Category Archives: Phylum Arthropoda

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

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)

Pugettia producta: Kelp Crab –The Race Rocks taxonomy

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This is a very common crab subtidally at Race Rocks, frequently seen dangling from kelp as it reaches wide with its pincers for catching prey

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Malacostraca
Order Decapoda
Family Epialtidaae
Genus Pugettia
Species producta

Common Name:Kellp Crab

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.

Garry Fletcher

Cryptolepas rachianecti : Gray whale barnacles-The Race Rocks taxonomy

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These barnacles were removed from the skin of the Gray Whale which was prepared for a skeleton mount at Lester Pearson College

Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Maxillopoda
Infraclass: Cirripedia
Order: Sessilia
Suborder: Balanomorpha
Superfamily: Coronuloidea
Family: Coronulidae
Leach, 1817
Subfamily:

Genus :

 Coronulinae
Leach, 1817

  • Cryptolepas Dall, 1872
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 152006- Garry Fletcher

Pandalus stenolepsis: Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Ryan Murphy took these pictures in October 2011 and followed up in getting the identifications sorted out between this shrimp and Pandalus danae . See his pictures on Flickr: When Ryan took this image on the right, , he happened to get the small red tentacled a animals in the left of the picture. These are a new phylum for our records, rhe Phoronids.

DomainEukarya
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassMalacostraca
OrderDecapoda
FamilyPandalidae
GenusPandalus
Speciesstenolepsis
Common Name:Shrimp

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. March 15 2010- Ryan Murphy

Glebocarcinus oregonensis: Pygmy Rock Crab–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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rm281010crabl

Glebocarcinus  oregonensis Pygmy rock crab-photo by Ryan Murphy

 

Empty giant acorn shells are often the home for this small crab at Race Rocks. It was formerly called Cancer oregonensis

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Cancridae
Genus: Glebocarcinus
Species: G. oregonensis
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

 

Pagurus beringanus: Bering hermit crab–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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rm241010herml

Pagurus beringanus, The Bering hermit crab. photo by Ryan Murphy, 2010

This is a tentative identification of Pagurus Beringanus – the Bering Hermit Crab is an animal that is found from the Bering Sea to Monterrey, California. They are also found at Race Rocks. Commonly found at depths from intertidal to 365 meters.

This Pagurus is identifiable by their pale grey-blue shells (carapaces) mottled with grey, red and yellow spots. Legs are also pale blue with red bands at the joints. Claws are reddish and densely covered with spines. Bering Hermit Crabs all have characteristic green, irridescent eyes
Habitat – rocky, intertidal areas with cold water.
Behavior – Adults are inactive during the day. Starting late afternoon and carrying on through the night they become active and feed. This is because the retinal pigments in the eyes with position of the day and the night, only in response to the ambient light in the water.
Bering Hermit Crabs are scavengers, which makes the fact that they taste good puzzling. They eat dead plant materials and dead animal matter.
They themselves are prey to several types of fish, including pine perch, the California sheephead and the spotted kelpfish.
Females have been recorded with eggs mainly in April and May but some as early as February. During courtship, the male carries the female around for a day or more, knocking their shells together. The actual mating lasts less than a second, and both animals come almost completely out of their shells to perform the act.
References:
Intertidal Invertebrates of California. Morris, Abbot, Haderlie, 1980
Pacific Coast Crabs. Gregory C Jensen, 1995
Between Pacific Tides. Ricketts, Calvin, Hedgpeth, 1997

Classification:
Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Crustacea
Order: Decapoda
Superfamily: Paguridea
Family: Paguridea
Genus: Pagurus
Species: beringanus
Common Name: Bering Hermit Crab

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.
Carmen Braden (PC yr 29) 2002

 

Phidippus borealis: Red-backed Jumping spider–The race Rocks Taxonomy

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Phidippus borealis at Race Rocks, March 11, 2010.
This is our first photo of this spider , taken by Ryan Murphy

“The spider I noticed from about 20m away!  It’s about 2.5 cm (1 inch) long and the bright orange pattern with white spots was really shocking.  It’s made a funnel web in the rocks near the house, a really interesting structure of woven grass.” RM

 

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Arachnida
Order Araneae
Sub-order Araneomorphae
Family Salticidae
Subfamily Dendryphantinae
Genus Phidippus
Species borealis
Common Name: Red-backed Jumping spide

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.

Ryan Murphy(PC)

Placetron wosnessenskii: Scaled Crab–The race Rocks taxonomy

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We are awaiting positive identification on this one as we do not see these often while diving at Race Rocks. This photo was by Pearson College Divers in the spring of 2007,
spring, 2007
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Malocostrac
Subclass Eumalacostraca
Superorder Eucarida
Order Decapoda
Suborder Pleocyematya
Infraorder Anomura
Superfamily Paguroidea
Family Lithodidae
Genus Placetron
Species wosnessenskii
Schalfeew,1892
Common Name: Scaled Crab 

 

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.

 2007 (PC)

Forficula auricularia: Earwig –The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Earwig on the remote camera 5 housing at Race Rocks, November 16, 2007.P.B. photo

An interesting fact about these insect is that they are found on every continent except Antarctica.  They have a pair of forceps-like pincers on their abdomen. Short folded wings or forewings give the scientific order name “skin wings”– Dermaptera

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Sub-Phylum Hexapoda
Class Insecta
Sub-Class Pterygota
Order Dermaptera , (De Geer, 1773)
Family Forficulidae
Genus Forficula
Species auricularia
Common Name: European Earwig

 

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.

Garry Fletcher