Category Archives: Species

Macrocystis integrifolia: Giant Kelp–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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GF2014-11macroccystis

Macrocystis integrifoia photo by G.Fletcher

 


Macrocystis (Greek=Large bladder), the largest of all seaweeds, is represented by two species along the outer shores of British Columbia.
Macrocystis integrifolia is the most common species, distributed from Alaska to Monterrey, where it normally inhabits the lower intertidal and upper subtidal regions in areas subjected to moderate waves.
Description: This species of kelp forms extensive forests and is one of the largest and most complex algae. Floating at or near the sea surface, extensive masses of beds with rich-brown leaf-like blades 25 to 35 cm long by 5 cm wide.The blade or lamina is wrinkled or grooved in an irregular pattern and each is bouyed up at its origin by a small pneumatocyst. The blade edge is lined with toothlike projections.The terminal blade, located at the apex of the stipe, is split from the base with several new leaf-like branches in various stages of separation.(see photo above) The lamina of this kelp grow throughout the length of the stipe of the algae instead of only at the terminal region near the surface.Thus a dense forest is established which serves as a valuable habitat for many species of fish and invertebrates.

Habitat and Distribution:
Macrocystis integrifolia occurs in the very lowest portion of intertidal and in subtidal waters 7 to 10 m deep. It favors areas exposed to the open sea but somewhat sheltered from the full force of heavy wave action. It does not seem to grow in areas with salinity lower than that of the open coastal waters, so it is not found completely into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The closest beds we know of to Race Rocks are at Sooke.

macrocystis-at-sookeThis video provides a good portrait of Macrocystis in a shallow habitat at Sooke BC

After the first large storms in October, Macrocystis will end up in tangled masses with Nereocystis on the beaches at Race Rocks and on other beaches on Southern Vancouver Island such as Taylor Beach.
Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Chromophyta
Class: Phaeophyceae
Order: Laminariales
Family: Lessoniaceae
Genus: Macrocystis
Species: integrifolia (Bory)
Common Name: Giant Kelp
Other Phaeophytes or Brown Algae 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. Matthieu Bakhoun, PC yr 28

 

Ardea herodias: Great Blue Heron–The Race Rocks taxonomy

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Images for this slide show video were taken on the remote camera 5 by PB.

 

The great blue heron is a very widely spread bird throughout the American continent. During the breeding season it can be found in places such as Alaska and as far south as Mexico or the West Indies. In Winter, most blue herons leave Canada and go to the United States, or even places as Panama, Colombia and Venezuela. However, British Columbia seems to be an exception to this, and blue herons live there during the whole year. On the southern part of Vancouver Island, they are frequent residents in Pedder Bay and are often seen sitting out on the kelp at Rocky Point. Kelp provides shelter for a number of small fish such as herring and anchovie. Occasionally on calm days, we will see a heron standing and spearing fish from the Nereocystis (kelp) beds out at Race Rocks, so they become part of the top of the food web in the ecosystem.
Blue herons are the biggest type of heron. Adults can be over 1 meter tall, and they can have a 2 meter wing span. Their head is white with a black stripe on each side extending back from the eyes. Their back is blue and the breast is white streaked with black. In flight, the neck is doubled back and the head rests against the shoulders. Herons in their first year have grey crowns and grey wings.
Great blue herons feed mainly on very small fish, with no more then 7cm of length. Occasionally, they can feed on shellfish, insects, amphibians, reptiles, small birds and rodents.

Blue herons usually nest in forest areas, within a few kilometres from their main feeding area, in treetops. This is done in order to prevent the nest from being reached by land predators. During the spring, when both males and females arrive for nesting, males occupy old nests or branches and prepare to defend their territory. In the presence of females, they emit very loud shrieks. Two year old males are the most likely to mate immediately. The closest possible nesting area to Race Rocks is Rocky Point.
After mating, males gather construction materials to build a new nest, and together with the female, they build it in about one week. By April, each female then lays three to five eggs, which she incubates during the night, while the male incubates them during the day.

After hatching, young herons are fed by their parents, who regurgitate predigested food. If supplies are not enough. Only the strongest will survive. The weaker offspring end up being pushed out of the nest by the strongest, and they eventually starve. The survivors grow very quickly. Eight weeks after they’re born they can already fly clumsily, and at the age of ten weeks they leave the nest and become independent. An average of two or three chicks results from each breeding cycle of the blue heron
Great blue herons are a very sociable species. They organize in colonies for breeding, feeding and protection from predators.
These birds live as long as 17 years. They have very few natural predators. Draining marshes and destroying common food sites are the greatest threat to the population of great blue herons. However, the mortality among young birds is high. The eggs are often preyed upon by crows, ravens, eagles and raccoons. In ictoria, nesting colonies have moved due to continula predation by bald eagles. Shortage of food is also a common death factor among youngsters. Although contamination by chemicals seems to interfere with the reproductive system, it is not yet proven that it has a direct impact on overall population levels.
Reference: Hinterland Who’s Who?
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
SubphylumVertebrata
Class Aves
Order Ciconiiformes
Family Ardeidae
Genus Ardea
Species herodias
Common Name: Great Blue Heron

 

 

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. March 8 2009- Pam Birley

Balanophyllia elegans: Orange Cup Coral–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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balanophyllia

Close up of Balanophyllia. Photo by Dr.A.Svoboda

The orange cup coral is one of the few true corals. It is found from Oregon to Southern California and also in British Columbia.. It is found in low intertidal zones and at Race Rocks it is very abundant, often associated with the brooding anemone and encrusting tubeworms of the 8-10 metre level. It is usually found on and under shaded rocks, on the sides of surge channels and under ledges.

Its physical characteristics include the following: It has a stony, cuplike, calcareous, external skeleton. It has polyps coloured bright orange to yellow. Balanophyllia elegans transparent tentacles bearing wart-like batteries of nematocysts are present in the marginal portion of their discs. The polyps nearly completely retract into the skeleton. The orange cup coral feeds on living and dead animal matter using its tentacles.

Food is caught primarily in the tentacles, but in addition the mouth may open widely, permitting their mesenteries with their nematocyst-laden margins to trap food. Studies done on the orange cup coral and a few similar organisms showed that the tentacles have organelles called spirocysts which resemble nematocysts and evert to produce tangles of sticky tubules. These spirocysts may be important in capturing prey or in attaching coelenterates to the substratum or both. The orange cup coral reproduces by releasing eggs into the parents gastrovascular cavity, where they are fertilized and undergo development to the planula stage before release to the ocean. These then settle on a rock substrate and metamorphose into tiny polyps, which then secrete a skeleton.

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Cnidaria
Class Anthozoa
Subclass Zoantharia
Order Scleractinia
Family Dendrophyllidae
Genus Balanophyllia
Species elegans
Common Name: orange cup coral

References

Kozloff, E.N. 1996 Marine invertebrates of the Pacific Northwest.

Morris, Abbott, Haderlie 1980, Intertidal Invertebrates of California.

This file is provided as part of a collaborative effort by the students, faculty, staff and volunteers of Lester B. Pearson College Dec 2002 Udochukwu Obodo
(PC yr29)

Leathesia difformis: Sea cauliflower–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Leastheasia difformis.. G. Fletcher photo

Leathesia is a brown kelp. It is found in the itertidal zone around Race Rocks. It is a small brown alga that is usually found in the form of small hollow irregular balls, it is called Sea Cauliflower because it looks like cauliflower due to the invaginations on the surface of the hollow irregular balls.

Description: This plant is spherical and solid when young, becoming irregularly convoluted, hollow and broadly expanded at maturity; it is spongy in texture, up to 12 cm. in diameter and yellowish brown in colour.

Habitat: On rocks and epiphytic on other algae in the intertidal.Pacific Coast Distribution: Bering Sea to Mexico.    Robert Scagel, 1972
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Protista
Division Phaeaophyta
Class Phaeophyceae
Order Chordariales
Family Chorynoplaeaceae
Genus Leathesia
Species difformis
Common Name: Sea Cauliflower

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.

original by Jana Morehouse, PC 2002

 

Branta canadensis: Canada goose ( BC introduced variety)

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Canada goose protecting her nest, April, 2007

Race Rocks Backgrounder
A pair of Canada geese has regularly visited the island in the early spring over the last few years, but until the summer of 2002, they stayed a short time and then moved on. In 2002, Carol noted that two pairs of geese came in the spring and seemed to be staying an extra long time. They were joined by another pair occasionally but had many territorial disputes. In early May the reason was apparent. Five tiny goslings showed up one day with their parents. Carol documented their activities frequently in the Racerocks Log.

All five goslings made it to maturity that summer, probably assisted by the fresh water fountain which was their daily waterhole during the dry months. From September on, 6 of the original 7 geese frequently returned to the island, and have been seen here as late as January 2003. Update: Successful hatches of 4 nests occurred in 2004. In 2005 at least 4 pairs are nesting. Now when they hatch, the young are immediately taken off the island by their parents since there is no fresh water source on the island.

In the spring of 2008, and addling cull was done on permit from Canadian Wildlife permit arranged through BC Parks. There were no successful hatches that year. This had to be done because of the serious level of overpopulation of geese on the island. The integrity of the vegetation was starting to be impacted.

brantac

Canada geese photo by Raisa Mirza ( (PC, year 31)

Physical Characteristics: Canada Geese have a black neck, bill and head with pronounced white patches and strip under the chin. The body is usually brownish-grey. During flight the tail shows a white half-circle just above the black tail. These colour patterns are unique to this species. Females are usually somewhat smaller than the males, although both are similar to each other in colour. The mass of the Canada Goose varies in every species ranging from one to four kilograms. Goslings, or baby geese, are yellow with some greenish-grey colourings on the top of the head and back.

Food Habits

When on land, Canada Geese eat mostly grass and wild barley. They are able to grab a hold of each blade and pull it out with their bills by jerking their heads. They also eat wheat, beans, rice, and corn. In the water, the birds stick their head and upper part of their body into the water leaving their tail and back end extending in the air. They stretch their neck out, under the water, and slide their bills across the bottom silt. They also eat a number of aquatic plants such as eel grass and sea lettuce.

Behaviour

Males in this species are very aggressive. They use their bills not only to eat and groom, but also in attacks. They also lay out flat and still on the ground with their necks stretched out to be less visible to the danger. Most geese mate for life. They form pairs during migration or on wintering grounds. Males fight over females with their wings and bills. The winner approaches the female with his head down and neck undulating. He makes hissing and honking noises. They usually mate either before or after they have found a nesting location. Mating occurs in the spring on the water.

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata
Class Aves
Order Anseriformes
Family Anatidae
Genus Branta
Species canadensis (Linnaues)
Common Name: Canada Goose

Environmetal Impact : Although we have  had a permit to addle eggs for several years, the introduced Canada goose variety has had a serious impact on vegetation through intensive grazing through the winter. By including several grazing exclosures with wire mesh around the island, the difference in turf development is emphasized.

A serious impact also is the increased erosion around the First nations burial cairns.


References:

Canada Goose, http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i1720id.html
Backyard Birding, http://www.slivoski.com/birding/goose3.htm
Canada Goose, Branta Canadensis, http://www.aquatic.uoguelph.ca/birds/speciesacc/accounts/ducks/canadens/account.htm

The Atlas of Breeding Birds of Alberta, Ed. Glen P. Semenchuk. Edmonton: Federation of Alberta Naturalists, 1992.

Return to the Race Rocks taxonomy

This file is provided as part of a collaborative effort by the students, faculty, staff and volunteerts of Lester B. Pearson College 12/02 Bruce Benjamin D’Souza (Yr 29)

Metandrocarpa taylori: The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Oozoid budding in Metanrocarpa taylori:, :”Larvae of the stolidobranch ascidian Metandrocarpa taylori molt a thin sheath upon settling, then metamorphose and radiate a larval complement of vascular ampullae upon the substrate. These ampullae thereafter regress, “rest” in a reduced condition for several weeks, and then regrow into the oozooids definitive array of vascular ampullae in accompaniment to the development of the oozooidal vascular nest of test-vessels. Pallial buds emerge some four months after the larva settles; the oozooid has by then grown to a length of at least 2 mm and its vascular nest is surrounded by at least 16 vascular ampullae. Oozooids bud one to five buds (mean, 2.6) in a rather short period of blastogenic vigor, then persist in the colony. Late buds are requently aborted.”
-Hiroshi Watanabe and Andrew Todd Newberry 1976.  Budding by Oozooids
in the Polystyelid Ascidian Metandrocarpa taylori Huntsman.  Journal
of Morphology 148(2):161-176. image by Ryan Murphy.

 

Metaandrocarpa oozoid buddingThe photo above is derived from the one above. Here the nudibranch Dendronotus albus is feeding on the tuniates.

 

 

 

A cup coral ballanophyllia growing amongst a colony of Metandrocarpa All images above were taken in 2010 by Ryan Murphy

 

 

 

 

 

The small orange tunicates are always colonial.

 

 

 

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Urochordata
Class Ascidacea
Order Pleurogona
Suborder Stolidobranchia
Family Pyuridae
Genus Metandrocarpa
Species taylori
Common Name: orange social tunicate

The common name for Metandrocarpa taylori is “colonial sea squirt”. This name comes from the animal’s ability to squeeze (“squirt”) out water if one removes them from their underwater home. Whilst they seem to be quite simple organisms regarding their shape, sea squirts are in fact quite close to humans on an evolutionary scale – they’ve got a spine.

Sea squirts belong to the phylum Chordata (as shown in the table above), which includes all animals with a spinal chord, a supporting notochord (backbone), and gill slits at one point in their lives–everything from fish to humans. Tunicates have all these features as larvae. A young tunicate larvae will swim around for some time, find a rock or another hard surface to settle down and make itself stick to this surface with adhesive organs. It then starts changing, rearranges its organs (loses the tail, degrades its nervous system) and becomes a full grown sea squirt. Sea squirts possess both sex organs, but are physiologically unable to self-fertilize.

Tunicates actually “wear” tunics. They secrete the leathery sac–called a tunic–that protects the animal. There are two openings in the sac, called “siphons.” Cilia on the pharynx move about to create a current and draw water in through the incurrent siphon. The water is then filtered through the mucus-coated pharynx, which traps food particles. Oxygen is drawn from the water as it passes through the gill clefts, and moves out through the excurrent siphon.

Divers at Race Rocks will be able to observe different kinds of sea squirts in or near rock niches. They settle down in patches of about 8-9 cm diameter. Sometimes one can also find a patch of sea squirts grown on kelp, which are mostly another species, metandrocarpa dura.

Suggestions for further research:

1. How do different factors – current, sea temperature, light – influence the water circulation in the sea squirts? Which influence does this water circulation have on the sea squirt’s direct environment?
2. In which depths do sea squirts grow? Does depth influence their growing? How far can the larvae move before the settle down and what influences their choice of location?

Sources:

http://www.umassd.edu/Public/People/Kamaral/thesis/SeaSquirts.html
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/chordata/urochordata.html

Marine Invertebrates of the Pacific Northwest, Eugene N Kozloff, 1996, University of Washington Press

Keys to the Marine Invertebrates of Puget Sound, the San Juan Archipelago, and Adjacent Regions, Eugene N. Kozloff and others, 1974, University of Washington Press
Other Members of the Subphylum Urochordata 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

 

Jeremias Prassl (PC yr 29)

Balanus glandula: Common acorn barnacle– The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Habitat and Appearance

Acorn barnacles are crustaceans but are commonly confused to be molluscs. Their closest living relatives are the lobsters, shrimps and prawns. These creatures are usually found growing on rocks on the seashore in low tides. The shell of the barnacle resists the oceans wave and controls the body temperature, so that the animal does not dry out.

Transportation

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

These creatures feed  by using their antennae which have sticky ends. They feed on plankton which they sweep from the water using their feet. Their feet are the mechanism by which they filter food when underwater.

Reproduction

Barnacles are hermaphrodites; they have both male and female reproductive organs. Their reproductive organs at times are bigger then their body size by ten times. They cluster together in order to fertilize the females. They may also reproduce clones of themselves.

Eating Habits

Acorn barnacles filter zooplankton. They eat fine organic particles and plankton.

Longevity

3-5 years
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Maxillopoda
Infraclass Cirripedia
Superorder Thoracica
Order Sessilia
Family Balanidae
Genus Balanus
Species glandula
Common Name: Common acorn
 

reference:

http://www.fathom.com/fks/catalog/feature.jhtml?story_id=121900&featurePageNumber=2

Mehvish Mehrani PC  2002

Leathesia difformis: sea caulifower– the Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Leathesia difformis photos by Ryan Murphy

leathesiadifformis

Leathesia difformis with barnacles:  photos by Ryan Murphy

Leathesia is a brown kelp. It is found around the Race Rocks region. It is a small brown alga that is usually found in the form of small hollow irregular balls, it is called Sea Cauliflower because it looks like cauliflower due to the invaginations on the suface of the hollow irregular balls.Description: This plant is spherical and solid when young, becoming irregularly convoluted, hollow and broadly expanded at maturity; it is spongy in texture, up to 12 cm. in diameter and yellowish brown in colour.Classification:
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom: Protochtista
Division Phaeaophyta
Class Phaeophyceae
Order Chordariales
Family Chorynoplaeaceae

Genus Leathesia
Species difformis
Common Name: Sea Cauliflower
Habitat: On rocks and epiphytic on other algae in the intertidal.
Pacific Coast Distribution: Bering Sea to Mexico. Robert Scagel, 1972

Other Phaeophytes or Brown Algae 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. —–——- PC yr 31

 

Cucumaria pseudocurata The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Description
Cucumaria pseudocurata is a small species with a length averaging between 1.5cm and 3cm. Their dorsal side ranges from brownish black to light brown to yellowish gray, while the ventral side varies from brown to white. Five bands of tube feet can be found in single or zig-zag rows, with the three ventral rows being more robust. C. pseudocurata has 8 equal-sized tentacles, and 2 smaller ventral ones. The tips of the tentacles generally have the darkest pigment. Between two of the dorsal tentacles can be found the genital papilla. The skin ossicles of this particular species are typically oval perforated plates.

This small cucumber can be found intertidally among the Mytillus Californianus (mussel beds) on the Western side of the main island.
See also the Black Brooding Sea cucumber, one of similar size but a darker color and a subtidal habitat

The book Sea Cucumbers of British Columbia, Southeast Alaska, and Puget Sound by Phil Lambert is the best source for identification of most of the 45 species of local sea cucumbers. In it he notes that the habitat of Cucumaria pseudocurata in the Juan de Fuca Strait tends to be ” This page has a copy of the reference to this species and others:
See also Taxing Problems by Philip Lambert – Now Curator Emeritus of Invertebrates, Royal BC Museum for a description of the difficulty in classification and the need to classify by the skin ossicles.
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Echinodermata
Class Holothuroidea
Order Dendrochirotida
Family Cucumariidae
Sub Family Cucumariinae
Genus Cucumaria
Species pseudocurata
Common Name: Tar-Spot Sea Cucumber

 

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.

 December 2002 Erin Schwenger (PC year 29)  Rahilla (PC)

Cucumaria pseudocurata: Tar-spot Sea Cucumber

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DescriptionCucumaria pseudocurata is a small species with a length averaging between 1.5cm and 3cm. Their dorsal side ranges from brownish black to light brown to yellowish gray, while the ventral side varies from brown to white. Five bands of tube feet can be found in single or zig-zag rows, with the three ventral rows being more robust. C. pseudocurata has 8 equal-sized tentacles, and 2 smaller ventral ones. The tips of the tentacles generally have the darkest pigment. Between two of the dorsal tentacles can be found the genital papilla. The skin ossicles of this particular species are typically oval perforated plates.

This small cucumber can be found intertidally among the Mytillus Californianus (mussel beds) on the Western side of the main island.
See also the Black Brooding Sea cucumber, one of similar size but a darker color and a subtidal habitat.

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Echinodermata
Class Holothuroidea
Order Dendrochirotida
Family Cucumariidae
Sub FamilyCucumariinae
Genus Cucumaria
Species pseudocurata
Common Name: Tar-Spot Sea Cucumber 

The book Sea Cucumbers of British Columbia, Southeast Alaska, and Puget Sound by Phil Lambert is the best source for identification of most of the 45 species of local sea cucumbers. In it he notes that the habitat of Cucumaria pseudocurata in the Juan de Fuca Strait tends to be ” This page has a copy of the reference to this species and others:

See also Taxing Problems by Philip Lambert – Now Curator Emeritus of Invertebrates, Royal BC Museum for a description of the difficulty in classification and the need to classify by the skin ossicles.

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.

Erin Schwenger (PC yr 29))