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Twelve-Scaled Worm
This carnivorous worm will roll up like a pill bug - and may lose some scales - if disturbed.
Baltic Isopod
If you're swimming near seaweed or eelgrass beds, be on the look out for this insect look-alike.
Bamboo Worm
Appropriately named, the bamboo worm lives upside-down in tubes of mud or sand
Beach Flea
If disturbed, they hop around in the sand like fleas, but these harmless scavengers prefer to spend their time underground during the day.
Bushy Bugula
This bryozoan forms plant-like colonies of thick, yellow-orange branches and can be found attached to pilings, eelgrass, larger seaweeds, and shellfish.
Finger Sponge
This subtidal sponge is nicknamed "eye sponge" for the numerous small pores (called "oscula"), through which water escapes.
Gem Shell
About the size of a sesame seed, these triangular-shaped clams can be found on tidal flats, where they are eaten by shorebirds.
Golden Star Tunicate
The tiny "zooids" (individual animals) of this tunicate form star-shaped colonies; it can be found on pilings, boat bottoms, eelgrass, and seaweeds.
Hairy Cucumber
These dark-colored echinoderms are nearly covered with slender tube feet resembling hairs.
Hermit Crab
The smallest Atlantic hermit crab prefer shells covered with snail fur - a live animal (hydroid), whose stinging tentacles offer protection.
Lion's Mane Jellyfish
The umbrella-shaped bell of this, the largest jellyfish in the world, often serves as a refuge from small fish traveling along.
Sea Gooseberry
Using their two long - and sticky - tentacles, these comb jellies feast on fish eggs and larvae, especially those of cod and haddock.
Sea Grapes
Though shaped like a grape, this 2-siphones sea squirt is often covered with debris.
Striped Anemone
Look on rocks and pilings for this small anemone from Japan - it came to the U.S. in the late 1800s.
Rough Sea Squirt
This non-native, lumpy, club-shaped sea squirt can be found in shallow, protected waters growing on docks, jetties, and mollusk shells.

 
   
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193 Oyster Pond Road, MS #2, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1525