bull kelp (Nereocytis luetkeana)



Animal Type: Ochrophta

Scientific Name: Nereocytis luetkeana

Description: Bull kelp is the largest form of brown algae and looks like a giant sea snake. It is also called giant kelp, horsetail kelp, and ribbon kelp because of its size and shape. These plants grow entirely in one season, from spring to fall, and can grow up to two feet in just one day! These enormous kelps are held upright by a round bulb or air bladder that acts as a float and is located at the end of a long, rope-like, hollow stalk called the stipe. Long, flowing kelp blades or ribbons up to three metres in length radiate from the bulb. The blades are shiny and leathery in appearance. The spherical bulb is filled with up to 10% carbon monoxide to allow the kelp blades to float near the ocean’s surface and be exposed to sunlight. The kelp is held in place at the ocean floor by thick roots called stay-fasts. Bull kelp grow in high densities in large fields or forests on rocky shelves in the ocean’s headlands (capes) which helps prevent erosion and also warns boaters about shallow reefs. Bull kelp forests create homes for many types of fish, jellies, and shellfish and are feeding grounds for animals such as seals and sea otters. In fact, another name for bull kelp is sea otter’s cabbage! When the kelp dies in the winter, it washes up on shore and provides food for beach crabs, periwinkles, and sea fleas.

Size: Up to 36 metres long

Habitat: Near-shore shallows to 20 metres. They grow on rocky substrates in areas with high current or moderate wave action.

Range: Aleutian Islands south to California.

Diet: Sunlight!

Predators: Bull kelp provides food for many animals such as seals, otters, crabs, sea fleas, periwinkles

Conservation: Common.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AOXrz_7Jp8

Cool Facts:
Bull kelp is very nutritious and often used in sushi
Bull kelp has commercial uses as well such as potash salts and fertilizers
Kelp extract is used as a thickener is products such as paint, mayonnaise, ice cream, and hand lotion
First Nations used dried kelp bulbs for fishing gear and storage containers
You can make a rattle with the dried bulbous end of bull kelp (and fill it with seeds)

Sources:
https://www.victoriawaterfronttours.com/bull-kelp-facts.html
http://www.primitiveways.com/bull_whip_kelp.html
https://www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/bull-kelp-bull-nereocystis-luetkeana.html
Shaw Centre for Salish Sea Guide by Brian Obee

Northern Abalone

Northern (Pinto) Abalone

The Northern or Pinto Abalone is a marine snail (marine gastropod mollusc to be exact) that has been listed as an endangered species under SARA (Species at Risk Act) since 2009 due to overfishing, overharvesting, and poaching. Abalone are prized because their inner shell is made of iridescent white mother-of-pearl (you have probably seen them dangling on earlobes as jewellery) and because people love to eat them! Apparently they taste great on the grill, but I still prefer hamburgers.


Northern Abalone are one of the seven species found on the West Coast (others being the black, white, pink, red, green, and threaded abalone) with a range from Sitka, Alaska to Point Conception, California. They are found with kelp on rocks, and are about 18 cm (7 in) in size. They have a flat, thin, oval-elongated single shell with a shallow spiral, and the exterior colour of the shell changes from mottled green to reddish-brown depending on what it eats (I wonder what it would look like after eating Skittles??) Its distinctive feature is 3 - 6 open holes (respiratory pores) along the left side. The Abalone has a head with tentacles and eyes, gills, and a large, cream-yellow coloured foot to hold it to rocks.

The Northern Abalone are herbivorous and live off tasty bacterial scum and diatom (phytoplankton) when they are young, and seaweeds like bull kelp as an adult. When they are not eating, they hide under rocks to avoid being a meal themselves, especially for hungry sea otters, sea stars, octopus, crabs, fish, river otters, minks, birds and humans having a BBQ.
Unfortunately, the Northern Abalone is in decline. British Columbia’s commercial fishery was closed in the early 1990s, and poaching is a real threat. I would not suggest trying to catch them, because if you are caught, the maximum fine is $500,000 and two years in jail for poachers, restaurants, and seafood sellers!

Genus: Haliotis (means ear shell) http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/pinto_abalone/

https://halejessie.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/what-are-abalone-and-why-are-they-so-awesome/

Giant Acorn Barnacle

Giant Acorn Barnacle (Balanus nubilus)

This HUGE barnacle is one of 23 kinds of barnacles found in the Salish Sea, and is known as largest barnacle species in North America and possibly the world, growing to approximately half a foot across. They are commonly found in reef-like formations from Alaska down to California, growing in clusters on pier pilings, rocks, hard-shelled animals, and even on top of each other, in the intertidal zone to depths of 90 metres. They prefer strong tides and waves.


Volcano-looking Cluster of Giant Acorn Barnacles

This invertabrate looks a lot like a volcano with a large, jagged opening (aperture), ridged sides, and a worn looking exterior containing beak-shaped, moveable plates which flash bright yellow to purple muscle tissue during feeding. When the tide moves in and water washes over the barnacle, these plates open up like a trap door so that it can extend its feathery feet (cirri) to sweep the water for drifting plankton and detritus. Once the tide recedes, the plates close to capture the food and retain moisture, a filter feeding process that continues with the tide cycle.

This barnacle contains cement glands that excrete a glue-like substance so that it can attach its head to a rock (and remain there for the rest of its life). This glue is apparently so powerful, that it cannot be dissolved by most acids and alkalis, and is being studied for potential adhesive uses. In fact, after the barnacle has died, its empty casing remains fixed in place, making a great move-in residence for other creatures such as the Pacific red octupus, pygmy rock crab, and small fish. Who eats the Giant Acorn Barnacle? Predators include purple sea stars, sea otters, and crabs.

http://www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/giant-acorn-barnacle-bull-balanus-nubilus.html

http://www.neaq.org/blog/giant-acorn-barnacle/



https://www.vanaqua.org/marine-biodiversity/worms/tubeworms/tubeworms-in-howe-sound/

Vancouver Feather Duster

Vancouver Feather-Duster  (Eudistylia vancouveri)

Feather Duster or Cool Looking Tubeworm??


At first glance you might think these guys are colourful trees from a Dr. Suess book, or could be used to do some light dusting around the house, but they are actually marine tubeworms! They have distinctive maroon/purple and green bands along their radioles (plumes) and a long, light grey tube body whose texture resembles leathery parchment paper. The radiole can grow to 5 cm in diameter, and the tube can grow to 68 cm long. If the tubeworm is disturbed or dried, it will retract its feathery radioles into its tube which pinches closed at the top. It uses these colourful plumes to dust the surrounding water for drifting food particles (plankton) that they sort by size. You can find these creatures from Alaska down to California, usually clinging in mass groups to docks, rocks, pilings, and the underside of floats in the intertidal zone to depths of 30 m. The Feather-duster can be found at in areas like the protected rock crevasses at Race Rocks on Vancouver Island where they do not have too much exposure to the air during low tide.

http://www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/northern-feather-duster-worm-bull-eudistylia-
vancouveri.html

http://www.racerocks.ca/eudistylia-vancouveri-northern-feather-duster-worm-the-race-rocks-taxonomy/

Cabezon

Cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus)

The Ugly Fish that Tastes Great!!

Here we have the largest sculpin in the Salish Sea, and what an ugly guy he is! Most people describe the cabezon (Spanish for “big headed” or “stubborn”) as having a face only a mother could love, but I think he is pretty sweet looking, especially his blue-tinted mouth (if you dare to look). This scaleless sculpin has a stout body and large head, a marbled mottled pattern of greens, browns, oranges and reds, a lot of prickly spines, and a fleshy cirrus on their snout. They use their big mouths to crush shells, and can swallow abalones whole, then regurgitate the inedible shell. They also like to eat crabs, shrimp, and smaller fish.
Calazon can weigh up to 25 pounds, although most are much smaller than this, and they can grow up to a metre in length. Adult males spawn on rocky outcrops, and then guard the eggs for four to six weeks (where they become sitting ducks for fishermen). Once the larvae hatch they drift out to sea where the develop into small, silvery fish that hide below ocean debris like kelp mats. As they age, they settle in tide pools, then often move to kelp forests and reefs. Cabazon prefer shallow waters in the intertidal zone to 75 metres in depth, and can be found from Alaska to Baja, California. Sea-lovers prize these fish for their delicate flavour and like to grill them up on the BBQ. But don’t use their roe for caviar…their eggs are poisonous to humans! Unfortunately, because Calazon are so easy to catch, they are prone to overfishing.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabezon_(fish)
https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/fishes/cabezon

Comb Jellyfish

Comb Jellyfish (Pleurobrachia sp.)

Rows of comb plates containing little “oars” for locomotion
 
Neon lights refracting off pulsating cilia

One of the first creatures you will see when entering the aquarium are the beautiful Comb Jellies…they are called jellies, but they are actually not a jellyfish! All other jellies in the Salish Sea are from the phylum Cnidaria, but comb jellies are Ctenophores (Greek for “comb” and “to bear”). Comb jellies are egg-shaped and quite small, about 1.5 cm in length, and have two long tentacles that can reach a length of 15 cm that they use like fishing poles.
These guys are named after the  eight comb plates running in rows along their body, which contain thousands of little cilia (hair-like structures) paddles that help the jelly move through the water like tiny oars. Many types of microscopic organisms such as bacteria use cilia for locomotion, but the comb jelly is the largest creature known to do so. It is cool to watch these little guys, because these paddles do not always move at the same time or beat in unison, depending on what direction they want to go (unlike regular jellyfish who pulsate their bells).
Why are these guys so cool looking?? In the right light, they give off an awesome neon rainbow effect, because their beating cilia can refract light (not to be confused with bioluminescence!). You might think this magical and colourful movement of cilia would require a brain, but comb jellies being brain-less, rely on a network of neurons and a special navigational tool called a statolith.
Another difference between the comb jelly and other true jellyfish is the way they capture their prey. Jellyfish use stinging cells called nematocysts that work like tiny harpoons filled with venom, whereas, the comb jelly uses its non-stinging tentacles that contain glue-like cells called colloblasts that work like a sticky fly trap to capture small planktonic animals.
Next time you go to the shoreline, have a look for a flash of rainbow in the waters and you might have found a comb jelly!!

http://www.pugetsound.edu/academics/academic-resources/slater-museum/exhibits/marine-panel/comb-jelly/

https://www.sanjuansafaris.com/whale-report/jellyfish-salish-sea-0

https://edgeofthesalishsea.wordpress.com/2015/08/04/ctenophores-the-comb-bearers/

Brittle Star

Brittle Star (Ophiura leutkeni)

Brittle Stars have long, flexible arms
 
Brittle Stars can clone themselves!!

Brittle Stars are echinoderms so they are related to sea stars but they have many important differences. Sea stars use tube feet for locomotion and have broad arms to capture bigger prey, whereas, brittle stars have long, narrow, and fragile arms for fast mobility (most mobile of all echinoderms!) and they mainly feed on small food particles. These creatures are from the order Ophiurida, from the Greek root ophis meaning “snake,” because of the serpent-like movement of its arms. They grow to 27 cm across, have a small central disc which contains their organs, and most have five arms although some species have as many as nine. This creature is unique, because even though it is a radilly-symmetrical animal, it moves in a bi-lateral direction like a human! It points one of its arms in the direction it wants to head, and then the remaining arms either row like a sea turtle, or grab on to objects to pull it forward!
Brittle stars are an adaptable, invasive species because they have evolved to thrive in diverse conditions and habitats. They are non-fussy eaters, can reproduce rapidly, and are extremely good at evading predators. Many are filter feeders, and they strain food particles from the water including dead and dying animals, or they ingest food within detritus. They use their tube feet as suction cups to collect food, and then pass it from one tube foot to the next, until it reaches their mouth.
Brittle stars are extremely proficient at evading predators which include crabs, fish,, birds, and sea stars. They remain dormant during the day and only feed at nights to avoid capture. Some species rely on colours and colour patterns to confuse predators, and large colonies of brittle stars will use colour variation to blur the shape of individuals so that they are difficult to distinguish. The coolest evasive method every species uses is called self-amputation, fragmentation, or arm-dropping! To confuse predators, they will drop one or more arms, and the autotomized arm will then continue to wriggle to distract the predator until the brittle star can escape. Some predators enjoy a constant food supply, so they only target the dropped arm instead of killing the entire food source!! It takes a couple of weeks to months for the arms to grow back, and it is most likely that when you see a brittle star in the ocean, it will be in the process of regenerating one or more limbs.
Another cool feature is that brittle stars can reproduce both sexually and asexually. They can reproduce asexually through fission (otherwise known as creating a Clone Army), where their central disc separates into two, and then both segments regrow the missing arms and organs. This allows the organism to reproduce rapidly, and results in massive clonal colonies. They can also repoduce sexually, and some stars are a single sex and some are both. Some species can actualy change the type of reproduction depending on environmental conditions, and when numbers are low, they favour the cloning method.
Brittle stars can be found in all oceans of the world, from the tropics to the poles, and can live in all types of habitats from shallow sand and mud, to intertidal, to living on surfaces like ships, to deep sea. Their tube feet allow them to stick to substrates or burrow into deep sand. They have become an invasive species, and have travelled from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic, by hitchhiking on drifting seaweed or debris, or by adhering to ships!

http://marinelife.about.com/od/Starfish/fl/Brittle-Stars.htm
file:///C:/Users/Ryan/Downloads/237-2148-1-PB.pdf