fall and winter visitors in the waters around Race Rocks. They forage for feed by diving in groups. The pictures above are of the same group, shown in different positions . Click for enlarged version
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Sub-Phylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Charadriformes
Family Alcidae
Genus Cerorhinca
Species monocerata
Common Name: Rhinocerous Auklet

Other Members of the Class Aves at Race Rocks.

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
April 2009 Raisa Mirza

Melibe leonina: Hooded nudibranch–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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melibe3This is a hooded nudibranch (Melibe leonina)… a predatory sea slug that ‘swims’ more often than it crawls. The front end (on the right) has rounded sensory organs called rhinophores that look a bit like elephant ears. In the other picture you can see the head has a big mouth and that can expand to capture all sorts of little critters. The branching structures are ramifications of the digestive system (hepatic diverticula).

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Melibe leonina photo by Ryan Murphy

 

View  other underwater images at Ryan’s Flickr site.

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Melibe leonina photo by Ryan Murphy

Domain : Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Opisthobranchia
Order: Nudibranchia
Superfamily: Tritoniodea
Family: Tethydidae
Genus: Melibe
Species: leonina Gould, 1852
Common Name: Hooded Nudibranch

Other molluscs 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

Alaria nana: Brown Algae – Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Photos by Ecoguardian Ryan Murphy

Phylum: Phaeophyta
Class: Phaeophyceae
Order: Laminariales
Family: Alariaceae
Alaria nana (Schrader)

Description: The plant is olive brown to yellowish-brown in colour with a conspicuous blade (eroded at maturity), stipe, and holdfast. The holdfast is made up of short, firm root-like structures and is 3-7 cm. long, 5-8 mm. in diameter, merging into a slightly compressed rachis 2-4 cm. long. The rachis in turn merges into the blade, which is linear, tapering gradually to the apex and abruptly to the rachis; the blade is 40-60 cm. long and 3-8 cm. wide with a conspicuous, solid percurrent midrib 4-6 mm. wide.

Habitat: On rocks in the middle and upper intertidal zones in exposed areas.

Pacific Coast Distribution: Alaska to California.

Robert Scagel, 1972
See all Phaeophytes in the Race Rocks Taxonomy

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 PC yr 26