Seashores - Florida, California and Washington coasts
A Yellow Sponge
A sponge-bored shell I had always wondered why some shells had lots of little holes, like this one. The Florida's Living Beaches book explains it was once the attachment for a boring sponge which secreted an acid to make the holes. The little brown cylinders are Ghost Shrimp feces. The small hole is the shrimp's home.
Sea Whip (Leptogorgia virgulata)
This close-up of the Purple Sea Whip coral shows the holes where the polyps lived when it was alive. This is one of the soft corals. The brown, stalked organism is the remains of a colony of bryozoans.
Green "striped" Sea Cucumber (Thyonella gemmata)
I hit the jackpot with sea animals that had washed up on the beach at the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Florida. I was amazed to find this Green Sea Cucumber on the sand, washed up at high tide. These animals are related to Sea Stars, Sea Urchins, and Sand Dollars.
I found this odd creature washed up on the beach at Sanibel Island early one morning. Sea Pork are a type of tunicate, they are made up of a colony of tiny animals called zooids.
Our son and his girfriend, Jeanie, flew to Seattle on Thursday night and the next day we drove to Anacortes, WA. We met the ferry and Jeanie's parents in Anacortes. While we waited for the ferry the tide was dropping, so we entertained ourselves looking at the little crabs that scuttled out from under the rocks. Crabs are scavengers, they hunt for food on the beach. They in turn, are also eaten by other animals.
Calico Crab; Hepatus epheliticus
St. George Island, FL Dec. 20, 2009 Unfortunately, this beautiful crab was dead on the beach. What a striking pattern it has!
Portly Spider Crab (Libinia emarginata)
Sanibel Island, FL Dec. 15, 2009 This was another "overnight casualty" that had washed up on the beach. Before this trip, I didn't realize how many different kinds of crabs can be found in Florida.
These holes and sandballs were made by Fiddler Crabs. The large balls were made during excavation of the hole, the small ones were made during feeding. The crabs roll balls of sand in front of their mouth to extract bits of organic material to eat. The beach can be covered by these small balls of sand at low tide. The tunnel in the upper right corner was made by a mole cricket.
Red-jointed Fiddler Crab; Uca minax
Santa Rosa Co., FL Fundy Bay August 31, 2007 The male fiddler crab uses its oversized claw to attract a female for mating and to intimidate other males. The smaller claw is used for eating because the larger one extends beyond the crab's mouth. Like many other burrowing crabs, this crab has special sockets where the eyes fit when the crab is in its hole.
I don't know the species of this tiny Hermit crab, I was amazed I even noticed it while beachcombing early one morning. The shell it occupied was only 1" long!
Sanibel Island, FL Dec. 25, 2009 No matter how tempting it may be to collect an interesting beach artifact like this, just leave it where you found it. The smell of dead sea creatures is awful! The Gulf Coast is famous for commercial sponge collecting.
Possibly Orange Sheath Tunicates (Botrylloides spp.)
This is a cluster of what I believe to be tunicates growing on sea grass that I had found on the beach. I had my cousin hold it for me to photograph. Tunicates are a colonial animal that feed by filtering water through little pores.
Purple Sea Whip; Leptogorgia virgulata
Sanibel Island, FL Dec. 16, 2009 This common soft coral is often found washed up on the beach.
Mottled Sea Hare (Aplysia brasiliana)
This was another exciting find at Gulf Islands National Seashore. Surprisingly, Sea Hares are gastropods, related to slugs and snails. The animal gets its name from the "ear-like" oral tentacles by the head.
Ghost Shrimp (Glypturus acanthochirus)
When you see small holes in the sand on the beach with what look like chocolate sprinkles nearby, you have found the burrow of one of these odd shrimp. They are the regurgitated pellets of this animal!
No, these blue crabs are not hugging or dancing! We saw these two Blue Crabs fighting with each other in a territory dispute at Grassy Cove beach.
Dungeness Crab; Cancer magister
Orcas Island, WA June 20, 2009 I found this crab on the beach at low tide, for some reason it had not survived the night. There were lots of these crabs on ice at the Public Market in Seattle. Crabs are scavengers that eat dead fish and other marine organisms. This crab has barnacles on its carapace.
Calico Box Crab (Hepatus epheliticus)
This poor little crab seems to be missing its right claw. It was seen on Sanibel Island, Florida before sunrise.
At night, Ghost Crabs run down to the surf to to feed. It was fun to go out with our flashlights and watch them scurry down into the water! They eat dead fish, Coquina clam animals, and tiny creatures that live in the sand washed over by the surf.
I spotted this adult male Crab Ghost Crab on the beach at low tide early one morning on Sanibel Island. They are most active before sunrise. They eat coquina clams, mole crabs and goodies that wash up high on the beach.
Striped Hermit Crab; Clibanarius vittatus
Santa Rosa Co., FL (Fundy Bay) Aug. 31, 2007 These cute little hermit crabs live in empty snail shells. When I was a child I once caught a larger hermit crab and I held it the wrong way, it grabbed my hand with its pincher and wouldn't let go for over an hour. These crabs are marine organisms and should not be taken out of the water for extended periods of time, they must keep their gills wet in order to breathe. The Hermit crabs sold in pet stores are terrestrial and can survive on land.
Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus)
It is common to find the molted exoskeletons of these animals found washed up on the beach, some can be up to 2 feet across. These animals are not true crabs, they are more closely related to spiders.
Close-up of the orange tunicates on seagrass.
Malibu, CA March 28, 2007 Kenny first saw this Sea Hare as we walked along the rocks at the beach in Malibu. We were so lucky to get there at low tide so we could see these strange mollusks, sea anemones, hermit crabs, chitons, and limpets. Sea hares are herbivores, they eat seaweeds. It is interesting that they eat only seaweeds that are the same color as their bodies. Talk about picky eaters! They have poisonous skin that deters predators such as sea anemones. They can also produce an ink if disturbed, like their relatives the squid and octopus.
made by Ghost Shrimp that live deep in the sand. The round, often stained-looking holes nearby are their homes. Don't try to dig them out though, the holes can go as deep as 6 feet!
Male Atlantic Blue Crab; Callinectes sapidus
Fundy Bay, FL Aug. 31, 2007 I photographed this big guy at the edge of Fundy Bay, he had been having a territorial dispute with another male just minutes earlier, then my parents' dog came to investigate, so he was not a happy crab! The following website has a good way of showing how to tell male blue crabs from the females.
Spanish - Cangrejo Violinista These little crabs live in holes in the sand and emerge at low tide to eat detritus. This crab is loaded down with thousands of tiny eggs that she will deposit in the water.
Stone Crab (Menippe mercenaria)
Stone crabs have large claws that are use to crush barnacles and clams.
Juvenile Ghost Crabs are small and extremely well-camouflaged. It is fun to sit quietly and watch them come out of their holes. They are very sensitive to motion, any movement will send them racing to the safety to their burrow in a split second.
Spotted Mangrove Crab; Goniopsis cruentata
Sanibel Island, FL Dec. 18, 2009 It was quite a surprise to see these little crabs scurrying around on the branches and roots of the red mangrove trees. They were quite shy and would move to the opposite side of the branch pretty quickly, I had to snap my pictures fast!
Common Bugula; Bugula neritina
and Membranipora tuberculata These are the remains of two types of Bryozoans, minute colonial filter-feeding animals. The tiny animals that lived in the little openings were called zooids. The brown Bugula remains could easily be mistaken for a brown or reddish seaweed, but it is neither a plant nor an alga.
Redbeard Sponge (Microciona prolifera)
I found this sponge washed up on the beach at Sanibel Island.
We were both sad and excited to find this octopus washed up on the beach at Dungeness Spit in Washington along the Puget Sound in 2021.
Sandy-skinned Tunicate (Molgula occidentalis)
These tunicates are also known as Sea Squirts because they squirt water when squeezed.
Curtis found this little crab among the rocks on the beach. One of the nice things about liking nature is you can be entertained just about anywhere outside! :)
Female Atlantic Blue Crab; Callinectes sapidus
Female Atlantic Blue Crabs are more "dainty" and they have red tips on their claws like fingernail polish! The immature females are called a "She-crab" or a "Sally" and the mature females are called a "Sook". It is possible to identify them by looking at the pattern on the lower part of the shell called the apron, the female has a wide center section to accomodate her eggs. I didn't catch this one to look at her underparts, so I don't know which she is. Maybe she was why the two males were fighting! :)
Speckled Crab (Arenaeus cribrarius)
It is worth getting up early to walk on the beach before sunrise, many creatures that have come out of the surf can be found while it is still dark. Unfortunately, some of them don't survive to make it back to the water, but they gave me an opportunity to get photographs. This crab was seen on Sanibel Island.
Mottled Purse Crab (Persephona mediterranea)
Seen on Sanibel Island, Florida before sunrise.
Navarre Beach, FL July 28, 2009 These little white crabs exit their holes in the sand at dusk to scavenge and filter feed each evening. They are very skittish and quickly run back to their burrows if they feel threatened. I had to stand very still to get this shot with my telephoto lens. When I moved slowly to get a better angle, the crab retreated into its hole and I didn't see it again. The burrows can go as deep as 4 feet, so it would be difficult to try to dig a crab out! Note how the eyes are on stalks. When the crab is in its burrow, the eyes swivel down and fit into the hollow areas of the shell.
Male Mud Fiddler Crab; Uca pugnax
These little crabs literally walk on their tiptoes but they sure can move fast! Males have one much larger claw that they use to attract the attention of the females. So, I guess with fiddler crabs, size does matter! ;)
Giant Red Hermit Crab; Petrochirus diogenes
Sanibel Island, FL Dec. 18, 2009 I photographed this crab in a touch tank at Tarpon Bay, but earlier in the week a teenage boy found one in a tide pool on the beach near our hotel. I wouldn't want to have this guy pinch me! This species can grow up to 7 inches! Hermit crabs inhabit empty gastropod shells, they are one of the original recyclers, nothing goes to waste in the ocean. :)
A white Bryozoan Bugula spp.? This was hard to photograph with a macro lens because it was nearly spherical. The tiny zooids lived in the little white branches.