A Mermaid Purse is actually an empty Clearnose Skate egg case. The little tendrils wrap around rocks, corals or other objects on the sea floor. This one has dead barnacles and a limpet on it.
I had always found individual Skate egg cases washed up on the beach, so it was quite a surprise when I spotted these 6 connected together when I was at the Gulf Islands National Seashore. They were all empty.
