Category Archives: Species

Apodichtys flavidus: The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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These images were taken on the remote camera 5 shows a Pigeon Guillemot prior to feeding a Penpoint gunnel to chicks.During the months of May and June, the Pigeon Guillemots (Cepphus columba) are constantly diving off the north side of Great Race Rock and bringing up penpoint gunnels for their young. They nest under loose rock on several locations arounf the island. They are very cautious about going to their nest burrow where they may be seen by predators,

PUGET SOUND/ Strait of Juan de Fuca SPECIES

Apodichthys flavidus Penpoint Gunnel

Pholis clemensi Longfin Gunnel

Pholis laeta Crescent Gunnel

Pholis ornata Saddleback Gunnel

Pholis schultzi Red Gunnel

Xererpes fucorum Rockweed Gunnel

PENPOINT GUNNEL

This is a family of littoral fishes of the northern Pacific and northern Atlantic.They are typically found hiding under rocks and logs or in tidepools at low tide.The longest gunnel , at maximum of 46 cm,is the Penpoint Gunnel.Most gunnels feed on small crustaceans and molluscs.There are about 14 species, six are found here. Although secretive , this family is common in Puget Sound. This fish is not important commercially and is not considered threatened.This species can breath air when out of water.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Body elongate and compressed (eel-like body with no pelvic fins). Contains only flexible spines ,may have a dark streak that runs through the eye from top of head downward . Eye round, its diameter about one fifth the into length length of head. It may have small dark spots along the sides.Distance from snout to anal origin greater than half of body length.Maximum length is 1.5 feet.10 large melanophores along dorsal surface of gut and anus, melanophores can be also along postanal and dorsal near caudal region,ventral surface of gut has a row of small melanophores.Colour very variable depending upon diet as well as environment, from green through brown to red, the green colour from pigments dispersed through skin, the red in special pigment cells, the brown in combination (Hart 1973).Teeth are sharp,pointed, apparent in post-larvae.

Dorsal fin KC-XCIV (Miller and Lea 1972).

Anal fin I,36-42 (Miller and Lea 1972); I,38-42 (Hart 1973).

Pectoral fin 15-16 (Hart 1973).

Mouth Terminal,small,with thick lips (Hart 1973).

Verebrae 96-101 (Miller and Lea 1972)

DISTRIBUTION: Southern California to southeast Alaska and Kodiak Island.In British Columbia on both coasts of Vancouver Island, the Strait of Georgia .Common in Burrard Inlet in September.Queen Charlotte Islands (Hart 1973). In costal or bay water blending with vegetation such as Sargassum spp.,Ulva spp., and Zostera spp.,settling on the bottom at ca. mm TL (Wilkie 1966).Pelagic,along coastal waters and bays. Horseshoe Cove and vicinity of Portero Power Plant on San Francisco Bay,Marconi Cove of Tomales Bay.

REPRODUCTION: Spawing occurs from January to March.The egg mass is coiled around by one or both parents.The incubation period is about two and two a half months.Newly hatched larvae average about 13mm, and the body is transparent and positively phototactic (Wilkie 1966).The age of maturity of the penpoint gunnel has not be documented in the literature.Growth appears to be rapid during the first year from 20 to 40 milimeters in April and May to 100 to 120 millimeters by the end of summer.

REFERENCES: J.L.Hart- Pacific Fishes of Canada(1973),Wilkie (1966)

 

 

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 8 2003- Miroslav Lestanin

 

Fabia subquadrata: The Pea Crab — The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Jeremias, Carmen and Felix remove a pea crab from the mantle of a California Mussel.
At Race Rocks there are many large mussels; (up to 30 cm) with such parasite inside.

 

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Crustacea
Order Decapoda
Family Pinnotheridae
Genus Fabia
Species subquadrata
Common Name:Pea crab

Brief Definition

Pea/Mussel crabs are tiny creatures that live as symbionts, on or in the bodies of other invertebrates (bivalves)

Size

As their common name implies, Pea crabs are small creatures. The female pea crabs are distinctively larger than the male crabs, reachimg a size of 22mm (0.8in). The males however reach a size of 7.3mm (0.3in).

Habitat

Pea crabs occupy 2 different niches during their lifetime. Prior to and after their mating season, the adult female lives in a host. Host species include:

California mussels ( Mytilus californianus )

horse mussels ( Modiolus modiolus ).

Mytilus edulis

As well as other species of bivalves including scallops, oysters, cockles and clams.

The juvenile crabs also occupy a host before they become mature.

Range

These crabs live in mainly the northern hemisphere waters.

Including eastern and western U.S.(Akutan Pass, in the waters of Alaska to Ensenada.), Europe, Argentina and British Columbia, Canada.

It is found in 1 to 3% of California mussels along the central California coast, and 18% of mussels along Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

Adaptation

Mussel crabs live in specific hosts because each crab responds positively to only certain chemicals that their hosts emit. In this way, they are able to infest the hosts that have the right conditions for them to survive. While in the host, these crabs do not posses an exokeleton. This is beacause the hosts provide them with protection against predators and other harmful external factors. However, when they leave their host to mate in the planktonic environment, the adult crabs grow an exoskeleton to protect their membranous carapace. These crabs also posses 10 legs, of which 2 of them develop into large and powerful claws to help fend off predators when exposed in the plankton, and to also help in the grasping of food.

Relationship with Host

The relationship that exists between the mussel crab and the bivalve is a symbiotic one. The advantage of this relationship is that the crab is protected while it scavenges the necessary nutrients needed by it, in the host. The crab however at times robs its host of a large mount of food and it also feeds off the protective mucus layers that cover the host’s tender tissues.This results in the mussel’s gills been injured. When this occurs the relationship becomes a parasitic one as the crab benefits while the host is affected negatively. Hence they are classified as parasites.

Precautions are taken when animals such as Mya arenaria, Placopecten magellanicus, Argopecten irradians and oysters are sold as to not have a pea crab inside it.

Reproduction and Lifecycle

The pea crabs’ life cycle has two distinct stages. These two stages are so different that in fact they were classified into two different genera.

The first stage comprises of the large, adult females that have soft membranous crapaces. These adults occupy a host each and they produce larvae that mature into the second stage. In the second stage, the offspring (larvae) of the female (that she had produced inside her host) grow up into adults of both sexes.Having reached maturity, they leave their hosts and join swarms in the water to mate. At this stage the pea crabs look more ‘traditional’. They have hard shells, strong legs (for swimming) and at the front of the carapace they have thick hair. Upon completion of mating, the female returns to her host. For a period of 21-25 weeks, she goes through 5 molts before reaching maturity. The female can inhabit here for up to a year, producing larvae from eggs that where fertilised by sperm from her single mating and then the cycle begins again. The mating takes place in late May.

Note: the male after mating dies.

References

Source 1: Pacific Coast Crabs and Shrimps by Gregory.C. Jensen, Ph.D

Source 2: Port Townsend Marine Science Center. Marine & Natural History Exihibits

Source 3: http://www.ptmsc.org/html/peacrabs.html

Source 4: http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/~jmatth/Science.htm

Source 5: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/sci/shelldis/pages/pcbmu_e.htm

Source 6: http://www.indian-ocean.org/bioinformatics/crabs/crabs/tex1.html

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.

October 2003-  Michelle(PC)

Pterygophora californica -brown algae- The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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“The number of living creatures of all orders whose existence intimately depends on kelp is wonderful…I can only compare those great aquatic forests…with terrestrial ones in the intertropical regions. Yet if in any country a forest was destroyed, I do not believe nearly so many species would perish as would here from the destruction of kelp”

Thus commented Charles Darwin on kelp. Pterygophora californica commonly known as stalked kelp) which is part of the great kelp family that act as the trees of the oceans. This species is present, amongst other places, at Race Rocks.

BIOTIC ASSOCIATIONS: Ryan Murphy, (PC yr 26) obtained a grant from Mount Allison University in June of 2002 to help him do a project on macroalgae at Race Rocks. In this video below , he captures some of the many epiphytes growing on the perennial Pterygophora californica, a brown algae which grows sub-tidally to a depth of 12 meters at Race Rocks. It is a valuable habitat for the many invertebrates in the subtidal and serves as a buffer to storm surges. From June 2-14 a group of students from Pearson College stayed at Race Rocks for the Johan Ashuvud project. Meet the webcrew here

 

Like other kelp species, this one can mostly be found in subtidal zones. It occurs in subtidal zones mostly up to 12 meters of depth. It is mostly found therefore in subsurface canopies of kelp forests. For this reason it is able to live well around the islands of Race Rocks. The Stalked Kelp grows up to 2 meters in length. It has a straight or gnarled, woody undivided stalk and smooth , strap-like blades extending on opposite sides from the top half of the stalk . The end of the stalk results in a terminal blade with midrib and the stalk develops rings as the years go by similar to those of a tree. Pterygophora is an excellent example of a long -lived perennial seaweed. The blades usually degenerate or wear away in winter and new ones are produced each spring. Often, violent winter storms tear up some of the anchored kelp and deposit it on beaches as in the photo above.

Stalked kelp can reach an age over 17 years. It is possible to find out the exact age of a stalked kelp plant by cutting it down (best to use drift ones that are already detached) and counting the rings in its stalk. At Race Rocks this type of kelp provides habitat for a number of fish and invertebrates and a large community of epiphytic algae.

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Protoctista
Phylum: Phaeophyta
Class: Phaeophyceae
Order: Laminariales
Family: Alariaceae
Genus: Pterygophora
Species: californica (Ruprecht)
Common Name: Stalked Kelp

Description:  This plant has a large stout holdfast of branched root-like structures, and a woody stipe up to 2 m. long and 2 cm. in diameter.  The stipe is terete below and flattened at the apex.  A terminal flat, smooth blade arises from the apex of the stipe; it is linear, 6-10 cm. wide, 60-90 cm. long, and tapers in the attachment region.  Sporophylls are pinnately arranged along the two sides of the flattened portion of the stipe.  The sporophylls are linear, approximately the same shape and size as the terminal blade; up to 20 occur on each side.

Habitat:  On rocks in the upper subtidal zone and down to a depth of about 5 fathoms.

Pacific Coast Distribution:  British Columbia to Mexico.

Reference:
Guide to Common Seaweeds of British Columbia, by R.F Scagel, Printed by K.M Macdonald,1972

pterpile

In the winter storms the woody Pterygophora stipes or stems often end up in drifts on the rocky beach. This photo was taken by G.Fletcher in February 2007.

pterostaranem

The stars on the stipe of Pterygophora were made by a sea urchin grazing. . Photo by Ryan Murphy

oct2011xsectptery

Annual rings in a cross-section of the stipe of Pterygophora : G Fletcher photo
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

 

Ralfsia pacifica- brown algae

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Phylum: Phaeophyta
Class: Phaeophyceae
Order: Chordariales
Family: Ralfsiaceae
Ralfsia pacifica (Hollenberg)

Description: This plant forms a flat encrusting layer, firmly attached to the substrate; it is irregularly circular in outline, often lobed at the margin, 2-12 cm. in diameter, 0.5-1.0 cm. thick, and olive brown to black in colour; surface with radial or concentric rings.

Habitat:  On rocks and shells in the middle and lower intertidal zones.

Pacific Coast Distribution:  Alaska to Mexico.

Robert Scagel, 1972

R. pacifica with several rhodophytes in a tide pool

R. pacifica with several rhodophytes in a tide pool

Rhodomelia larix- red algae

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Phylum: Rhodophyta
Class: Rhodophyceae
Order: Ceramiales
Family: Rhodmelaceae
Rhodomela larix (Turner) C. Agardh

Description:  This plant is erect, up to 30 cm. high, brownish black in colour, in clusters, attached to the substrate by a discoid holdfast.  The plant is branched, usually with one or more major cylindrical axes.  The major axes have a profusion of radially arranged cylindrical branchlets, all approximately the same length and unbranched.  At the apices of the branches, evanescent trichoblasts are apparent.

Habitat: On rocks in the intertidal zone.Pacific Coast Distribution: Bering Sea to California
Adapted from Robert Scagel, 1972

Prionitis lanceolata- red algae

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Phylum: Rhodophyta

Class: Rhodophyceae

Order: Cryptonemiales

Family: Cryptonemiaceae

Prionitis lanceolata (Harvey)

Description: This plant is erect, up to 30 cm. tall, reddish brown in colour, growing in clusters, and attached to the substrate by small discoid holdfast.  The erect portion is narrowly stipitate below, tapering above to a flattened lanceolate portion.  The apices of the branches taper gradually to a point.  Numerous proliferous flattened short pinnately arranged branchlets occur along the margins of the main axes
Habitat:  On rocks in the lower intertidal and upper subtidal zones.

Pacific Coast Distribution:  Alaska to Mexico

Adapted from: Robert Scagel, 1972

Research suggestion: Look for galls on this algae: Reference.

Ulva lactuca-sea lettuce

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Kingdom Protista
Phylum Chlorophyta
Order Chlorophyceae
Family Ulvaceae
Class Ulvales
Genus Ulva
Species lactuca

Description: At Race Rocks, Ulva lactuca occurs in some areas at the .2 m level in the intertiidal zone. This plant is light to dark green, erect, lanceolate to broadly ovate, often ruffled along the margins, 18-60 cm. high; at times irregularly split into broad lobes, tapering abruptly near the base to a short stipitate region and a small discoid holdfast of rhizoidal cells.

Habitat:  On rocks and epiphytic on other algae in the upper intertidal zone; often floating on mud flats in the lower intertidal zone in quiet bays and lagoons.

Pacific Coast Distribution:  Bering Sea to Chile.

Adapted from:Robert Scagel, 1978

Photos by Ryan Murphy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Analipus japonicus

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Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Protoctista
Division Phaeophyta (Brown algae)
Class Phaeophyceae
Order Chordariales
Family Chordariaceae
Genus Analipus
Species japonicus (Harvey) Wynne
Common Name: thickly leaved rockweed

Description: This plant has one or more erect axes arising from a common conspicuous, lobed, encrusting holdfast. The erect portion has a percurrent cylindrical axis, up to 30 cm. high, clothed on all sides with short cylindrical to flattened branchlets up to 3 cm. long; light tan to dark brown in colour.
Habitat: On rocks in the middle and lower intertidal zones.
Pacific Coast Distribution: Bering Sea to California, (Robert Scagel, 1972)

General Characteristics
Analipus japonicus is found in the upper intertidal area frequently on rocks exposed to moderately heavy surf. This brown alga possesses a thallus of light brown color that supports branches up to 35 cm tall. Until recently, the species has been considered to be rare as it was represented by only two or three patches at Race Rocks. It is now becoming more abundant,(2002) on both the western shelf near peg 6 and the north-eastern corner near peg 15.

Reproduction Patterns
Development of the brown alga Analipus japonicus exhibits a pronounced seasonal pattern in many regions of the world. In winter and spring, this alga is found only as prostrate crusts; erect axes develop during the summer and fall. Reproduction is chiefly asexual and takes place from July to November. Unilocular sporangiate plants occur very rarely only in June and July. Plants bearing plurilocular sporangia are abundant from July to November.
Pharmaceutical Uses
In a study by various professors at the Sung Kyun Kwan University, there is a report of the results of a screening of 89 seaweeds collected from British Columbia, Canada, and Korea for antiviral activity. Various concentrations of methanol extracts of dried algae were tested against 100 plaque-forming units of herpes simplex virus type 1 and Sindbis virus in Vero cell monolayers. With reference to Analipus japonicus, it was the most potent anti-herpes species, according to the experimental results.
 References:
http://www.usfca.edu/fac-staff/chienp/division%20phaeophyta.html
Biologiya Morya, Vladivostok, 2000, vol. 26, no. 6, pp. 426-429
http://www.skku.ac.kr/~ecology/professor/abstract/biological.html

This file was provided as part of a collaborative effort by the students, faculty, staff and volunteers of Lester B. Pearson College by Paolo Danese 2002 (PC yr 28)

Tigriopus californicus: Harpacticoid–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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We frequently find abundant populations of Harpacticoids in the high tidepools number 10, 7 and 2 at Race Rocks

Populations can fluctuate widely through the seasons.. Since pool 7 is at the highest elevation, it may not receive new inputs of seawater unless there is a wind from the West. In the summer, with no rain, and with elevated temperatures, this shallow pool will develop salt crystals. At that time, the only population of Tigriopus californicus is in pool 2 which is deeper and shaded, and in pool 10 which is small but shaded. Later on, in October, pool 7 may have an abundant population concentrated along the vertical walls of the pool. In this photo, The photo above was taken on a compound microscope at 10 power, but it has been enlarged considerably by photomicrography

In this photo Gerald has scooped up a sample from pool 10,where they are visible to the naked eye as small moving reddish dots.

 

 

 

Research done on this organism by the student T.C. Merchant at the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University in 1977, refers to this unique osmoregulatory adaptation for this Euryhaline environment.

“Abstract: Tigriopus californicus exhibit a unique osmoregulatory behavior which is highly adaptive in the high splash pool habitat. They conform osmotically in intermediate salinities and regulate hypo and hyper osmotically in high and low salinities respectively. Gut fluid appears to remain isosmotic with the environment. Evidence is presented to suggest the gut may be a regulatory surface in Tigriopus. The range of osmoconformance depends on the length of acclimation to a given salinity. O2 consumption in Tigriopus is high in low salinities decreasing as salinity rises. Metabolism appears not to change significantly over the conforming range 35 to 60 0/00″

Other interesting research on this organism has been on its Phylogeny. Research done in southern latitudes on Tigriopus revealed one of the highest levels of mitochondrial DNA differentiation ever reported among conspecific populations. S.Edmands ( Molecular Ecology,Volume 10 Page 1743  – July 2001) showed that populations from Puget Sound northward had significantly reduced levels of within-population variation based on cytochrome oxidase I sequences. These patterns are hypothesized to result from the contraction and expansion of populations driven by recent ice ages.

The Pesticide Action Network North America.lists extensive results of toxicity studies with Pesticides using Tigriopus californicus.

Dr. Maarten Voordouw working with Dr.Brad Anholt of the University of Victoria has researched the evolution of Sex ratios in Tigriopus californicus. He found there to be a variation in offspring sex ratio larger than the binomial expectation, and that females produce male-biased clutches at higher temperatures. The trait is heritable and is transmitted primarily through the paternal line. http://web.uvic.ca/~banholt/anhlabsite/tigs.html

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

 

Ceramaster arcticus: The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Our thanks to The Royal British Columbia Museum for providing this photo taken by Brent Cooke.

 

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Echinodermata
Class Asteroidea
Family Goniasteridae
Genus Ceremaster
Species arcticus (Verrill 1909)
Common Name:
Ceramaster arcticus (Verrill 1909) (Goniasteridae)

 

From the information Phil Lambert submitted to  Syesis, 11:61–64 (1978)

Ceramaster arcticus (Verrill 1909) (Goniasteridae)
British Columbia: Race Rocks, Victoria, 9 m, one specimen (BCPM 973-251-34);

Winter Inlet, Pearse Island, 23 rn, one specimen (BCPM 974-224-43);
Work Channel, 31 m, two specimens (BCPM 974391-6);
northwest of Queen Charlotte Islands, 119 m, one specimen (NMC 1733).

Previously known from Bering Sea to St. Paul Harbour, Kodiak Island, Alaska (57*461N, 152*27W) (Fisher 1911), littoral zone to 186 rn (D’yakonov 1950). The specimen from Race Rocks (48*18’N, 123,36’W) extends the known range 2180 km southward.

References :
Philip Lambert, New geographic and bathymetric records for some northeast Pacific asteroids (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) Syesis, 11:61–64 (1978)

Royal British Columbia Museum Collection data. 

Catalogue Number: 973-00251-034
Collector’s Field Number:
Scientific Name: Ceramaster arcticus

Collection Event

Collection Date(YYYY-MM-DD): 1973-09-18

Geographic Place

Location Name: Victoria; Race Rocks
Location Description: passage between lighthouse and small islets in the lee of the rock
Province/State: British Columbia
Other Members of the Phylum Echinodermata 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.

 Garry Fletcher