|
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.
|