Rocky Reef Creature Card

Creature Cards - Kelp
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
Shotgun/
Sieve
Kelp
From: www.seaweedsofalaska.com, Cook Inlet RCAC
Sugar Kelp
From: www.seaweedsofalaska.com, Cook Inlet RCAC
Pink Coraline
Algae
From: www.seaweedsofalaska.com, Cook Inlet RCAC
From: www.seaweedsofalaska.com, Cook Inlet RCAC
Ribbon
Kelp
Bull
Kelp
From: www.seaweedsofalaska.com, Cook Inlet RCAC
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
1
Creature Cards - Kelp
Sugar Kelp
Scientific Name: Laminaria saccharina
Traits: Very abundant, rich medium-brown, having no
midrib in its blade. Holdfasts are very branched.
Habitat: Lower part of the intertidal zone
Foods: Makes its own by photosynthesis
Gee Whiz: Spore release is severely inhibited by
pollutants such as petroleum products.
Ribbon Kelp
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
Shotgun/Sieve Kelp
Scientific Name: Agarum clathratum
Traits: 12-inch stipe arises from a highly branched
holdfast and supports a single undivided blade that
is stiff and riddled with numerous small, natural
holes.
Habitat: Grows on rocks
Foods: Makes its own by photosynthesis
Gee Whiz: Beds of Sieve Kelp are important
nurseries for some species of juvenile shrimp which
can spend their first year or two there after settling
out of the plankton.
Pink Coralline Algae
Scientific Name: Alaria marginata
Traits: One of the most abundant algae. It has a
vegetative blade that can be 10 feet long and 8 inches
wide with a single, thick solid midrib running up the
center. It is an annual.
Habitat: Mostly mid-low intertidal
Foods: Makes its own by photosynthesis
Eaten by: Humans commonly harvest Ribbon Kelp.
Traits: Coralline algae have evolved in red, brown
and green algae groups. Many are typically
encrusting and rock-like.
Habitat:They are found in marine waters around the
world.
Foods: Makes its own by photosynthesis
Eaten by: Sea urchins, limpets and chitons
Gee Whiz: The sporophylls contain various natural
chemicals that discourage herbivores, but the
vegetative blade does not. Herbivores therefore eat
the blade, which leaves the reproductive potential of
the alga intact.
Gee Whiz: Coralline algae build reefs, but coral
reefs are primarily built by Cnidarians (multicellular
marine animals). Crustose, red coralline algae, are
among the most abundant organisms that occupy hard
strata within the marine photic zone (where
photosynthesis occurs in the ocean).
Bull Kelp
Scientific Name: Nereocystis luetkeana
Traits: An annual. Its stipe is long (about 33 ft) and
hollow. The upper end of the stipe forms a float from
which two bunches of up to 64 blades grow. It can
grow very rapidly, as much as 5.5 inches a day.
Habitat: Mostly subtidal to about 56 feet deep
Foods: Makes its own by photosynthesis
Eaten by: The detritus formed by the decaying tips is
an important source of carbon to filter feeders in
intertidal communities. Humans use bull kelp for food
and medicinal purposes.
Gee Whiz: Bull kelp beds are the "forests of the sea"
- a good habitat for fish, shellfish, and sea otters.
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Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
Creature Cards - Fish
Lingcod
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
Pacific Halibut
©ADFG
©ADFG
Pacific Herring
Walleye Pollock
©ADFG
Salmon
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
3
Creature Cards - Fish
Pacific Halibut
Scientific Name: Hippoglossus stenolepis
Traits: Flatfish with both eyes on their dark side.
Dark side mimics the ocean bottom, light side mimics
the sky allowing them to avoid detection by predators.
Habitat: Mainly deep water, but young are carried
to shallow water, where they begin life as bottom
dwellers.
Foods: Eat a large variety of fish (cod, turbot,
pollock), plus crab and shrimp
Eaten by: Humans, sharks, marine mammals, bigger
halibut, cod, and lingcod
Gee Whiz: The halibut was called "haly-butte" in
Middle English, meaning the flatfish to be eaten on
holy days.
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
Lingcod
Scientific Name: Ophiodon elongatus
Traits: Lingcods are not true cods, but are greenlings.
They can weigh over 80 lbs and be 60 inches long.
They have a large mouth with sharp teeth.
Habitat: Inhabit nearshore rocky reefs from 30 330 feet
Foods: Larval lingcod feed on copepods and other
larval fish. Voracious predators. Adults are piscivores.
Eaten by: Larvae eaten by rockfish, seastars,
sculpins, kelp greenling and cod. Adults eaten by
seals, sea lions and humans.
Gee Whiz: Male lingcod engage in "nest guarding,"
protecting egg masses laid by the female, and are
easily caught when nest guarding.
Walleye Pollock
Pacific Herring
Scientific name: Theragra chalcogramma
Traits: Also known as "Alaska pollock"
Habitat: Live throughout the Northern Pacific with the
largest population in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska.
Foods: Larval fish eat phytoplankton and juveniles eat
zooplankton. Adults eat juvenile fish and shrimp.
Eaten by: Marine mammals (Steller sea lions,
humpback whales), halibut, salmon and humans
Scientific Name: Clupea pallasi
Traits: Blue-green upper body with silvery sides.
Grow about 9 inches long.
Habitat: Spawn in shallow, vegetated areas in the
intertidal and subtidal zones in Prince William Sound
in April and May. Adults move offshore to feed.
Foods: Adults feed on zooplankton.
Eaten by: Larvae are fed upon by vertebrate and
invertebrate predators, adults are an important food
source for seabirds and marine mammals. They are
considered "forage fish."
Gee Whiz: Herring are commercially harvested for
use as bait for the halibut, groundfish, crab and
salmon troll fisheries.
Gee Whiz: Walleye pollock are considered one of the
most important fish resources in the world with two
million metric tons caught each year or $2 billion
dollars worth of fish. Fish fillets at Dairy Queen,
Arby's and Burger King are made from walleye pollock.
Salmon
Traits: Fish with an adipose fin. Five species of
salmon in Alaska: Chinook or King, Sockeye or Red,
Coho or Silver, Pink, and Chum
Habitat: Adults live at sea, but return to fresh water
to spawn in rivers and river mouths.
Foods: Juveniles in fresh water feed on copepods,
crustaceans, and insects. In the ocean they feed on
other small fish such as herring and sandlance or
invertebrates (Sockeye salmon eat plankton).
Eaten by: Larger fish, seals, whales, eagles, bears,
grebes, loons, humans.
Gee Whiz: Sockeye salmon, also know as red salmon,
are the most abundant salmon in Alaska.
4
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
Creature Cards - Larva
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
Crab
Zoea
©ADFG
Catherine Bursch
Sand Lance
©ADFG
©ADFG
Catherine Bursch
Larval Fish
©ADFG
Catherine Bursch
Crab
Megalops
©ADFG
Catherine Bursch
Catherine Bursch
Shrimp Larva
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
5
Creature Cards - Larva
Crab Zoea
Traits: The larval stage of the crab; as the juvenile
crab grows in size it goes through a series of molts,
with each larval stage changing form and function as
it grows in a process called metamorphosis.
Habitat: Drift in the ocean current as plankton
Foods: Phytoplankton
Eaten by: Fish, other zooplankton, marine mammals
Gee Whiz: Crab Zoea can be identified by their
characteristic "horn" protruding from their head and
their feathered limbs.
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
Sand Lance
Scientific Name: Ammodytes hexapterus
Traits: Also known as the "candlefish." Slender
body and pointed snout. They do not have pelvic fins
and do not develop a swim bladder.
Habitat: Spawn in intertidal zones. They spend most
of their time burrowed into sand to avoid tidal
currents. Found in oceans throughout the world.
Foods: Adult and larval forms feed on copepods
Eaten by: Important food for juvenile and adult
salmon (especially king salmon), cod, marine mammals
and diving birds. They are a "forage fish."
Gee Whiz: Sand Lance have chameleon-like
independent eye movements.
Crab Megalops
Traits: The larval stage of the crab after many molts.
The megalops stage more closely resembles the adult
crab than their earlier stages. They are the first form
to "settle."
Habitat: Still planktonic, they use light, turbulence
and salinity to tell them when to swim upward in the
water, where they are carried by tides at night into
estuaries. Megalops settle in sites with large amounts
of food and places to hide.
Foods: Phytoplankton
Eaten by: Fish, other zooplankton, marine mammals
Gee Whiz: After each molt, more segments are added
to the tail and the feathered limbs are replaced by the
clawed limbs.
Shrimp Larva
Traits: Eggs hatch into planktonic, free-floating
larvae. Larvae molt, increasing in size after each
one. Juveniles settle to the bottom. After about a
year they mature into adults.
Habitat: Inhabit varying depths and habitat types.
Foods: Opportunistic feeders eating a wide variety
of items: worms, diatoms, detritus, algae, etc.
Eaten by: Large fish such as Pacific cod, walleye
pollock, and salmon
Gee Whiz: Pandalid shrimp are among the few
animals that are hermaphrodites. They spend their
early life as a male and later transform into a
female.
6
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
Larval Fish
Traits: Young stage of fish, often characterized by
a yolk-sac with a long tail at the beginning stages.
Each species developes unique characteristics, many
have silver or transparent bodies to aid in avoiding
predators.
Habitat: Drift and swim in ocean currents
Foods: Phytoplankton, larval copepods and mollusks.
As they mature their body mass increases and each
species begins to select a more specialized diet.
Eaten by: Larger fish, marine mammals, seabirds
Creature Cards - Invertebrates
Frilled
Anemone
©ADFG
Catherine Bursch
©ADFG
Green
Urchin
Catherine Bursch
©ADFG
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
©ADFG
Catherine Bursch
Sunflower Star
©ADFG
Catherine Bursch
Lined Chiton
Catherine Bursch
Shrimp
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
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Creature Cards - Invertebrates
Sunflower Star
Scientific Name: Pycnopodia helianthoides
Traits: Largest sea star. Very soft-bodied with up to
24 soft, flabby arms joined to a floppy disk. Various
colors.
Habitat: Rocky areas
Foods: Most invertebrates: clams, mussels, barnacles,
snails, chitons, sea urchins..
Eaten by: Other sunflower stars or king crabs
Gee Whiz: Sunflower stars may have up to 15,000
tube feet and are the largest, heaviest, softest and
swiftest sea star in the North Pacific Ocean. They
can move 5-10 feet/minute.
Lined Chiton
Scientific Name: Tonicella lineata
Traits: Small oval with overlapping, colorful reddishpatterned plates. Moves on a large muscular foot.
Uses a radula (whip-like toothed tongue) to scrape
rocks for food.
Habitat:On rocks, in tidepools with coralline algae
Foods: Coralline algae and diatoms
Eaten by: Six-rayed sea stars, seaducks, river otters
Gee Whiz: Lined chitons require rock crust to live the larva will die if it can't find it. But the rock crust
also benefits from being grazed because it removes
algae that are growing on top and blocking light or
smothering it.
Spot Shrimp (Prawn)
Scientific Name: Pandalus platyceros
Traits: Largest shrimp in the North Pacific with a
light brown to orange colored body, white lines on the
head and two pairs of white spots on the tail end.
Habitat: Found around dock pilings and floats, eel
grass beds and in sandy or gravel bottoms where
there is a rapid current.
Foods: Catch and scavenge tiny food in the water:
detritivores
Eaten by: Many invertebrate animals, fishes and
birds.
Gee Whiz: The spot shrimp is the most common shrimp
found in Prince William Sound and supports the
shrimp fisheries.
8
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
Frilled Sea Anemone
Scientific Name: Metridium senile
Traits: A long sea anemone. Expands at high tide to
show feathery, snow white or orange tentacles. At low
tide it hangs limply from ledges, dock pilings and
floats.
Habitat: Low intertidal zone. Found in protected
places under ledges and in caves where there is little
wave action.
Foods: Tiny zooplankton
Eaten by: Opalescent and Shaggy Mouse nudibranchs
Gee Whiz: Can reproduce by breaking off its place of
attachment and leaving behind tiny fragments that
develop into new tiny anemones.
Green Urchin
Scientific Name: Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis
Traits: A greenish cushion with sharp spines,
sometimes bleached white, moves by tube feet
Habitat: Rocky areas
Foods: Seaweeds, microalgae, coralline algae and
small barnacles
Eaten by: Sunflower stars, large sea anemones,
crabs, and tidepool sculpins, sea otters, gulls, crows
and ravens
Gee Whiz: Green sea urchins move seaweed and
debris onto their back to shade them from sun.
Creature Cards - Rockfish
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
©ADFG
©ADFG
Dusky Rockfish
Quillback Rockfish
©ADFG
©ADFG
China Rockfish
Tiger Rockfish
©ADFG
Yelloweye Rockfish
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
9
Creature Cards - Rockfish
Dusky Rockfish
Scientific name: Sebastes variabilis
Traits: Can live up to 67 years, grow to 21 inches
Habitat: Juveniles occur in shallow water over
rocks and among algae
Foods: Amphipods, copepods, crab larvae, krill
Eaten by: Lingcod, halibut, bigger rockfish, other
fish, sharks, sea lions, and humans
Tiger Rockfish
Scientific name: Sebastes nigrocinctus
Traits: Deep-bodied, heavily-spined and usually have
five red, purple, brown or black vertical bars
overlaying a pink or white body. Can grow to 24
inches .
Habitat: Rock outcrops having caves and crevices
Foods: Shrimp, crabs, amphipods
Eaten by: Lingcod, halibut, bigger rockfish, other
fish, sharks, sea lions, and humans
Gee Whiz: Tiger rockfish can live to be 116 years
old!
Yelloweye Rockfish
Scientific name: Sebastes ruberrimus
Traits: One of the largest rockfishes easily identified
by their bright yellow eyes and red-orange color. Can
grow to 36 inches long.
Habitat: Subadult and adult fish are solitary,
occurring in rocky areas of high relief with refuge
space (overhangs, caves, crevices and boulder piles)
Foods: Rockfishes, herring, sandlance, flatfishes,
shrimps and crabs
Eaten by: Lingcod, halibut, bigger rockfish, other fish,
sharks, sea lions, and humans
Gee Whiz: Yelloweye rockfish are among the longest
lived of all the rockfish, reaching up to 118 years old.
10
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
Quillback Rockfish
Scientific name: Sebastes maliger
Traits: Can live 90 years, grow to 24 inches long.
They are lovely fish, brown, with yellow to orange
anterior blotches. The dorsal fin spines are very long.
They have prominant head spines and a silvery-white
gut cavity.
Habitat: Juveniles like bull kelp-covered rocky
outcrops. Young fish like relatively protected, lowenergy rocks. Adult quillbacks stay on the same rock
outcrop for extended periods.
Foods: Bottom feeders on crabs, shrimp, amphipods
Eaten by: Lingcod, halibut, bigger rockfish, other
fish, sharks, sea lions, and humans
Gee Whiz: Maximum age is 90 years old
China Rockfish
Scientific name: Sebastes nebulosus
Traits: Basic body color is blue or black, mottled
with yellow and some white. In most, a very obvious
yellow stripe runs down the side. Grow to 18 inches
Habitat: Juveniles live in shallow subtidal water
during summer and early fall. They are solitary
species dwelling on high-energy, high-relief rocky
outcrops.
Foods: Benthic organisms: brittle stars, crabs,
shrimps, chitons and small fishes
Eaten by: Lingcod, halibut, bigger rockfish, other
fish, sharks, sea lions, and humans
Gee Whiz: Chinas often inhabit the abandoned dens
of the large Pacific octopus.
Creature Cards - Birds
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
Bald
Eagle
©ADFG
Surf Scoter
©ADFG
Blacklegged
Kittiwake
Harlequin Duck
©ADFG
Glaucous
Winged
Gull
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
11
Creature Cards - Birds
Surf Scoter
Scientific name: Melanitta perspicillata
Traits: Almost entirely black sea duck with a
distinctive white patch on the forehead and behind
the head. Bill is orange with white patch near the
nostrils, a large black spot on each side and a reddish
tinge on the top.
Habitat: In winter, common in most coastal areas
from Alaska Peninsula through Southeast Alaska.
Breeds in boreal forested areas.
Foods: Mussels in winter, herring roe in early spring,
insect larvae in freshwater ponds during breeding
Eaten by: Bald eagles (winter), mink and foxes
Gee Whiz: The Surf Scoter breeds on freshwater
lakes.
Black-legged Kittiwake
Scientific name: Rissa tridactyla
Traits: Small gull, white with pale gray back and
wings and sharply defined black wing tips. It has
black legs and feet and a yellow bill. Males and
females look alike.
Habitat: Winters in the open ocean, breeds in
colonies on cliffs and ledges of coastal areas and
islands.
Foods: Marine invertebrates, plankton, and fish.
Eaten by: Bald eagles
Gee Whiz: It is the only gull that dives underwater
to capture food.
Glaucous Winged Gull
Scientific name: Larus glaucescens
Traits: Largest and most common of the gulls. Adults
have clean white heads, pale gray mantles, yellowish
bills with a red spot, flesh-colored legs and loud
voices.
Habitat: On all types of shores, breeds on coastal
islands and headlands.
Foods: Picks and probes among rocks for tidepool
fish, small crabs and sea urchins at low tide; also a
scavenger.
Eaten by: Bald eagles
Gee Whiz: Steals food from cormorants and other
gulls and is common at garbage dumps.
12
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
Bald Eagle
Scientific name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Traits: Largest bird of prey. Conspicuous with its
white head, neck and tail.
Habitat: Lives close to or on all types of sea coasts,
large lakes and rivers where fish are plentiful. They
require tall trees or cliffs to make a platform-like
nest.
Foods: Primarily fish, especially salmon, but will
scavenge on dead or dying fish and animal carcasses,
also shorebirds, seabirds, ducks and small mammals.
Eaten by: None
Gee Whiz: With up to a 7-foot wingspan, the bald
eagle is one of the largest birds of prey in the world.
Harlequin Duck
Scientific name: Histrionicus histrionicus
Traits: Small sea duck with a small bill and thick neck.
Males are very colorful with slate blue body, white
stripes and spots. Both males and females have a
distinctive white spot behind their eye.
Habitat: Nests along fast-flowing streams on the
ground, on small cliff ledges, in tree cavities and on
stumps.
Foods: Aquatic invertebrates such as amphipods,
mollusks, small crabs and some fish and fish eggs.
Eaten by: Mink, bald eagles, coyotes
Gee Whiz: Harlequin ducks, also called the "sea
mouse" because it gives off a distinct unducklike
squeak when engaged in behavioral interactions.
Creature Cards - Mammals
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
River Otter
Sea Otter
Orca
Sea Lion
Harbor Seal
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
13
Creature Cards - Mammals
Sea Otter
Scientific name: Enhydra lutris
Traits: Densest fur of any mammal. Older animals
have a whitish-silvery head. Males can be as large as
100 lbs.
Habitat: Large kelp beds, located in and around the
rocky shores.
Foods: Shellfish: abalone, sea urchin, crab, mussel;
fish.
Eaten by: Killer whales, sharks and humans
Gee Whiz: The sea otter is one of the few animals
that uses tools when it eats. When it dives for food it
brings up a rock, then floats on its back, places the
rock on its chest and cracks the shell against it.
Steller Sea Lion
Scientific name: Eumetopias jubatus
Traits: Largest of the sea lion species. Males are
buff above, reddish-brown below, with dark brown
flippers and massive necks and forequarters. Snout
and face are otter-like. Low forehead.
Habitat: Stay near the coast and coastal islands,
hauling out on rocks to sleep. Rarely go up rivers or
into bays.
Foods: Primarily fish: flatfish, rockfish; sometimes
squid and octopus. Also eat shrimp, clams, and crabs.
Eaten by: Killer whales and white sharks.
Gee Whiz: Steller Sea Lions were harvested in great
numbers for their fur and oil that was rendered from
their blubber.
Harbor Seal
Scientific name: Phoca vitulina
Traits: White to gray, weighing up to 400 lbs. No
external ears. Back legs go straight out behind them
so they cannot walk on land but drag themselves using
only their front feet in the form of flippers.
Habitat: Found along all types of coastal waters,
even river mouths. Can be seen around boat docks
and harbors.
Foods: Almost exclusively eat fish: sculpin, herring,
and salmon; also eat squid.
Eaten by: Sharks and killer whales
Gee Whiz: Harbor seals feed with the tide and can
travel great distances up rivers with the high tide.
14
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
2008
Whittier Artificial Reef Curriculum
River Otter
Scientific name: Lontra canadensis
Traits: Furbearing mammal with large canine teeth;
long, slender body; short legs, four webbed feet and
a long tail covered with dense fur.
Habitat: Streams, rivers, large lakes and along sea
coasts.
Foods: Fish including rockfish, blackfish, sculpin,
sucker; occasionally birds and small mammals.
Eaten by: Occasionally taken by lynx, coyote and
wolves.
Gee Whiz: River otters can dive 60 feet below the
water surface and can stay under water for up to
four minutes.
Orca - Killer Whale
Scientific name: Orcinus orca
Traits: Bodies are black with a white underside, white
oval patches just above and behind the eyes and a light
gray patch behind the dorsal fin. The adult male's
dorsal fin is tall and straight; the dorsal fin of the
female or juvenile is short and crescent-shaped.
Habitat: Found in all seas of the world primarily along
coastlines.
Foods: Carnivores that eat a wide range of fish, seals,
sea lions and other whales
Eaten by: None
Gee Whiz: Fish-eaters are resident in a particular
area. They have learned to "take" fish from commercial
longlines as they are being retrieved.