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Home , Anomia (bivalve), Anomia simplex, Anomiidae, Ascidiidae, Blenniiformes, Blenny darter

HARBOR IDENTIFICATION GUIDE NEW YORK HARBOR ESTUARY SPECIES IDENTIFICATION GUIDE

Billion Project New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 2019 Hudson River Estuary Grants for River Education (Round 29) 2 | FISH | 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS

06 08 10

About this Book Species Covered Intertidal Habitat

12 44 70

Fish Mobile Sessile Organisms

98

Glossary

Billion Oyster Project thanks the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Hudson River Estuary Program for funding the creation and distribution of this guidebook. The opinions, results, findings and/or interpretations of data contained in this document are put forth solely by Billion Oyster Project, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, interpretations, or policies of NYSDEC. 4 | FISH FISH | 5 ABOUT THIS BOOK

Billion Oyster Project (BOP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Over the last five of working with students in the organization whose mission is to restore oyster reefs field on oyster restoration, BOP has identified a need to New York Harbor through public education initiatives. for a compact guide to help identify marine organisms Why ? In the process of feeding, oysters remove found in New York Harbor. We use and recommend many particles from the waters, hence they act as living water other excellent guides to neighboring ecosystems such filters. Oysters naturally form three-dimensional reef as the Hudson River and the Atlantic . This book structures that can help shield New York City shorelines focuses on the unique mix of species found in New York during storm events. This book is about another Harbor because our students know how special our important function that oysters play in NYC waters. city’s dynamic estuarine environment is. Our students Oyster reefs provide an essential habitat for numerous feel a unique connection to and responsibility toward its marine organisms. Many of these organisms are inhabitants, and our students deserve a resource that highlighted in this book, which is meant to help identify meets their needs in the field. species and can be used when exploring the riches of New York City’s aquatic habitats. BOP is excited to present the New York Harbor Estuary Species Identification Guide to educators, students, and BOP believes that restoration must include education community scientists throughout New York City and to be an effective long-term strategy. We also believe beyond. The New York Harbor Estuary, New York City’s that students’ learning outcomes improve when largest public space, is one of the most biologically they contribute to real- restoration projects. For diverse and productive estuary systems in the world, those reasons, ongoing collaborations with The Urban yet relatively few New Yorkers recognize its value in Assembly New York Harbor School and other New York the context of their daily . Oyster restoration can City public schools are fundamental to BOP’s work. connect young people to New York Harbor, and we are Through the lens of oyster restoration, BOP has crafted glad to share this guide with young scientists as they extensive science curriculum for middle school teachers, identify the biodiversity that exists just beyond their and numerous lessons and activities across Science, doorstep. Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM), English Language Arts (ELA), and Social Studies available to all pre-K to P-12 We welcome questions and comments about this guide: students, teachers, and families. In addition, we have email us at [email protected]. engaged thousands of volunteers who have contributed to the fabrication of vital restoration equipment and To learn more about Billion Oyster Project, subscribe to built an extensive network of 75+ restaurants that our email list at bit.ly/bopnews, and follow @billionoyster donate discarded oyster shells for use in our hatchery on Twitter and Instagram and @billionoysterproject on operations. As of May 2021, BOP has installed 47 million Facebook. oysters across 15 reef sites, representing 12 acres of New York Harbor.

6 | ABOUT THIS BOOK ABOUT THIS BOOK | 7 1 3 2 6 8 9 5 7 4 13 10 11 14 12 16 18 20 15 17 19 21 27 22 28 29 23 25 26 24 30 31 32 34 35 36 33 38 41 43 37 39 40 42 47 44 45 46 48 51 49 50 Our New York Harbor and other parts of the Hudson - Raritan Estuary

1. 2. 3. Lined Anemone 4. Northern 5. Atlantic 6. Sea Lettuce 7. Skilletfish 8. Cunner 9. Blue 10. Slipper 11. Blackfish 12. Eastern Oysters 13. Striped 14. Northern Puffer 15. Ribbed 16. 17. 18. Atlantic Silverside 19. Oyster Toadfish 20. Moon Jelly 21. Blue 22. 23. 24. Agardh’s Red Weed 25. Orange-Striped Green Anenome 26. Carnation / Hard Tube Worm 27. Worm 28. Golden Star 29. Frilled Anemone 30. Hydroids 31. Lacy Bryozoan 32. Lined 33. Mud Crab 34. Spider Crab 35. Dahlia Anemone 36. Chain Tunicates 37. Eastern Mudsnail 38. Boring 39. Grass 40. American 41. Red Beard Sponge 42. 43. European Sea Squirt 44. Oyster Drill 45. 46. Sand Shrimp 47. Whelk 48. Pacific Shore Crab 49. Worm 50. 51. Blenny

SPECIES COVERED

The New York Harbor Estuary is a remarkably abundant we have been able to include, this guide aims to present ecosystem with hundreds of different species of flora detailed information about identification and morphology, () and fauna (). Many of the species in this life history and seasonal behavior, diet and , and guide thrive in , and the rest are salt water socioeconomic and ecological significance. A few groups species that we find a lot at BOP restoration sites in shal- of species we describe (amphipods and isopods) may low waters. Those criteria effectively exclude a number require specific tools (eg, microscopes) and prior training of marine creatures that are well known to New Yorkers, to identify. such as shad, sturgeon, and whales. For the species

8 | SPECIES COVERED SPECIES COVERED | 9 Splash or Spray Zone This is the zone just above the water’s surface. It’s never completely covered in water, but water often splashes this area. Lichens, and blue and green can be found growing in the splash zone.

High Zone Water covers this area twice a day, during high tide. Here you can find barnacles, oysters, plants, and other organisms that can live mostly in the open air but twice a day under water.

Middle Intertidal Zone This area is completely exposed to the air during low tide. Some estuary animals can tolerate being out of the water for short periods of time, such as mussels, barnacles, snails, brown algae, bryozoans, and . You can find these animals in the middle intertidal zone.

Low Intertidal Zone This zone is underwater most of the time, except for a few hours at the lowest , just a few days each month. Crabs, mollusks, , hydroids, anemones, tunicates, shrimp and some fish can be found here.

Subtidal Zone This zone is always under water and is home to most fish and invertebrates that can’t survive out INTERTIDAL HABITAT of water.

Intertidal zones exist where the ocean meets the land--they are simply the terrain, sometimes covered with water and sometimes not, that lies between the high and low tide lines. It is easier to observe these zones on shorelines with a natural edge--rocky ledges, sandy beaches and mudflats. Of course much of the waterfront of New York Harbor has been modified and armored, which can make it hard to observe these natural zones. This illustration is meant to depict how intertidal zones may look in New York Harbor.

10 | INTERTIDAL HABITAT INTERTIDAL HABITAT | 11 FISH

American Eel Atlantic Silverside Atlantic Needlefish Oyster Toadfish Atlantic Menhaden Mummichog Skilletfish Blennies Cunner Blackfish Striped Bass Bluefish Black Sea Bass Scup Rock Gunnel Butterfish Northern Kingfish Sea Robins Northern Puffer Northern Pipefish Lined Seahorse

12 | FISH FISH | 13 ANGUILLA ROSTRATA MENIDIA MENIDIA AMERICAN EEL ATLANTIC SILVERSIDE “Ray-Finned ” • Anguilliformes “” • Anguillidae “Freshwater Eels” Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order “Silversides” • Family Atherinopsidae “Neotropical Silversides”

Young “glass eels” are slender and transparent One long that runs Thin, snake-like fish all the way along their with pointed tail back, tail, and belly First is often folded Small, slender fish down and hard to see with two dorsal

Olive-green to Tiny mouth brown on top

No Silver stripe outlined in black Cream-colored belly White belly ends right before anal fin from pectoral to tail fin Small pectoral fin

Pictured: A slender, transparent “glass eel” (top) and an COMMON PREDATORS olive-green adult eel (below). American eels are snake- Striped bass, , , osprey, and bald eagles eat like fish with a single, long dorsal fin. American eels. Pictured: An adult Atlantic silverside. Atlantic silversides COMMON PREDATORS are small, slender fish with tiny mouths and one long, Predators of Atlantic silversides include large fish such as HABITAT STATUS silver stripe on each side. striped bass, bluefish, and Atlantic , as well as American eels spend most of their adult lives in fresh- IUCN Population Status: other animals like blue crabs, egrets, herons, gulls, terns, water streams, lakes, and rivers, brackish , Endangered • Declining HABITAT cormorants, and raccoons. Small fish like and along the . During the daytime, these bottom- In the summer, you are most likely to see Atlantic eat silverside during the summer breeding season. dwellers hide in any small space they can find, including New York State Rank: Silversides in salty, brackish, or freshwater creeks and -made objects like pipes. Imperiled to Vulnerable • S2S3 tidal marshes, usually at a depth of less than 10 feet STATUS (around 3 meters). They often swim among IUCN Population Status: DIET ASFMC New York Trend Analysis: and algae. Least Concern • Stable Adult eels eat many different kinds of organisms, includ- Declining ing small fish, , , vegetation, , crusta- DIET New York State Conservation Status Rank: ceans (like blue crabs), mollusks, and even smaller eels. Atlantic silversides eat amphipods, , and other Imperiled to Vulnerable • S2S3 Eel larvae eat tiny and marine snow as they drift small , as well as algae, bristle worms, zoo- along in ocean currents. plankton, young , larvae, and larvae.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Atlantic silverside reproduction is closely tied with the lunar Scientists have never seen American eels breed in the wild! cycle. They usually during the day right around a new 25 - 75 cm 11 cm; or full moon. 1.5 m maximum Maximum 15 cm

14 | FISH FISH | 15

Pictured: An adult Atlantic needlefish. Atlantic needlefish are long, skinny fish with pointy, needle-like jaws.

ATLANTIC HABITAT In the summer, you can see needlefish out at sea, in es- tuaries, and even in freshwater rivers. They usually skim NEEDLEFISH the surface of the water, or hunt in shallow water with vegetation. Needlefish are attracted to lights and some- Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” times swim around docks or jetties at night. Order “Needlefish & Relatives” Family Belonidae “Needlefish” DIET Juvenile needlefish eat mostly shrimp and amphipods. Upper body is blue-green, blending Adults are fish-eating carnivores that hunt silversides, to silvery on the sides and white below killifish, , juvenile river , and other small fish. Large relative to their head

Needle-like jaw and hundreds Small dorsal and anal fins that of small, sharp teeth Long and thin are far from their head and close to their tail fin Lower jaw is often slightly longer than the upper jaw COMMON PREDATORS Bottlenose , lemon , (such as terns and gulls), and bald eagles eat Atlantic needlefish.

STATUS IUCN Population Status: Least Concern • Unknown Trend

New York State Conservation Status Rank: Imperiled to Vulnerable • S2S3

DID YOU KNOW? Needlefish are closely related to . Needlefish can’t really fly, but they do leap and skitter out of the water while chasing their prey.

61 cm; Maximum length is 111 cm

16 | FISH FISH | 17 TAU BREVOORTIA TYRANNUS OYSTER TOADFISH ATLANTIC MENHADEN Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Batrachoidiformes “Toadfish” • Family “Toadfish” Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order “ & Anchovies” • Family Clupeidae “Herrings”

Narrow body and tail Close-set eyes near top of head Large flattened head Has the shape of an Dark behind and above gills Latin name Opsanus means overgrown tadpole from above Deeply forked tail fin “looking upward” Often followed by many smaller spots in up to six rough lines

Enormous mouth

Wart-like bumps or fringes around lower jaw

Fan-shaped pectoral fins Slightly jutting lower jaw Flattened from side to side

No scales and slimy skin Shimmering yellow and blue Dark brown, yellow, upper body that shades to or olive color silver on the sides Often has darker stripes and mottling on their fins

Pictured: A juvenile oyster toadfish (left) and an adult such as blennies and gobies, as well as the larvae of black Pictured: An adult Atlantic menhaden. Atlantic menhaden larger plankton including amphipods, mollusk larvae, fish oyster toadfish (right). Oyster toadfish are dark brown, sea bass and flounder. They also eat worms, shrimp, mol- are small, blue-green and silver fish with at least one larvae, and other . mottled fish with large heads and mouths covered in lusks such as snails, oysters, and squid, and crustaceans large black spot behind their gills. bumps and fringes. such as mud crabs. COMMON PREDATORS HABITAT Striped bass, bluefish, weakfish, sharks, seals, and dol- HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS Atlantic menhaden usually school in the shallows, at less phins eat Atlantic menhaden. Fish-eating such as Oyster toadfish live near oyster reefs in marine or brack- Oyster toadfish have few natural predators because of than 65 feet (around 20 meters) below the surface. Ju- osprey, bald eagles, and gulls also eat menhaden. ish water. They can also thrive near human-made struc- their powerful bite. Sharks are some of the only animals veniles stay in bays, inlets, and brackish estuaries, while tures, like jetties, and even in garbage. Toadfish prefer that can successfully capture and eat them. adults venture into the deeper ocean. STATUS shallow waters at a depth of less than 16 feet (around IUCN Population Status: 5 meters). STATUS DIET Least Concern • Increasing IUCN Population Status: Juvenile menhaden filter-feed on microscopic algae, DIET Least Concern • Unknown Trend , and other phytoplankton. Adult menhaden eat ASFMC Stock Assessment: Oyster toadfish have a broad diet that includes small fish Not Currently Overfished

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? The word “menhaden” comes from the Narragansett word Male toadfish have the fastest-moving muscles of any munnawhatteaug, which means “he enriches the earth.” on Earth! They use these muscles to vibrate their 30 cm; Usually less than 30 - 38 cm; Maximum Indigenous peoples of the Atlantic coast traditionally used 5 cm in oyster cages swimbladders and make their “foghorn” call. length is 50 cm menhaden to fertilize their crops.

18 | FISH FISH | 19 MAJALIS FUNDULUS HETEROCLITUS STRIPED KILLIFISH MUMMICHOG Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order “Toothcarps” • Family “Topminnows & Killifish” Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Cyprinodontiformes “Toothcarps” • Family Fundulidae “Topminnows & Killifish”

Adult females have They get their name from 2-3 horizontal stripes Stocky and minnow-like the wavy black stripes Adult males have 15-20 Dorsal fin begins right Males are smaller than females, along their sides vertical stripes above anal fin and develop deep blue and yellow markings with breeding Small, stout fish with a Juveniles of both sexes silvery-yellow coloration Rounded pectoral fin have only vertical stripes

Mouth is slightly upturned Thick tail Adult males turn golden-orange along Slightly larger and more their sides and on their pectoral fins slender than their cousins, Rounded anal fin during breeding season the mummichogs Olive-green to brown Males have silvery vertical stripes on their sides

Pictured: An adult male striped killifish. Striped killifish DIET are stout, minnow-like fish. Male striped killifish have Striped killifish eat bristle worms, mosquito and other in- Pictured: An adult male mummichog. Mummichogs are COMMON PREDATORS vertical black stripes along their sides. Female striped sect larvae, horseshoe crab larvae, mollusk larvae, phyto- small, stocky fish. Males have bright silvery stripes and Aquatic animals like striped bass, American eels, white killifish (not pictured) have horizontal black stripes. plankton, amphipods and other small crustaceans. They mottling along their sides. Female mummichogs (not pic- , and blue crabs eat mummichogs. Birds such as also scavenge dead plants and animals. tured) have fainter stripes and mottling. herons, egrets, and gulls also eat mummichogs. HABITAT Striped killifish prefer salty or brackish habitats with COMMON PREDATORS HABITAT STATUS tides, like estuaries, salt marshes, and sandy beaches. Bluefish, striped bass, and blue crabs eat striped killifish. Mummichogs stay close to the shore in brackish estuar- IUCN Population Status: They are shallow-water fish that almost never swim Water birds such as herons, egrets, terns, and gulls also ies, salt marshes, muddy creeks, and eelgrass flats. They Least Concern • Stable deeper than 3 feet (around 1 meter) below the surface. eat killifish. also sometimes live in freshwater lakes and rivers. Striped killifish can often be found in tide pools during New York State Conservation Status Rank: low tide. STATUS DIET Vulnerable IUCN Population Status: Mummichogs eat copepods, amphipods, worms, grass Least Concern • Unknown Trend shrimp, eelgrass, dead animals, and fish eggs.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Striped killifish can flop across twelve feet of dry land to get Mummichogs were the first fish to visit space! back to the water! 7.5 - 9 cm; Maximum Mummichogs taught us that fish can learn to swim in low gravity. 12 - 18 cm length is 11 cm

20 | FISH FISH | 21 STRUMOSUS BLENNIIDAE FAMILY SKILLETFISH BLENNIES Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Gobiesociformes “Clingfishes” • Family “Clingfishes” Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order “True Blennies” • Family Blenniidae “Combtooth Blennies”

The spot is sometimes Their name comes During breeding season, trailed by an orange stripe from their shape Long dorsal fin that starts above males may have one or Eyes are close together From above, they almost the gills and ends at the tail fin more metallic blue spots near the top of their head look like a frying pan. near the front of their Body is flattened dorsal fin from top to bottom

Wide mouth with thick lips Skilletfish don’t have scales Feather blennies have a Stout fish with no scales Small, with a sucking disc on pair of feather-like cirri Greenish-brown with light, the underside of their body just above their eyes Can be anywhere from pale grey wavy stripes to dark brown in color depending on what kind of background they live on

Pictured: An adult male striped blenny. Blennies are DIET Pictured: An adult skilletfish. Skilletfish are mottled DIET mid-sized, mottled brown fish with wavy stripes and a Adult blennies eat small mollusks, crustaceans such as brown, frying pan-shaped fish with a sucking disc under- Skilletfish like to eat isopods, amphipods, and bristle long dorsal fin. During the breeding season, male blen- small crabs and shrimp, and bristle worms. Juvenile blen- neath their body. worms. nies have a dark blue spot trailed by an orange stripe on nies eat mollusk larvae. their dorsal fin. Feather blennies (not pictured) have two HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS feather-like cirri above their eyes. COMMON PREDATORS Skilletfish prefer to live among oyster reefs. But you can We don’t know much about aquatic predators of skil- Oyster toadfish, striped bass, bluefish, and weakfish eat sometimes find them around pilings, in eelgrass mead- letfish, but gulls and raccoons will pick skilletfish off of HABITAT blennies. ows, or in rocky, shallow water. They usually cling to hard rocks during low tide. Blennies live in salty or brackish habitats, usually among objects less than 3 feet (around 1 meter) below the sur- oyster reefs but sometimes in sponges or eelgrass STATUS face. During the winter, they can descend to depths of up STATUS meadows. Blennies prefer habitats with a thick layer of IUCN Population Status: to 108 feet (around 33 meters). IUCN Population Status: dead and broken shells on the seafloor. You usually see Least Concern • Unknown Trend Least Concern • Unknown Trend them at depths of less than 100 feet (around 30 meters).

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? As male blennies guard their eggs, they release a phero- The skilletfish’s sucking disc evolved from two pelvic fins mone, or behavior-changing chemical, into water. This that fused together. 8 - 10 cm; Maximum pheromone attracts new females to lay even more eggs in 4 - 5 cm; Maximum length is 15 cm the males’ nest. length is 8 cm

22 | FISH FISH | 23 GOBIOSOMA SPP. TAUTOGOLABRUS ADSPERSUS GOBIES CUNNER Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Gobiformes “Gobies & Relatives” • Family “True Gobies” Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order “Perch-like fish” Suborder Labroidei “, Cale, & Parrotfish” • Family Labridae “Wrasses”

Small fish that can vary in Sharp, shiny rays color between individuals Moderately slender Two dorsal fins towards their head One dorsal fin You can tell cunner apart from blackfish by their pointed nose, thinner lips, Softer rays toward and flattened head their tail

Round tail fin

Naked gobies have shorter Usually have shiny blue Pelvic fins are pelvic fins and wider light markings from their mouth Color is anywhere from rust- Often dark brown on top with fused together stripes than seaboard gobies to their gill covers red, olive-green, to brown eight to nine light vertical Both species have almost Juvenile cunner look like with a bluish tint no scales, but seaboard Juveniles have a dark spot on stripes along the side juvenile blackfish, but gobies have two scales at their dorsal fin and are often cunner are smaller the base of their tail fin deep green that blends in with underwater vegetation

Pictured: An adult naked . Gobies are tiny, but long DIET Pictured: An adult cunner. Cunner are large fish with DIET fish with light-colored stripes along their sides. Seabord Gobies eat bristle worms, amphipods, copepods, and lar- pointed noses, flattened heads, and shiny blue markings. The cunner diet includes small crustaceans (isopods, gobies (not pictured) have longer pelvic fins and nar- vae of bivalves, including oysters. amphipods, shrimp, and young lobster), young sea ur- rower stripes than naked gobies. HABITAT chins, eelgrass, mollusks, and small fish. COMMON PREDATORS Cunner usually live no more than five or six miles from HABITAT American eels, sand shrimp, striped bass, bluefish, and shore in salty and, rarely, brackish water. Cunner like COMMON PREDATORS Gobies live in the shallow parts of estuaries and salt weakfish eat gobies. to hide among or other underwater vegetation, American eels, sand shrimp, striped bass, bluefish, and marshes. You can sometimes find them over bare sand or near rocky ledges, and around piers, jetties, pilings, and weakfish eat gobies. mud, but they prefer protected habitats like oyster reefs, STATUS shipwrecks at depths of 33 - 420 feet (around 10 – 128 tide pools, underwater plants, piles of wood, or rubble. IUCN Population Status: meters). STATUS Seaboard gobies especially like to live around limpet Least Concern • Unknown Trend IUCN Population Status: shells. Least Concern • Unknown Trend

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Oyster farmers can create habitat for gobies by throwing Cunner develop dark stripes at nighttime. These stripes clean, blank shells back into the water after harvesting break up the cunner’s outline and confuse nocturnal 4 cm; Maximum 15 - 25 cm; Maximum oysters. predators. length is 6 cm length is 38 cm

24 | FISH FISH | 25 TAUTOGA ONITIS

Juveniles are lighter brown, and BLACKFISH look a lot like juvenile cunner Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” Order Perciformes “Perch-like Fish” Suborder Labroidei “Wrasses, Cale, & Parrotfish” Family Labridae “Wrasses”

Blunt nose and arched facial profile

Males are more uniform in color with a paler belly

You can tell adult blackfish apart from cunner by their relatively DIET small mouth with thick lips Juvenile blackfish mostly eat copepods and amphipods. Blue mussels are a major part of the adult blackfish’s Females have blotted diet, along with other mollusks, crabs, shrimp, and and uneven stripes bristle worms.

Soft, unscaled cheeks COMMON PREDATORS Plump and olive-brown, with lighter splotches across their body Pictured: An adult female blackfish (left) and a lighter- Diving birds (like cormorants, grebes, and loons) prey colored juvenile blackfish (right). Blackfish are plump, on juvenile blackfish. like dogfish, , olive-brown fish with thick lips and light splotches across hake, sea ravens and goosefish prey on adult and juvenile their body. Female blackfish have blotted and uneven blackfish. stripes along their side. Male blackfish (not pictured) are more uniform in color with a bright white underside. STATUS IUCN Population Status: HABITAT Vulnerable • Decreasing Blackfish live in estuaries and out at sea, but they rarely travel more than 4 miles (around 6 km) from the shore. ASFMC Stock Status: In the summer, they stay in water that is less than 80 Overfished feet (around 24 m) deep. Blackfish prefer hard surfaces with lots of crevices, including oyster reefs, rocky DID YOU KNOW? ledges, mussel beds, and human-made structures like Blackfish can live for more than 30 years! They get darker 18 - 26 cm; Maximum length is 91 cm shipwrecks, jetties, and pilings. as they get older.

26 | FISH FISH | 27 MORONE SAXATILIS POMATOMUS SALTATRIX STRIPED BASS BLUEFISH Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Perciformes “Perch-like Fish” Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Perciformes “Perch-like fish” Suborder Percoidei “, Darters, & Relatives” • Family Moronidae “Temperate Basses” Suborder Percoidei “Perches, Darters, & Relatives” • Family Poatomidae “Bluefish”

First dorsal fin is First dorsal fin has Second dorsal fin is long Mouth is large and short and spiny hard, spiny rays Second dorsal fin downturned, with many sharp, and curved inward has soft rays cone-shaped teeth Large mouth and small teeth

Streamlined and Anal fin is long Slightly jutting torpedo shaped and curved inward lower jaw Juveniles look like white Dark blue-green upper perch, except for their two Tail is deeply forked Silver, with seven to eight body that fades to silver separate dorsal fins Streamlined body dark horizontal stripes on the sides

Pictured: An adult bluefish. Bluefish are torpedo-shaped, squid, crabs, lobsters, shrimp, butterfish, alewives, Pictured: An adult striped bass. Striped bass are large, eat Atlantic menhaden, but they also prey on Atlantic sil- bluish-silver fish with large, downturned mouths full of Atlantic silversides, and dozens of other fish species. streamlined, silver fish with dark horizontal stripes along versides, anchovies, alewives, herring, smelt, eels, floun- sharp teeth. their sides. Juvenile striped bass (not pictured) have der, juvenile striped bass and yellow perch. COMMON PREDATORS bigger eyes and stripes that become fainter from top to HABITAT Adult bluefish have few natural predators because of bottom. COMMON PREDATORS Young bluefish prefer sheltered habitat like sandy their size and speed. , sharks, dolphins, seals, and Bluefish, Atlantic , silver hake, and adult striped bass estuaries or salt ponds. They can also be found over (like ) sometimes prey on bluefish. HABITAT eat juvenile striped bass. Adult striped bass have few mud, silt, or underwater plants. In the summer, adults Striped bass live freshwater rivers, in estuaries, and in natural predators besides seals and sharks. typically swim at depths of less than 65 feet (around 20 STATUS the ocean. They prefer deep water along rocky and sandy meters). They prefer warmer waters along the coast at IUCN Population Status: shores. Striped bass often live in bays, although some STATUS temperatures above 60° F (around 16° C). Vulnerable • Decreasing populations are landlocked. IUCN Population Status: Least Concern • Unknown Trend DIET ASFMC New York Stock Status: DIET Juvenile bluefish eat copepods, amphipods, and fish Overfished Juvenile striped bass eat fish larvae, bristle worms, in- ASFMC New York Stock Status: larvae. Their diet becomes increasingly fish-based as sects, and small crustaceans. Adult striped bass mostly Overfished they get older. Adult bluefish are carnivores. They eat

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Striped bass can grow to be as long as an adult human is Bluefish are very fast swimmers. 50 - 75 cm; Maximum tall! 30 - 60 cm; Maximum During their migrations, they can swim up to 70 miles in a single day! length is 1.5 m length is 120 cm

28 | FISH FISH | 29 CENTROPRISTIS STRIATA STENOTOMUS CHRYSOPS BLACK SEA BASS SCUP Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Perciformes “Perch-like Fish” Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Perciformes “Perch-like fish” Suborder Percoidei “Perches, Darters, & Relatives” • Family “Sea Basses & ” Suborder Percoidei “Perches, Darters, & Relatives” • Family “Sea Breams & Porgies”

Dorsal fin has Larger mouth than white spots Sharp, spiny rays on dorsal blackfish or cunner fins stick out above soft rays Top ray of tail Small mouths (latin name fin ends in a Stenotomus means “narrow long spine mouth”) and pointed teeth Arched back and shiny scales

Juveniles have light orange stripes around their head

Stout, with smoky, black- brown body and grey belly Scales are light in the center, You can tell scup apart from and they lose their bluish color butterfish by the scup’s gently Upper body is blue, brown, Darker horizontal when they leave the water sloping head profile and spiny or dark yellow, shading to stripe on body dorsal fins silver on the sides. Pectoral fin is yellow-brown Oval-shaped and flattened Pictured: An adult black sea bass (right). Adult black sea invertebrates like young lobster, mussels, crabs, and from side to side bass are stout, blackish-brown fish with light blue scales squid, as well as small fish. and a spine on their tail fin. A juvenile black sea bass (left). Juvenile black sea bass have light orange stripes COMMON PREDATORS Pictured: An adult scup. Scup are oval-shaped, golden- COMMON PREDATORS around their head and a darker horizontal stripe on their Juvenile black sea bass are prey to diving birds, as well brown fish with arched backs and gently sloping heads. Bluefish, Atlantic halibut, sharks, striped bass, weakfish, body. as weakfish, , smooth dogfish, oyster goosefish, hake, and other carnivorous fish eat juvenile toadfish, bluefish, skate, and sea robins. Spiny dogfish, HABITAT scup. Sharks, dogfish, bluefish, stingrays, flounder, black HABITAT Atlantic angel sharks, skate, hake, flounder, and goose- Scup live in many different ecosystems, from oyster reefs, sea bass, weakfish, mackerel, and other large carnivorous Adult black sea bass like to swim near large structures, fish eat adult black sea bass. mussel beds, and rocky ledges, to open, sandy sea floors. fish eat adult scup. including oyster reefs, mussel beds, jetties, shipwrecks, Juvenile and young adult scup live in bays and estuaries, rocky ledges, and pilings. Juvenile black sea bass mature STATUS but schools of larger scup stick to deeper ocean waters. STATUS in brackish estuaries, but adults rarely leave saltwater IUCN Population Status: IUCN Population Status: environments. Least Concern • Stable DIET Near Threatened • Decreasing Juvenile scup eat small mollusks, crustaceans, bristle ASFMC New York Stock Status: DIET worms, and fish larvae. Adult scup eat amphipods, razor ASFMC New York Stock Status: Juvenile black sea bass eat amphipods, isopods, crabs, Not Overfished , blue mussels, hydroids, anemones, small squid, Not Overfished sand shrimp, small fish, and bristle worms. Adults eat vegetation, insect larvae, and small fish.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? If there are too many females in a group of black sea bass, Most oyster reef fish spawn at night so that their eggs don’t the largest female will change into a male to balance out get eaten by daytime predators. But for reasons we don’t 20 - 30 cm; Maximum the population. 10 - 25 cm; Maximum understand yet, scup release their eggs in the morning. length is 66 cm length is 46 cm

30 | FISH FISH | 31 GUNNELLUS TRIACANTHUS ROCK GUNNEL BUTTERFISH Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Perciformes “Perch-like Fish” Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Perciformes “Perch-like fish” Suborder “Wolffishes, Gunnels, & Eelpouts” • Family “Gunnels” Suborder Stromatoeidei “Butterfish & Relatives” • Family “Butterfish”

Flattened from side to side, like a flounder set upright Mouth is small with weak teeth One long dorsal fin runs the length of their body Round, distinct tail fin Tail fin is deeply forked 9-13 dark spots at the base of their dorsal fin

Anal and dorsal fins are Small, round, and silver, with Thin, snake-like fish about the same length Anal fin is about half as an extremely deep chest long as their dorsal fin Both fins curve inward You can tell butterfish apart from Look somewhat like American eels, Color varies from No pelvic or ventral fins except for their tail fin and the dark grey to red scup by the butterfish’s rounded dark spots at their dorsal fin facial profile and soft dorsal fin

Pictured: An adult butterfish. Butterfish are small, round, COMMON PREDATORS silver fish, flattened from side to side with a deep chest. Butterfish have many predators, including marine mammals (seals and dolphins), weakfish, goosefish, HABITAT bluefish, , hammerhead sharks, silver hake, and Pictured: An adult rock gunnel. Rock gunnels are eel-like, DIET During the summer, butterfish remain within 180 feet longfin inshore squid. spotted brown fish with a long dorsal fin and a tiny, round Rock gunnels eat amphipods, isopods, bristle worms, (around 55 m) of the surface. They usually school over tail fin. and mollusks such as snails. shallow, flat areas in bays, estuaries, or the surf zone STATUS (where waves break near the beach). Juvenile and Mid-Atlantic Management Council Stock Status: HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS adult butterfish swim above sandy or muddy sea floors. Not Overfished Rock gunnels mostly live in shallow, tidal environments. Wading birds (like herons), shorebirds, otters, raccoons, Juveniles often group up around floating objects. But they can also descend to depths of up to 600 feet and carnivorous fish eat rock gunnels. (around 180 m), especially during the winter. Rock DIET gunnels usually hide under rocks, in crevices, or among Butterfish eat fish larvae, , squid, and small seaweed. crustaceans.

DID YOU KNOW? When rock gunnels are exposed to air during low tide, waste DID YOU KNOW? products build up in their bloodstream. After an hour or two, Butterfish store lots of oil in their muscles and organs. these waste products reach toxic levels that would kill most 15 - 23 cm; Maximum This oil helps them float and makes them taste slightly buttery. 10 - 17 cm other fish. Scientists are still learning about how rock gunnels length is 30 cm survive out of water for so long. 32 | FISH FISH | 33 SAXATILIS SPP. NORTHERN KINGFISH SCULPINS Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Perciformes “Perch-like Fish” Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order “Mail-Cheeked Fishes” • Family “Sculpins” Suborder Percoidei “Perches, Darters, & Relatives” • Family “Croakers”

Short, fan-like pectoral fins that reach the second dorsal fin First dorsal fin ends Two dorsal fins Stout and spiny, with lots of in a long spine head ridges and cheek spines

Slender, with an arched back

Longhorn are typically green, Silvery with chocolate brown, or yellow with darker Latin name Menticirrhus means brown wavy stripes Little have short marbling on their body and fins “curly beard,” a reference to spines on their head and gills the single (or sensitive Long, horizontal stripe They are usually light to dark Longhorn sculpin are named for whisker) underneath the chin begins near pectoral fin grey with darker mottling their long cheek spines that and runs to tail fin reach their gills Longhorn are larger than little sculpin

Pictured: An adult northern kingfish. Mottled brown fish small mollusks, bristle worms, decaying carcasses, and with an arched back, long dorsal fin spine, and one chin . Pictured: An adult little sculpin (or grubby). Sculpin are They sometimes descend up to 600 feet (around 180 m) whisker. stout, spiny fish with head ridges, cheek spines, and below the surface. COMMON PREDATORS short, fanlike pectoral fins. Longhorn sculpin (not - pic HABITAT Sharks and other large, carnivorous fish eat kingfish. tured) have longer cheek spines than little sculpin. DIET Northern kingfish prefer to swim over gravel or sand Sculpin are omnivorous scavengers that eat bristle along coastal beaches, inlets, and bays. Juvenile kingfish STATUS HABITAT worms, small crustaceans, snails, sea , mollusks, mature in the surf zone (where waves break near the IUCN Population Status: Little sculpin usually live less than 90 feet (around 27 and juvenile fish. shore) and in estuaries. Least Concern • Stable m) below the surface. You can find them among sea- weed beds and swimming over sand or rocks near the COMMON PREDATORS DIET shore. Longhorn sculpin often swim around human-made Dogfish, cod, skate, sea ravens, and summer flounder eat Kingfish are bottom-feeders that prey on shrimp, crabs, structures in estuaries, salt creeks, and river mouths. sculpin.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? As they grow and mature, northern kingfish absorb their swim- In the winter, sculpin make an antifreeze in their cells. This amazing protein cir- bladder, a gas-filled that helps fish float. Kingfish stay 12 - 15 cm; Max length is 20 cm culates in sculpin blood and keeps them warm, even if temperatures drop below freezing! 25 - 35 cm; Maximum close to the sea floor, so they don’t need to float as well as fish 25 - 35 cm; Max length is 45 cm length is 50 cm in the .

34 | FISH FISH | 35 SPP. MACALATUS SEA ROBINS NORTHERN PUFFER Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Scorpaeniformes “Mail-Cheeked Fishes” • Family “Sea Robins” Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Tetraodintoformes “Pufferfish & Relatives” • Family “Pufferfish”

Unusual-looking, bony fish Striped sea robins are larger Large head has multiple than northern sea robins Peppered with white and black ridges and spines Yellow/brown/olive spots and small prickles colored upper body Reddish-brown or grey on top, Beak-like mouth fading to a pale underbelly

Striped sea robins have a When not inflated, they are Long, wing-like pectoral fins straight tail fin, dark horizontal stripes on their side, and a club-shaped with a large You can tell sea robins Northern sea robins have longer pectoral fin head and small body Color shades to a apart from sculpin by a curved tail fin, vertical lighter underbelly the 3 feelers on either stripes on their sides, and side on their chin a shorter pectoral fin

Inflated size Pictured: An adult northern sea robin. Sea robins are DIET bony, spiny-headed fish with three feelers in front of their Sea robins mostly eat crustaceans like sand shrimp, wing-like pectoral fins. Striped sea robins (not pictured) crabs, and amphipods. They also eat juvenile flounder, Pictured: An adult northern puffer in its normal, deflated DIET have straighter tail fins, darker horizontal stripes on their scup, Atlantic silversides, bivalves, squid, and bristle form. The dotted line represents the size of a fully inflated Northern puffers eat small crustaceans (like crabs, sides, and longer pectoral fins than northern sea robins. worms. northern puffer. Northern puffers are club-shaped, yel- shrimp, isopods, and amphipods), bivalves (like scal- low-brown fish with large heads, beak-like mouths, and lops), bristle worms, barnacles, and sea urchins. HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS small bodies. Sea robins prefer to swim over sand or gravel, but they Their bony plates protect sea robins from most preda- COMMON PREDATORS sometimes swim around rocks or reefs. They can de- tors. Only large carnivorous fish like sharks can manage HABITAT Very few predators can successfully eat puffers. Cobia, scend up to 600 feet (around 180 m) below the surface, to eat them. During the summer, northern puffers live in shallow wa- sharks, and tuna can eat some species of puffer fish. and like to remain near the sea floor. During the summer, ters near the shore, like bays and estuaries. You can find you can see sea robins in estuaries, bays, river mouths, STATUS them up to 600 feet (around 180 m) below the surface. STATUS salt flats, and other coastal areas. IUCN Population Status: IUCN Population Status: Least Concern • Unknown Trend Least Concern • Decreasing

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Sea robins can actually “taste” their prey with the finger-like Northern puffers have toxic organs that can kill predators. feelers under their chins. As soon as they touch a morsel of 20 - 27 cm; Maximum have to remove northern puffer organs before eating them. 30 - 45 cm / 25 - 30 cm food, they know it’s something delicious and quickly snap it up. length is 35 cm

36 | FISH FISH | 37 PLEURONECTIFORMES ORDER

Summer flounder usually have many FLOUNDERS -like spots on their body Winter flounder bear their mouth and both Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” eyes on the right side of their body Order Pleuronectiformes “”

Large, dinner plate shaped flatfish Winter flounder have a smaller mouth with fleshy lips

Summer flounder bear their mouth and both eyes on the left side of their body

Pictured: An adult “left-facing” summer flounder. Floun- der are large, flat, dinner plate-shaped fish with both eyes on the same side of their body. Winter flounder (not pictured) have both eyes on the right side of their body.

HABITAT Flounder are mainly ocean-dwelling fish, but both sum- mer and winter flounder visit estuaries during the breed- ing season. Flounder like to burrow in sand, mud, or light STATUS gravel. When they are near the coast, you can find floun- IUCN Population Status • Summer Flounder: der in salt ponds, bays, tidal creeks, and beds. Least Concern • Decreasing Flounder usually stay less than 600 feet (around 180 m)

Summer flounder have relatively below the surface. New York State Conservation Rank • Winter Flounder: large mouths with sharp teeth Possibly Vulnerable • S3? DIET Color changes depending on the background, but is Adult summer flounder eat mostly fish, and prefer her- ASFMC Stock Status • Summer Flounder: usually dark or mottled ring, anchovies, and sand lance, as well as squid. Winter Not Overfished flounder eat more invertebrates, including bristle worms, amphipods and other crustaceans, and sea anemones. ASFMC Stock Status • Winter Flounder: Unknown SUMMER WINTER COMMON PREDATORS Carnivorous fish such as striped bass, bluefish, goose- DID YOU KNOW? fish, spiny dogfish, oyster toadfish, and sea ravens, as Flounder look like normal fish larvae for several weeks well as birds such as cormorants, herons, and osprey after they first hatch, but during their ,

30 - 50 cm; Maximum 25 - 35 cm; Maximum eat adult flounder. Jellyfish and sand shrimp eat flounder one of their eyes slowly migrates over their head until length is 100 cm length is 58 cm larvae. both eyes are on the same side!

38 | FISH FISH | 39 FUSCUS HIPPOCAMPUS ERECTUS NORTHERN PIPEFISH LINED SEAHORSE Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order “Pipefish & ” Class Actinopterygii “Ray-Finned Fishes” • Order Syngnathiformes “Pipefish & Seahorses” Family “Pipefish & Seahorses” Family Syngnathidae “Pipefish & Seahorses”

Often have white lines that Tube-shaped snout follow the body contours Dorsal fin is short and delicate Upright and bony fish

Color varies depending on Horse-like head that is the individual, but is usually covered in bony plates green or brown

Tube-shaped snout

Pipefish are long, thin, and rigid

Bony rings all along the body Deep chest Lined seahorses are the only species of seahorse that currently No ventral or anal fins Males have a brood lives in New York Harbor pouch on their belly

Color varies depending on their Often have white spots Prehensile tail background, but in New York on their tail Round tail fin Harbor they’re usually dark

Pictured: An adult lined seahorse clinging to seagrass and other small crustaceans, as well as snails, and bristle Pictured: An adult northern pipefish. Northern pipefish COMMON PREDATORS with its prehensile tail. Lined seahorses are upright, bony worms. are long, thin fish with bony rings all along their bodies Oyster toadfish, bass, perch, drums, and weakfish eat fish with horse-like heads, tube-shaped snouts, and and tube-shaped snouts. pipefish. deep chests. COMMON PREDATORS Black sea bass, mako sharks, stingrays, bluefish, and HABITAT STATUS HABITAT tuna occasionally eat lined seahorses, as do seabirds and Pipefish mostly live among and algae in brackish or IUCN Population Status: During the summer, lined seahorses live in shallow areas wading birds. saltwater habitats, including marsh creeks, estuaries, Least Concern • Unknown Trend near the shore. You can find them among underwater and harbors. plants and algae, human-made structures, sponges, and STATUS New York State Conservation Rank: oyster reefs. IUCN Population Status: DIET Vulnerable • S3 Vulnerable • Decreasing Pipefish eat small crustaceans, like amphipods, isopods, DIET copepods, and shrimp. Lined seahorses eat amphipods, copepods, small shrimp,

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Pregnancy is dangerous for male pipefish. Many get eaten by 5 - 11 cm; Lined seahorses communicate with little clicking sounds. predators or starve before they can give birth. Because of the Maximum uneven death rate, there can be as many as nine female pipefish length is 15 cm They make these sounds by tossing their heads against a 10 - 20 cm for every one male. star-shaped crest on their neck called a coronet.

40 | FISH FISH | 41 FISH OF NEW YORK HARBOR

ATLANTIC SILVERSIDE Menidia menidia pg. 15

AMERICAN EEL ATLANTIC NEEDLEFISH OYSTER TOADFISH BLUEFISH BLACK SEA BASS SCUP Anguilla rostrata pg. 14 Strongylura marina pg. 16 Opsanus tau pg. 18 Pomatomus saltatrix pg. 29 Centropristis striata pg. 30 Stenotomus chrysops pg. 31

ATLANTIC MENHADEN STRIPED KILLIFISH MUMMICHOG ROCK GUNNEL BUTTERFISH NORTHERN KINGFISH Brevoortia tyrannus pg. 19 Fundulus majalis pg. 20 Fundulus heteroclitus pg. 21 Pholis gunnellus pg. 32 Peprilus triacanthus pg. 33 Menticirrhus saxatilis pg. 34

SKILLETFISH BLENNY GOBY SCULPIN SEA ROBIN NORTHERN PUFFER pg. 22 Blenniidae Family pg. 23 Gobiosoma spp. pg. 24 Myoxocephalus spp. pg. 35 Prionotus spp. pg. 36 Sphoeroides maculatus pg. 37

CUNNER BLACKFISH STRIPED BASS FLOUNDER NORTHERN PIPEFISH LINED SEAHORSE Tautogolabrus adspersus pg. 25 Tautoga onitis pg. 26 Morone saxatilis pg. 28 Pleuronectiformes Order pg. 38 Syngnathus fuscus pg. 40 Hippocampus erectus pg. 41

42 | FISH FISH | 43 MOBILE INVERTEBRATES

Green Crab Spider Crab Blue Crab Mud Crabs Mitten Crabs Pacific Shore Crab Sand Shrimp Grass Shrimp Amphipods Shrimp Isopods Horseshoe Crabs Slipper Snails Whelks Eastern Mudsnails Oyster Drills Bristle Worms Oyster Comb Jelly Moon Jelly

44 | FISH FISH | 45 CARCINUS MAENAS LIBINIA SPP. GREEN CRAB SPIDER CRAB Class • Order Decapoda “Decapods” • Infraorder Brachyura “Crabs” • Family Portunidae “Swimming Crabs” Class Malacostraca • Order Decapoda “Decapods” • Infraorder Brachyura “Crabs” • Family Epialtidae “Spider Crabs”

Uniform beige color You can count 5 blunt spines Green, but can also be (or “teeth”) on each side of their mottled brown, grey, or red They drape their knobby, capace just behind the eyes Pointed snout and spiny bodies in algae, short eyestalks sponges, or other debris

Long legs Adult females have red-orange underbellies Common spider crabs have about Longnose spider crab have about six spines Males and juveniles have yel- nine spines on their midline on their midline low or green underbellies Triangular carapace

Pictured: An adult green crab. Green crabs are mid-sized DIET Pictured: An adult spider crab. Spider crabs are long- DIET crabs that can be green, brown, grey, or red, with 5 blunt Green crabs eat many different kinds of plants and ani- legged, beige crabs with knobby, triangular carapaces Spider crabs eat algae, dead and decaying fish, mollusks, spines on their carapace. mals from nearly 160 different groups. Some of and short eyestalks. barnacles, and sea stars. their preferred foods include snails, bivalves, (clams HABITAT and mussels), juvenile fish, algae, juvenile lobsters, bar- HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS Green crabs can live in many types of saltwater and es- nacles, and bristle worms. Spider crabs live near the sea floor on rocks, mud, and Octopuses, pinfish, , and oyster toadfish eat spi- tuarine habitats. You can often find them among vegeta- sand. You can find them in large numbers in fairly polluted der crabs. tion, in salt marshes, and under rocks along the banks COMMON PREDATORS bays and estuaries. Spider crabs can descend to depths of tidal creeks. Sea birds (including gulls), ducks, herons, raccoons, and of greater than 150 feet (around 45 meters) below the blue crabs eat green crabs. surface.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? To make up for their bad eyesight, spider crabs have sensory A single green crab can eat up to 40 half-inch clams per day! cells (like taste buds) at the end of each leg. These cells help 5 - 8 cm • Carapace; 6 - 10 cm • Carapace width them find tasty morsels on the sea floor. Maximum width is 10 cm

46 | MOBILE INVERTEBRATES MOBILE INVERTEBRATES | 47 CALLINECTES SAPIDUS

BLUE CRAB Males have a narrow, tower-shaped apron on Class Malcostraca their abdomen Order Decapoda “Decapods” Infraorder Brachyura “Crabs” Family Portunidae “Swimming Crabs”

Four serrated spines (or “teeth”) between their eyes Nine spines on either Deep blue claws often Female blue crabs have a side of their eyes have orange tips wide, dome-shaped flap (or “apron”) on their abdomen Three spines on their first arms

Females carry their eggs in a bright orange, spongy mass on their apron

Pictured: An adult blue crab. Blue crabs are large crabs DIET Wide carapace with two long spines on either side with deep blue claws and two long spines on either side Blue crabs eat live and dead fish, fish larvae, shrimp, Large crab of their carapace. Juvenile blue crabs (not pictured) are bivalves (like oysters, mussels, and clams), snails, and less brightly colored than adults. vegetation (like eelgrass and sea lettuce).

HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS Blue crabs spend most of their time underwater, on Raccoons, herons, American eels, striped bass, oyster rocks, sand, or mud. During the summer, you can find toadfish, drums, and croakers eat blue crabs. them in river mouths, tidal creeks, salt marshes, and sounds. Blue crabs like to live near human-made struc- DID YOU KNOW? 8 - 17 cm • Carapace; tures, such as docks, or near underwater plants and Female blue crabs only mate once in their life, but they Maximum width is 23 cm seaweed. can store male sperm for up to two years!

48 | MOBILE INVERTEBRATES MOBILE INVERTEBRATES | 49 PANOPEIDAE FAMILY ERIOCHEIR SINENSIS MUD CRABS MITTEN CRABS Class Malacostraca • Order Decapoda “Decapods” • Infraorder Brachyura “Crabs” • Family Panopeidae “Mud Crabs” Class Malacostraca • Order Decapoda “Decapods” • Infraorder Brachyura “Crabs” • Family Varunidae “Shore Crabs”

No spines between their eyes You can tell mitten crabs apart Black-fingered mud Notch between the eyes from other crabs by the fine, light crabs have a tooth-like Front claws are hairs on their equal-sized claws typically unequal sizes nub on the upper part Mid-sized of their larger claw burrowing crab

Four or five blunt white-fingered mud crabs spines (or “teeth”) have light-tipped claws on both sides of their carapace

Similar-looking family of small crabs Legs are about twice the Square carapace length of their carapace

Rear legs are pointed Flatback mud crabs have a somewhat flattened carapace Pictured: An adult mitten crab. Mitten crabs are mid-sized DIET burrowing crabs with square carapaces and fine, light Mitten crabs are flexible . They mainly eat al- hairs on their claws. gae, decaying matter, and dead fish. Juveniles sometimes eat amphipods and snails because they need calcium for Pictured: An adult black-fingered mud crab. Mud crabs are DIET HABITAT their growing shells. very small crabs with four or five blunt spines on their Larger species (like the black-fingered mud crab) eat Mitten crabs live in fresh, brackish, or salty water dur- carapaces. oysters, quahog clams, mussels, barnacles, and snails. ing different parts of their life cycle. In freshwater, they COMMON PREDATORS Smaller species (like the flatback mud crab) eat mainly prefer shallow, slow-moving pools near algae. In brackish We don’t know for sure what animals in New York Harbor HABITAT algae, decaying plant and matter, amphipods, and water, they make burrows in the sides of steep muddy might eat mitten crabs. Some carnivorous fish like Ameri- Mud crabs live in fresh to brackish water at up to 120 bristle worms. or sandy banks. can eels, striped bass, and catfish might prey on mitten feet (around 37 meters) below the surface. They prefer crabs. Other potential predators include raccoons, otters, sheltered estuarine habitats near pilings and jetties, COMMON PREDATORS wading birds (like herons), and bullfrogs. sponges, bryozoans, eelgrass meadows, woody debris, Blue crabs, wading birds (like herons), oyster toadfish, rocks, or oyster reefs. and other carnivorous fish eat adult mud crabs. Atlantic FROM THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION: “If you collect a Chinese mitten crab, do not release it back to the water. Keep it and freeze it (preserve in alcohol if you can’t freeze it). Note date and location caught (GPS coordinates preferred but pinpointed on a map is acceptable) silversides, mummichogs, grass shrimp, and other and how you caught it. If possible, take a close-up photo. Please make a report within 48 hours of catch that includes photos and location information to plankton-eating fish and invertebrates prey on the larvae. [email protected] or 518-402-9425.”

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Mud crab larvae have sharp spines that defend them against plankton-eating fish. Many organisms make their home in the mitten crab’s hairy claws, including bivalve and larvae, 5 - 7 cm • Carapace; amphipods, bristle worms, and algae. 2 -4 cm • Carapace width Maximum width is 10 cm

50 | MOBILE INVERTEBRATES MOBILE INVERTEBRATES | 51 HEMIGRAPSUS SANGUINEUS CRANGON SEPTEMSPINOSA PACIFIC SHORE CRAB SAND SHRIMP Class Malacostraca • Order Decapoda “Decapods” • Infraorder Brachyura “Crabs” • Family Varunidae “Shore Crabs” Class Malacostraca • Order Decapoda “Decapods” • Infraorder Caridea “Caridean Shrimp” • Family Crangonidae

Males have a fleshy bulb at the base of their upper claw One pair of hook-shaped claws

Stout, with a wide body that gets thinner toward the tail Small and dark-colored

Light, sandy-colored body with darker speckles Square carapace

Unlike grass shrimp, sand shrimp Short, beak-like rostrum are flattened from top to bottom, between the eyes Color ranges from rather than from side to side brown, to red, to green Light-colored bands around their legs

Pictured: An adult Pacific shore crab. Pacific shore DIET Pictured: An adult sand shrimp. Sand shrimp are stout, DIET crabs are small, dark crabs with square carapaces and Pacific shore crabs are omnivorous. They eat many dif- sandy-colored shrimp with dark speckles and hook- Sand shrimp eat decaying plants and animals, small light bands around their legs. ferent species of plants and animals, including blue shaped claws. crustaceans (like amphipods), fish larvae, insects, and mussels, quahog clams, oysters, soft-shell clams, snails, eggs. HABITAT algae, and seagrass. HABITAT Pacific shore crabs usually live in the intertidal zone of Sand shrimp live on sand or mud in the shallow bottoms COMMON PREDATORS rocky estuaries. They can also live in the subtidal zone, COMMON PREDATORS of estuaries and salt marshes. Flounder, striped bass, black sea bass, sea robins, on sandy or pebbly beaches, jetties, pilings, mussel beds, , cunner, oyster toadfish, striped bass, black sea skates, and other bottom-dwelling fish eat adult sand and oyster reefs. bass, green crabs, and gulls eat adult Pacific shore crabs. shrimp. Comb jellies and other plankton-eating species Killifish and mummichogs eat Pacific shore crab larvae. eat sand shrimp larvae.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Sand shrimp eat lots of sand on purpose. It helps them grind up Pacific shore crabs are immune to many toxins, including puffer the hard shells of insects and amphipods. In fact, sand shrimp fish ! 1 -3 cm • Carapace; ; 1 - 4 cm; Maximum poop is mostly made of sand! Maximum width is 4 cm length is 7 cm

52 | MOBILE INVERTEBRATES MOBILE INVERTEBRATES | 53 PALAEMON SPP. (FORMERLY ) ORDER GRASS SHRIMP AMPHIPODS Class Malacostraca • Order Decapoda “Decapods” • Infraorder Caridea “Caridean Shrimp” • Family Palaemonidae Class Malacostraca • Order Amphipoda “Amphipods”

Their head is fused to their thorax Unlike crustaceans, amphipods don’t have Tiny crustaceans a carapace with four antennae

Usually have five pairs of walking Flattened from side to side legs in the front and three pairs with arched backs, while of swimming legs in the back isopods are usually flattened from top to bottom

Toothed rostrum, or long, beak-like projection, Slender and transparent between the eyes A mixture of amphipods, skeleton shrimp, and isopods in an ordinary plastic spoon. These organisms are visible to the Flattened from side to side light, cinnamon-colored naked eye, but it’s difficult to observe them in detail without Unlike sand shrimp, which are spots on their body a microscope or magnifying glass. flattneed from top to bottom.

Pictured: An adult scud (a of amphipod). Amphipods DIET Pictured: An adult grass shrimp. Grass shrimp are DIET are tiny crustaceans with four antennae and no carapace. Most amphipods are scavengers. They eat rotting algae, slender, transparent shrimp with cinnamon spots and Grass shrimp eat tiny algae, rotting vegetation, Their head is fused to their thorax. seaweed, dead fish, other amphipods, isopods, zooplank- two pairs of claws on their front legs. phytoplankton, and small invertebrates. ton, phytoplankton, and insect eggs. HABITAT HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS Amphipods live in all kinds of saltwater, brackish, and COMMON PREDATORS Grass shrimp live in many shallow coastal habitats, Mummichogs, killifish, and other small fish eat grass freshwater communities. People commonly see them Most of the fish species in New York Harbor eat amphi- including salt marshes and estuaries. They spend a lot shrimp. among underwater vegetation (like eelgrass meadows), pods during some part of their life cycle. Shorebirds, of time around eelgrass meadows and other underwater salt marshes, tide pools, sandy beaches, and rotting crabs, and shrimp also eat amphipods. plants and algae. seaweed.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Some grass shrimp have a parasite that looks like a purplish- Some amphipods will eat almost anything, including human brown lump on their gills. This parasite is actually an isopod garbage. One study found that a group of amphipods can chew 2.5 - 5 cm called Probopyrus pandalicola. a single plastic bag into 175 million pieces! 6 - 25 mm

54 | MOBILE INVERTEBRATES MOBILE INVERTEBRATES | 55 CAPRELLIDAE FAMILY ORDER SKELETON SHRIMP ISOPODS Class Malacostraca • Order Amphipoda “Amphipods” • Family Caprellidae “Skeleton Shrimp” Class Malacostraca • Order Isopoda “Isopods”

Shield-like structure Small, slender, and gangly that protects the eyes Four antennae Segmented body

Usually transparent, but can be mottled reddish-brown

One pair of folded forelegs

Two pairs of Small, armored crustaceans paddle-shaped gills Unlike amphipods, isopods are typically flattened from top to bottom

Gills on the underside Three pairs of hooked hindlegs Females may have large sacs near their gills

Pictured: A generic adult isopod (based on Idotea spp.). DIET Isopods are small, armored crustaceans with segmented Isopods eat dead animals, decaying algae and seaweed, Pictured: An adult skeleton shrimp. Skeleton shrimp are DIET bodies and four antennae. There are many isopod species wood, and other rotting matter. Parasitic isopods eat the transparent, gangly amphipods with folded forelegs and Skeleton shrimp are omnivores. They feed on zooplank- in New York Harbor, but most look similar to the example blood of live fish. paddle-shaped gills. ton, phytoplankton, larvae, and rotting bits of in this illustration. plants and animals. COMMON PREDATORS HABITAT HABITAT Many juvenile fish eat isopods, as do other small fish, Skeleton shrimp live in shallow estuaries and saltwater COMMON PREDATORS In marine environments, isopods often crawl around shorebirds, and crabs. environments. They are usually attached to hydroids, Black sea bass, pipefish, seahorses, blennies, gobies, and underwater algae and plants (like eelgrass), over rocks, sponges, sea stars, bryozoans, kelp, seaweed, algae, or ribbon worms eat skeleton shrimp. sand, or mud, on exposed rocks or pilings near the water, eelgrass. Some species live freely on soft mud. and in tide pools.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Sixty-two new species of skeleton shrimp have been discovered Some parasitic isopods bite off a fish’s tongue and replace it in the last fifteen years. Scientists think that many more species with their own body! haven’t been discovered yet. 1.5 - 3.5 cm 5 - 38 mm long

56 | MOBILE INVERTEBRATES MOBILE INVERTEBRATES | 57 LIMULUS POLYPHEMUS CREPIDULA SPP. (C. FORNICATA; C. PLANA; C. CONVEXA) HORSESHOE CRABS SLIPPER SNAILS Subphylum “, Sea Spiders, & Horseshoe Crabs” • Class Merostomata “Sea Scorpions & Horseshoe Crabs” Class “Snails & Slugs” • Order Littorinimorpha “Sea Snails” • Family Calyptraeidae Order Xiphosurida “Horseshoe Crabs” • Family Limulidae

Large, saucepan- Arched, rounded shell shaped

5 pairs of limbs and book-like gills hidden under their shell

Flat, white shelf on the Long, pointed tail Uniform brown color underside of the shell (or “”)

Heavily armored with serrated edges Some species form stacks of up to twelve snails

Can be pearly white Pictured: An adult horseshoe crab with barnacles and COMMON PREDATORS to brown in color a slipper snail hitchhiking on its shell. Horseshoe crabs Shorebirds and raccoons eat horseshoe crab eggs. Sand are large, brown, saucepan-shaped , heavily shrimp, blue crabs, striped bass, killifish, Atlantic silver- armored with a long, pointed tail. sides, and other surf zone fish eat juvenile horseshoe Pictured: A stack of slipper snails as they might appear crabs) or blades of eelgrass. Slipper shells can live up crabs. Adults are well-defended and have few natural on an oyster reef (left). Slipper snails have rounded, to 50 feet (around 15 meters) below the surface of the HABITAT predators. Sea turtles sometimes eat adults at sea, and mottled, light brown shells. On their undersides, slipper water. Horseshoe crabs breed on sandy beaches. Outside of gulls eat stranded adults on the beach. snails have a white “shelf” that protects the snail’s body the breeding season, horseshoe crabs live in shallow and (middle). You would be able to see the soft, pale mollusk DIET deeper water over almost any type of sea floor. STATUS inside if the “shelf” were transparent (right). Slipper snails are filter feeders. They eat phytoplankton IUCN Population Status: and other particles in the water. DIET Vulnerable • Decreasing HABITAT Horseshoe crabs prefer to eat mollusks (including blue Slipper snails live in the subtidal or intertidal zones of COMMON PREDATORS ASFMC New York Stock Status: mussels, soft-shell clams, and surf clams). But horse- coastal marshes, tide pools, and beaches. They are often Whelks, hermit crabs, boring sponges, oyster drills, Poor shoe crabs also eat plant matter, bristle worms, algae, attached to hard surfaces (like rocks, oyster reefs, and flounders, and sea stars eat slipper snails. small crabs and other crustaceans. shells), other animals (like horseshoe crabs and hermit

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Ten percent of horseshoe crabs die every when they As slipper snails grow larger, they gradually change their sex become stranded on the beach upside down. If you see one on Up to 60 cm long with from male to female. its back, you can help by flipping it over – they don’t bite! tail, 30 cm carapace 1 - 5 cm width. Males are smaller. 58 | MOBILE INVERTEBRATES MOBILE INVERTEBRATES | 59 BUSYCONIDAE FAMILY OBSOLETA (FORMERLY ILYANASSA) WHELKS EASTERN MUDSNAILS Category Snails, Worms, & Jellies • Class Gastropoda “Snails & Slugs” • Order • Family Busyconidae “Whelks” Category Snails, Worms, & Jellies • Class Gastropoda “Snails & Slugs” Order Neogastropoda • Family “Nassa Mud Snails”

Knobbed whelks have pointed knobs near the top of their shells Shell is covered in a dark Small, oval shaped shell brown, nearly black “skin” that gradually tapers Large sea snails with spiral-shaped (called periostracum) toward the pointed end shell that ends at a point

Channeled whelks have deep grooves, Shell has six to seven whorls Both knobbed whelks and channeled or channels, at the seam that separates Eastern mudsnail shells are whelks have right-handed shells each whorl of their shell right-handed, meaning that the White shell often peeks opening is on the right side through where the dark skin has started to wear away

Pictured: A channeled whelk. Whelks are large sea snails more likely to find live whelks around oyster reefs and with spiral-shaped shells that taper to a point. Knobbed mussel beds. Pictured: An eastern mudsnail. Eastern mudsnails are DIET whelks (not pictured) have pointed knobs on their shells. small, mottled brown snails with an oval-shaped shell Eastern mudsnails eat bacteria, phytoplankton, decom- DIET that ends in a point. posing algae, and animal carcasses. HABITAT Whelks eat bivalves, including quahog clams, oysters, Whelks live in the intertidal and subtidal zones of estu- and blue mussels. HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS aries and out at sea. They live on the sea floor at up to Eastern mudsnails live in the intertidal zone in mudflats Turtles, crabs, shorebirds, wading birds (like herons), 165 feet (around 50 meters) below the surface. Empty COMMON PREDATORS and salt marshes. You can also find them in eelgrass and fish eat eastern mudsnails. shells often wash ashore on sandy beaches, but you’re Crabs, sea stars, and sea urchins eat whelks. meadows, oyster reefs, and mussel beds.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Like people, most whelks are “right-handed.” That means that the opening of their shell is on In New York Harbor, diamondback terrapins (a type of their right side. But every now and then, a whelk is born “left-handed.” turtle) love to eat eastern mudsnails. Some parasites have 13 - 23 cm evolved to live in both terrapins and mudsnails. 2.5 - 3 cm

60 | MOBILE INVERTEBRATES MOBILE INVERTEBRATES | 61 MURICIDAE (UROSALPINX CINEREA, EUPLEURA CAUDATA) OYSTER DRILLS Category Snails, Worms, & Jellies Small snails with spiral-shaped shells that end in a point Class Gastropoda “Snails & Slugs” Order Neogastropoda Family Muricidae “Rock Snails”

Shells are reddish-brown and have smooth edges

Thick-lipped drill shells are grey and have slightly jagged edges

As their name suggests, thick-lipped drills have a thicker lip near the opening of their shells

Pictured: An Atlantic oyster drill (top). Atlantic oyster drills have reddish-brown, spiral-shaped shells with smooth edges. A thick-lipped oyster drill (bottom). Thick- lipped oyster drills have grey shells with slightly jagged edges and a thicker lip near the opening of their shell. Vase-shaped oyster drill egg cases attached to vegetation, with bright yellow HABITAT eggs inside each case Oyster drills live in the intertidal zone and shallow parts of the subtidal zone, in estuaries and near the shore. You can find them among seagrass meadows, mud flats, oys- COMMON PREDATORS ter reefs, pilings with barnacles, and rocks at up to 120 Sea stars, blue crabs, , and other carnivorous feet (around 36 meters) below the surface of the water. snails eat oyster drills.

DIET DID YOU KNOW? Oyster drills eat oysters, slipper shells, mussels, A single oyster drill can eat up to 200 juvenile oysters 1 - 2.5 cm barnacles, bristle worms, and bryozoans. in one season!

62 | MOBILE INVERTEBRATES MOBILE INVERTEBRATES | 63 POLYCHAETA CLASS STYLOCHUS ELLIPTICUS BRISTLE WORMS OYSTER FLATWORM Category Snails, Worms, & Jellies • Annelida “Worms” • Class Polychaeta “ Worms” Category Snails, Worms, & Jellies • Phylum Platyhelminthes “Flatworms” Order “Free-Living Marine Flatworms” • Family

Clam worms have dark jaws at the Clam worms can be bright end of their short proboscis, which green, blue, or pink, often Tube-building bristle worms is a tube-shaped mouthpart with thick, orange parapodia Flattened from top to bottom Usually have a few darker have a crown of feathery eyespots on one half of their body gills on their head and can be up to 7 cm long

They usually hide inside of the hard, twisted tubes they build on bivalve shells

Segmented bodies with one pair of parapodia on each segment

Blood worms have a pointed Blood worms are pink with head and very long proboscis patches of red blood which is usually withrawn (Not pictured) Whip mudworms are Blood worms and clam worms usually light yellow and up to 3 cm long, Symmetrical across Small, leaf-shaped worms are typically around 8 cm long, with two long on their head their midline but can be much longer Light cream-colored with cinnamon colored speckles Pictured: A common clam worm (top), which is another habitats. You can find bristle worms in mud and sand, type of bristle worm. Clam worms are brightly colored seaweed, oyster reefs, mussel beds, rocky cliffs, sea- with thick, orange legs and dark jaws. A blood worm grass meadows, and human-made structures. (bottom), which is a type of bristle worm. Blood worms Pictured: An oyster flatworm. Oyster flatworms are small, DIET are pink with red patches, and they have a pointed head. DIET leaf-shaped, flattened worms, light cream-colored with Juvenile oyster flatworms eat . Adult flatworms A group of tube-building worms attached to a clam shell Different bristle worm species have different diets. Many dark eyespots. eat oysters and barnacles (right). These worms build brittle, coiled tubes all over bristle worms eat animal carcasses, algae, phytoplank- shells. Tube-building worms feed by poking their heads ton, small amphipods, fish larvae, and other bristle HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS out of their tubes and trapping phytoplankton in their worms. Oyster flatworms live on oyster reefs and among Plankton-eating fish like Atlantic menhaden eat oyster feathery gills. barnacles. They prefer brackish or salty water. Flatworms flatworm larvae. We don’t know much about predators COMMON PREDATORS usually remain near the surface of the water. You can of adult flatworms, but omnivorous fish and crustaceans HABITAT Many species of fish, crustaceans, and birds eat bristle sometimes find them inside empty oyster shells, or probably eat them. Bristle worms live in all kinds of saltwater and estuarine worms. underneath rocks in shallow water.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Blood worm jaws are made with metal! These worms produce a If there is not enough food around, oyster flatworms can copper-containing mineral that helps them pierce through their temporarily shrink in size by up to 50%. That way, flatworms 2 - 75 mm prey and inject their venom. Less than 2.5 cm don’t have to eat as much to sustain themselves.

64 | MOBILE INVERTEBRATES MOBILE INVERTEBRATES | 65 IEIDYI AURELIA AURITA COMB JELLY MOON JELLY Category Snails, Worms, & Jellies • Phylum “Comb Jellies” • Class • Order • Family Bolinopsidae Category Snails, Worms, & Jellies • Phylum “Jellyfish” • Class Scyphozoa “True Jellyfish” Order Semaeostomeae • Family Ulmaridae

Common southern comb jellies are Transparent with four C-shaped transparent, jellyfish-like animals Eight rows of glittering, comb-like Can be anywhere from pink, reproductive organs (gonads) that As medusas, moon jellies plates along their body to orange, to white in color are visible from above are large, round jellyfish

As polyps, moon jellies are Polyps have a narrow stem Fringe of many short tentacles and almost microscopically small that broadens into a cup with 10-15 slender tentacles four longer tentacles, called oral arms Polyps live in colonies and look arranged around the edge Two long lobes, like bunny ears, that like tiny sea anemones begin near the top of their body and droop down over their mouth

Pictured: A side-view of a moon jelly (left) and a top-down DIET Pictured: A comb jelly. Comb jellies are transparent, oval- DIET view of a moon jelly (right). Moon jellies are transparent, Moon jellies eat phytoplankton (like algae) and zooplank- shaped animals with eight rows of sparkling combs Common southern comb jellies eat any type of zooplank- round jellyfish with a fringe of short tentacles and four ton (like the larvae of mollusks, bristle worms, fish, and around the outside of their body. ton, including fish, crustacean, and mollusk larvae. They longer tentacles. They have four horseshoe-shaped crustaceans). also eat phytoplankton, floating fish eggs, and copepods. reproductive organs (gonads) that you can see from HABITAT above. COMMON PREDATORS Common southern comb jellies usually live near the COMMON PREDATORS Other jellyfish (like lion’s mane jellyfish), sea turtles, and shore, in bays and estuaries. But people sometimes see Large jellyfish like sea nettles, other comb jelly species, HABITAT ocean sunfish eat moon jelly medusas. Sea slugs eat comb jellies several hundred miles away from the shore, sea turtles, harvestfish, and butterfish eat common Moon jellies are found around the world in open water. moon jelly polyps. in open ocean. Comb jellies prefer murky, brackish water, southern comb jellies. They drift into bays, estuaries, and other shallow, pro- but they can live in salty and almost fresh water as well. tected waters during the summer.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Some comb jellies have a parasite that looks like a thin, pink worm living inside their transparent bodies. If moon jelly medusas get sick or injured, they can heal This parasite is actually a type of called the lined anemone. Medusas: 5 – 40 cm in diameter. themselves by reversing their life cycle and transforming back 3 - 12 cm Polyps: < 1 cm and difficult to into polyps. see with the naked eye.

66 | MOBILE INVERTEBRATES MOBILE INVERTEBRATES | 67 MOBILE INVERTEBRATES OF NEW YORK HARBOR

GREEN CRAB SPIDER CRAB BLUE CRAB SLIPPER SNAILS WHELKS EASTERN MUDSNAILS Carcinus maenas pg. 46 Libinia spp. pg. 47 Callinectes sapidus pg. 48 Crepidula spp. pg. 59 Busyconidae Family pg. 60 pg. 61

MUD CRAB MITTEN CRAB PACIFIC SHORE CRAB OYSTER DRILL EGG CAPSULES OYSTER DRILLS CLAM WORM Panopeidae Family pg. 50 Eriocheir sinensis pg. 51 Hemigrapsus sanguineus pg. 52 Muricidae Family pg. 62 Muricidae Family pg. 63 Polychaeta Class pg. 64

SAND SHRIMP GRASS SHRIMP AMPHIPODS CARNATION WORM OYSTER FLATWORM COMB JELLY Crangon septemspinosa pg. 53 Palaemon spp. pg. 54 Order Amphipoda pg. 55 Polychaeta Class pg. 64 Stylochus ellipticus pg. 65 Mnemiopsis leidyi pg. 66

SKELETON SHRIMP ISOPODS HORSESHOE CRAB MOON JELLY Caprellidae Family pg. 56 Order Isopoda pg. 57 Limulus polyphemus pg. 58 Aurelia aurita pg. 67

68 | MOBILE INVERTEBRATES MOBILE INVERTEBRATES | 69 SESSILE ORGANISMS

Barnacles Ribbed Mussels Blue Mussels Jingle Shells Eastern Oysters Northern Quahog European Sea Squirt Sea Vases Sea Grapes Chain Tunicates Golden Star Tunicates Boring Sponges Red Beard Sponge Hydroids Orange-Striped Green Anemone Frilled Anemones Dahlia Anemones Lined Anemones Bushy Bryozoan Lacy Bryozoan Sea Lettuce Agardh’s Red Weed

70 | FISH FISH | 71 BALANIDAE (SEMIBALANUS BALANOIDES; AMPHIBALNAUS EBERNEUS) DEMISSA BARNACLES RIBBED MUSSELS Class • Order “Acorn Barnacles” • Family Balanidae Phylum “Mollusks” • Class “Bivalves” • Order “True Mussels” • Family “Sea Mussels”

Adult barnacles are sessile It is difficult to tell northern rock crustaceans that attach barnacles and ivory barnacles themselves to hard substrates apart without detaching them Glossy, bean-shaped mussels Both species are pale whitish-yellow color 51 Inside of their shell is iridescent pink, blue, or purple

Vary in color form olive Protected by a ring of strong, Beak-like gill cover in the Lined, corduroy- green to dark brown overlapping plates center of their plates textured shell

Pictured: A group of barnacles attached to an oyster water, which means that they can live in far upstream shell. Barnacles are sessile, armored crustaceans that in estuaries. are protected by a ring of bony plates and a beak-like gill cover. DIET Pictured: An Atlantic ribbed mussel. Atlantic ribbed DIET Barnacles are filter-feeders that eat phytoplankton and mussels are glossy, bean-shaped bivalves with corduroy- Atlantic ribbed mussels eat phytoplankton, bits of decay- HABITAT other particles in the water. textured shells. ing animals, algae, zooplankton, and other particles. Barnacles live in the intertidal zone, in salty or brackish water. They can attach themselves to any rough, hard COMMON PREDATORS HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS surface, including oysters, rocks in tide pools, pilings, Oyster flatworms, oyster drills, blennies, sea stars, sea Atlantic ribbed mussels live below the high tide line in Blue crabs, mud crabs, and shore birds eat Atlantic ribbed jetties, and ships. Barnacles can tolerate fairly fresh slugs, and bryozoans eat barnacles. salt marshes, oyster reefs, cordgrass, and soft mud. mussels.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Like all crustaceans, barnacles have to molt their skin as they Atlantic ribbed mussels can re-attach themselves to cordgrass if grow. When they’re finished molting, they push the empty husk they get knocked out of place. out of their shell. 1 - 2.5 cm diameter 5 - 10 cm

72 | SESSILE ORGANISMS SESSILE ORGANISMS | 73 MYTILUS EDULIS SIMPLEX BLUE MUSSELS JINGLE SHELLS Phylum Mollusca “Mollusks” • Class Bivalvia “Bivalves” • Order Mytilida “True Mussels” • Family Mytilidae “Sea Mussels” Phylum Mollusca “Mollusks” • Class Bivalvia “Bivalves” • Order “ & Relatives” • Family “Jingle Shells”

Shells are smooth and rounded

Blue mussel flesh is yellow Large top shell Smaller bottom shell Concentric growth lines with a hole in it that start at the pointed hinge of their shell

Often dark blue, but can also be purple or brown

Small and They have thin, brown threads Sometimes they have white that extend from their closed shell iridescent bivalves patches where the outer coating Can be pearly white, to and attach them to surfaces Both shells are thin and (or periostracum) of their shell has orange, to grey in color worn away translucent, but strong

Pictured: A with yellow byssal threads, which DIET they use to attach themselves to surfaces. Blue mussels Blue mussels eat phytoplankton, including algae, and bits are smooth, rounded bivalves with concentric growth of rotting vegetation. lines. They can be dark blue, purple, or brown. Pictured: The upper shell (left) and lower shell (right) of them in the intertidal and subtidal zones of beaches, COMMON PREDATORS a common jingle shell. Jingle shells are small, iridescent bays, and estuaries. HABITAT Jellyfish and young fish eat mussel larvae. Sea stars, bivalves with thin, translucent shells that are pearly Blue mussels live in dense beds in the subtidal and inter- crustaceans, tautog, cunner, and some seabirds eat white to orange. Their lower shell has a hole in it to allow DIET tidal zones. You can find them on rocky shores, pilings, adult blue mussels. byssal threads to pass through. Jingle shells filter-feed on phytoplankton, algae, small and empty shells, usually less than 32 feet (around 10 bits of rotting plants, and other particles. meters) below the surface. Blue mussels prefer salty wa- HABITAT ter and do not grow well in brackish water. They usually Jingle shells live on hard surfaces, including oyster reefs, COMMON PREDATORS settle closer to the mouth of estuaries. mussel beds, and on rocks among eelgrass. You can find Predatory snails, crabs, and fish eat jingle shells.

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Although jingle shells look fragile, they are actually surprisingly Scientists have studied blue mussels’ byssal threads to learn strong. Jingle shells cling very tightly to adult oyster shells and how to make stronger, stretchier materials. are difficult for predators to remove. 5 - 10 cm 2.5 - 7.5 cm

74 | SESSILE ORGANISMS SESSILE ORGANISMS | 75 CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA EASTERN OYSTERS Phylum Mollusca “Mollusks” Class Bivalvia “Bivalves” Order Ostreida “Oysters” Family Ostreidae “True Oysters”

Rough-textured, Top shell is flat, while the bumpy bivalves bottom shell is cupped

There is a purple scar where the flesh was attached

Oyster Reproductive Cycle

Pictured: A group of living adult oysters and oyster spat growing on an empty oyster shell. Oysters are rough- textured, bumpy bivalves that are greyish-brown in color. Empty oyster shells have a purple scar where the flesh was attached. REPRODUCTIVE CYCYLE When water conditions are just right, adult oysters re- HABITAT lease eggs and sperm. The sperm enter the eggs in the Oysters live in estuaries, bays, and coastal ponds in the water and fertilize them. Oyster larvae swim freely for intertidal and subtidal zones. They usually live in dense several weeks, and then sink down to the sea floor. They reefs attached to hard surfaces, including rocks, pilings, use their foot to crawl around and search for an adult Oyster spat are thin other human-made objects, and mollusk shells. and translucent Usually dirty oyster to settle on. When they find a good spot, the lar- Unlike jingle shells, oyster spat grey in color vae absorb their foot, cement themselves to the surface, have dark, radiating stripes DIET and transform into spat. Two to three years later, the Oysters eat phytoplankton and suspended particles. oyster is fully grown and ready to breed.

COMMON PREDATORS DID YOU KNOW? Shorebirds (including oystercatchers and gulls), flat- People traditionally only ate oysters during months that worms, oyster drills, whelks, and oyster toadfish eat contained the letter “R.” That’s because oysters become 5 - 15 cm oysters. thin and watery after they reproduce in the summer.

76 | SESSILE ORGANISMS SESSILE ORGANISMS | 77 MERCENARIA ASPERSA NORTHERN QUAHOG EUROPEAN SEA SQUIRT Phylum Mollusca “Mollusks” • Class Bivalvia “Bivalves” • Order Venerida • Family “ Clams” Phylum Chordata “” • Subphylum Tunicata “Tunicates” • Class “Sea Squirts” Order • Family Ascidiidae

Thick, heavy-shelled clams White to grey in color Concentric growth lines that Light grey and start at the hinge of their shell European sea squirts usually live Oval-shaped body semi-transparent in groups on hard surfaces

Hinge of the shell is Equal-sized shells that are Two siphons, one at the top heart-shaped shaped like rounded triangles Violet staining around the Usually wreathed with of their body and one about internal edge of the shell and algae a third of the way down

Pictured: A northern quahog with an attached barnacle DIET Pictured: A group of algae-covered European sea squirts DIET (left). Northern quahogs are thick, heavy-shelled clams Quahogs eat phytoplankton, algae, bacteria, bits of rot- growing on a rock. European sea squirts are oval-shaped, European sea squirts eat phytoplankton, algae, bits of with concentric growth lines on their shells. They are ting plants, and other small particles. light grey, semi-transparent tunicates with two siphons. rotting organisms, and other particles in the water. greyish-yellow with purple staining around the inner edge of their shell (middle). If you look at a quahog from COMMON PREDATORS HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS the side, the hinge of their shell looks like a heart (right). Gulls, oystercatchers, tautog, pufferfish, rays, blue crabs, European sea squirts can live on any type of hard surface, Adult European sea squirts have few predators in New green crabs, oyster drills, and whelks eat quahogs. including rocks, oyster reefs, and human-made objects. York Harbor, but some carnivorous snails eat them. HABITAT You can find them in the subtidal zone at up to 300 feet Quahogs live in sand and mud flats in the intertidal and (around 91 meters) below the surface. European sea subtidal zones. You can find them in estuaries, bays, and squirts prefer protected habitat such as estuaries, bays, on sandy shores. and harbors.

DID YOU KNOW? Like all tunicates, European sea squirt larvae have a primitive DID YOU KNOW? backbone that they lose in adulthood. This means that sea Quahogs can live as long as 40 years – unless something eats them first! squirts are chordates, and they’re more closely related to hu- 2.5 - 10 cm 5 - 13 cm mans than they are to jellyfish, , or any other invertebrates.

78 | SESSILE ORGANISMS SESSILE ORGANISMS | 79 CIONA INTESTINALIS MOLGULA MANHATTENSIS SEA VASES SEA GRAPES Phylum Chordata “Chordates” • Subphylum Tunicata “Tunicates” • Class Ascidiacea “Sea Squirts” Phylum Chordata “Chordates” • Subphylum Tunicata “Tunicates” • Class Ascidiacea “Sea Squirts” Order Phlebobranchia • Family Cionidae Order • Family Molgulidae

Relatively tall, soft, Rubbery and retracting tunicates semi-transparent

Translucent, pale Small, round tunicates that yellow-green body are olive-brown in color

Two siphons near the top Two siphons that are close together

One is short and stout

Siphons are usually different The other siphon is sizes and are sometimes longer and thinner outlined in bright yellow

Covered in tiny, hairy projections Sometimes they have orange or which often gather algae and silt red spots along their body

Pictured: A group of sea vases growing on a wooden protected waters like estuaries, harbors, and bays. Pictured: Three algae-covered sea grapes growing on DIET dock. Sea vases are tall, semi-transparent tunicates, pale They can grow at depths of up to 325 feet (around 100 a rope. Sea grapes are small, round, semi-transparent Sea grapes feed on phytoplankton, bacteria, and other yellow-green in color with two siphons near the top of meters). tunicates with two siphons, one thinner than the other. particles in the water. their body. DIET HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS HABITAT Sea vases eat phytoplankton and bacteria. Sea grapes are common in urban ports and harbors. Mud crabs and carnivorous snails eat sea grapes. Sea vases often grow in shallow water on hard and soft You can find them attached to hard or soft surfaces (in- surfaces, including eelgrass, bivalve shells, and rocks. COMMON PREDATORS cluding rocks, sand, oysters, ships, pilings, jetties, and They can also live on human-made items like docks, Fish, crabs, sea stars, and carnivorous snails eat adult aquaculture gear) at depths of up to 300 feet (around pilings, aquaculture gear, and metal. Sea vases prefer sea vases. Moon jellies eat sea vase larvae. 90 meters).

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Sea vases have pale orange organs, which you can see through their body. If you gently touch a sea grape, they might squirt a jet of water at you! 4 - 14 cm 1 - 3.5 cm in diameter

80 | SESSILE ORGANISMS SESSILE ORGANISMS | 81 SCHLOSSERI CHAIN TUNICATES GOLDEN STAR TUNICATES Phylum Chordata “Chordates” • Subphylum Tunicata “Tunicates” • Class Ascidiacea “Sea Squirts” Phylum Chordata “Chordates” • Subphylum Tunicata “Tunicates” • Class Ascidiacea “Sea Squirts” Order Stolidobranchia • Family Order Stolidobranchia • Family Styelidae

Grow in flat sheets Colonial, encrusting Flat, encrusting, with an uneven outline tunicates that are colonial tunicates Made of brightly colored very brightly colored zooids in a transparent, rubbery matrix

Zooids are teardrop shaped

Zooids are arranged in clusters that form wandering chains within a jelly-like matrix Can be anywhere from orange, to red, to purple, but each Orange Sheath Can be anywhere from You can tell this species apart colony is one uniform color Botrylloides digensis orange, to blue, to grey from the chain tunicates by their star-shaped zooid groups Zooids in one colony are always the same color

Pictured: A chain tunicate growing on a sea grape. Chain DIET tunicates are brightly colored, flattened tunicates with Chain tunicates feed on phytoplankton and other par- Pictured: Two golden star tunicates growing on a blue thrive in shallow, protected waters like harbors, bays, teardrop-shaped zooids arranged in wandering chains. ticles in the water. mussel. One golden star tunicate is blue and the other and estuaries. is orange, but both are the same species. Golden star HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS tunicates are flattened tunicates with brightly colored, DIET Chain tunicates grow on many hard and soft substrates, Grazing fish, such as cunner, eat newly settled adult tu- star-shaped groups of zooids in a jelly-like matrix. Golden star tunicates eat phytoplankton, zooplankton, including rocks, pilings, docks, jetties, boat hulls, buoys, nicates. In New York Harbor, fully grown chain tunicates and other particles in the water. seaweed, and bivalves. Chain tunicates mostly live in the have few predators. Some flatworms, spider crabs, sea HABITAT shallow, intertidal zone of bays and estuaries. But you slugs, and sea snails can eat large chain tunicates. Golden star tunicates grow on many hard and soft sur- COMMON PREDATORS can find them at depths of up to 160 feet (around 50 faces, including underwater vegetation, oyster cages, Crabs and carnivorous snails eat golden star tunicates. meters). docks, jetties, rocks, and wood. Golden star tunicates

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Colonial tunicates like golden star tunicates are the only animals Colonial tunicates like chain tunicates are some of the only animals made mostly of with backbones (“chordates”) that can reproduce both by cellulose, a material that forms plant walls. 2.5 – 5 mm in length; Colonies 2.5 mm in diameter; Colonies can be up to budding and by spawning. 20 cm across and 2 - 3 mm thick are usually less than 10 cm across and 3 mm thick. 82 | SESSILE ORGANISMS SESSILE ORGANISMS | 83 CLIONA SPP. CLATHRIA PROLIFERA BORING SPONGES RED BEARD SPONGE Phylum Porifera “Sponges” • Class Demospongiae “” • Order Clionaida • Family Clionaidae Phylum Porifera “Sponges” • Class Demospongiae “Demosponges” • Order Poecilosclerida • Family Microcionidae

Thick and firm, Bushy and bright orange to red in color Branches sometimes fuse and with large pores Bright yellow become fan-like in shape

Many thick, flexible Shrink in size slightly branches grow from when removed from water their base Can grow on surfaces or They attach themselves stand on their own to a surface with a thin, encrusting base

Pictured: A boring sponge in its “beta” stage growing calcium-containing surfaces, such as limestone, oyster on an oyster shell (left). Boring sponges are thick, firm, reefs, or mussel beds. Pictured: A red beard sponge growing on a rock. Red sponges commonly grow on the underside of rocks, sulfur-yellow sponges with large pores. They can grow beard sponges are bright red sponges with many thick jetties, shells, and oyster reefs. on objects or stand alone. Boring sponges drill many tiny DIET branches that grow from a thin, encrusting base. holes into bivalve shells (right). Boring sponges eat phytoplankton, zooplankton, and DIET other particles in the water. HABITAT Red beard sponges eat plankton and other small particles. HABITAT Red beard sponges are common in protected, shallow Boring sponges live near the coast in many different COMMON PREDATORS waters such as bays, estuaries, salt marshes, eelgrass COMMON PREDATORS kinds of habitat, from rocky ocean shores to polluted Snails, isopods, crabs, and sea urchins. meadows, and harbors. They can live up to 50 feet Crabs and sea slugs eat red beard sponges. estuaries. They are always found growing on or near (around 15 meters) below the surface. Red beard

DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW? Tiny mud crabs have a symbiotic relationship with boring Red beard sponges can regenerate their bodies from a tiny sponges. Mud crabs live inside the sponges’ large pores and pay broken fragment. Vary greatly in size. Up to 1 m rent by cleaning algae off the sponge. Up to 20 cm tall, 30 cm wide. across; Pores: 2 - 5 mm in diameter Encrusting base: < 3 mm thick

84 | SESSILE ORGANISMS SESSILE ORGANISMS | 85 ECTOPLEURA CROCEA DIADUMENE LINEATA HYDROIDS ORANGE-STRIPED Phylum Cnidaria “Cnidarians” • Class Hydrozoa “Hydroids” • Order Anthoathecata “Athecate Hydroids” • Family Tubulariidae GREEN ANEMONE Stems are topped with a Phylum Cnidaria “Cnidarians” • Class “Sea Anemones & ” crown of rose-colored tentacles Order Actiniaria “Sea Anemones” • Family Diadumenidae

Individuals hydroids look like Tubular hydroid colonies tall, thin sea anemones look like a tangled mass Small, with between 50 - 100 semi-transparent tentacles

Tentacles are green-grey or yellow Base is usually greenish-brown, sometimes with orange or white vertical stripes

Hundreds of In water Out of water greyish-brown stems

Pictured: An orange-striped green anemone in the (like the undersides of rocks, docks, pilings, wood, and Pictured: A colony of tubular hydroids. Tubular hydroids DIET water (left), with tentacles extended and ready to feed. oyster reefs). But they can also grow on cordgrass roots are long, thin hydroids that grow in a tangled, bushy Tubular hydroids eat zooplankton, including fish, Orange-striped green anemones are small, greenish- in salt marshes. Orange-striped green anemones prefer mass. Each hydroid has a crown of pink tentacles. The crustacean, and mollusk larvae. brown anemones with semi-transparent, green-grey to live in sheltered bays, harbors, and estuaries. hydroid on the right has been enlarged for detail. tentacles. COMMON PREDATORS DIET HABITAT Sea slugs, snails, sea stars, flounder, cod, and haddock An orange-striped green anemone out of the water Orange-striped green anemones eat zooplankton and Tubular hydroids grow on hard surfaces in the subtidal eat tubular hydroids. (right). It has retracted its tentacles into its orange- other small organisms. zone. You can find them on oyster reefs and mussel beds, striped base for protection. and on human-made objects like shipwrecks, docks, COMMON PREDATORS pilings, boats, and pipes. Tubular hydroids commonly live HABITAT Sea slugs and sea stars eat orange-striped green in polluted coastal environments like urban harbors. Orange-striped green anemones live on hard surfaces anemones.

DID YOU KNOW? 10 - 13 cm DID YOU KNOW? Orange-striped green sea anemones can survive completely in height Each hydroid colony can eat its weight in zooplankton every day! drying out during the summer and being covered in ice during 2 – 3 cm tall; 0.5 – 2 cm the winter! wide at the base

86 | SESSILE ORGANISMS SESSILE ORGANISMS | 87 SENILE Pictured: A frilled anemone in the water, with tentacles extended and ready to feed (left). Frilled anemones are light-colored, palm tree-shaped anemones with up to 1,000 fluffy-looking tentacles. A frilled anemone out of FRILLED ANEMONES the water (right), with tentacles retracted for protection. Phylum Cnidaria “Cnidarians” HABITAT Class Anthozoa “Sea Anemones & Corals” Frilled anemones prefer to settle on hard surfaces, like Order Actiniaria “Sea Anemones” rocks, pilings, docks, oyster reefs, and mussel beds. Family Metridiidae You can find them in areas of the subtidal zone with a strong current. They can live up to 330 feet (around 100 meters) below the surface.

Up to 1,000 thin tentacles that DIET give them a fluffy appearance Overall shape Frilled anemones eat zooplankton, including the larvae of resembles a palm tree bristle worms, bivalves, and crustaceans. They also eat copepods and amphipods.

COMMON PREDATORS Sea slugs, sea stars, sea spiders, flounder, and sea snails eat frilled anemones.

DID YOU KNOW? Frilled anemones never use their “fighting tentacles” on their parents or offspring. They can tell by touch if a nearby rival is a relative or a stranger.

Light colored, and can be white, orange, yellow, or reddish

Smooth column that is narrower than their base

In water

7.5 - 15 cm diameter at base; Varying heights: 2.5 – 30 cm Out of water

88 | SESSILE ORGANISMS SESSILE ORGANISMS | 89 FELINA EDWARDSIELLA LINEATA DAHLIA ANEMONES LINED ANEMONE Phylum Cnidaria “Cnidarians” • Class Anthozoa “Sea Anemones & Corals” • Order Actiniaria “Sea Anemones” • Family Phylum Cnidaria “Cnidarians” • Class Anthozoa “Sea Anemones & Corals” • Order Actiniaria “Sea Anemones” • Family Edwardsiidae

Have up to 160 short tentacles Have about 40 tentacles at the grouped in multiples of ten Color varies between individuals, but are often orange with red Can be white top of a slender mucus tube stripes around the base of or pale brown Large, stout anemones their tentacles that are brightly colored

Small, delicate, flower-like anemones

In their parasite form, lined anemones are a threadlike, pink Mucus tube worm that lives inside comb jellies

When they retract their Base is covered in grey warts tentacles, they look like a that usually have debris or lump of gravel gravel stuck to them

Pictured: An adult lined anemone. Lined anemones In their parasitic form, lined anemones live inside comb are small, pale, flower-like anemones with around 40 jellies. Pictured: A dahlia anemone. Dahlia anemones are large, DIET tentacles. Lined anemones can also take the form of a stout anemones, often brightly colored with stripes Dahlia anemones eat crabs, limpets, shrimp, bristle pink, wormlike parasite that lives inside comb jellies (not DIET around their short tentacles. worms, and amphipods. pictured). Adult lined anemones eat zooplankton and fish larvae. As parasites, they eat the gut contents of comb jellies. HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS HABITAT Dahlia anemones prefer shallow, rocky or pebbly areas in Sea slugs, fish, crabs, sea stars, and large bristle worms Adult lined anemones nestle in crevices among rocks COMMON PREDATORS the subtidal zone with strong wave action. But you can eat dahlia anemones. and tube-building bristle worms. They can also burrow Plankton-eating fish prey on lined anemone larvae. We also find them in mussel beds, among kelp, in estuaries, into soft sand or mud. You can find them at up to 65 feet are still learning about which animals might prey on adult and at depths of greater than 300 feet (around 91 m). (around 20 m) below the surface in the subtidal zone. anemones.

DID YOU KNOW? 2.5 – 3.5 cm DID YOU KNOW? tall; parasitic You can actually see parasitic lined anemones through the Dahlia anemones can live for up to 50 years! form is about transparent bodies of comb jellies – the anemones look like pink Base is 7 – 12 cm in diameter; 2.5 cm long worms. Up to 30 cm with tentacles spread

90 | SESSILE ORGANISMS SESSILE ORGANISMS | 91 SPP. MEMBRANACEA BUSHY BRYOZOAN LACY BRYOZOAN Phylum “Bryozoans” • Class • Order • Family Phylum Bryozoa “Bryozoans” • Class Gymnolaemata • Order Cheilostomatida • Family

Can be dark orange, Branching, flexible purple, or brown Form a thin, white, lacy invertibrates covering over kelp, rocks, shells, and other surfaces

Zooids are visible to the naked eye

Look a little bit like seaweed, but they’re Made up of thousands of actually animals box-shaped zooids arranged in double rows

Different species are difficult to tell apart without Individual zooids are a hand lens or microscope rectangular and evenly spaced with a white border New colonies are circular

Pictured: A bushy bryozoan colony (left). Bushy DIET bryozoans are branching, dark-colored invertebrates Bushy bryozoans eat plankton and other small particles made of thousands of box-shaped zooids. If you looked in the water. at the zooids under a microscope, you could see their Pictured: A lacy bryozoan colony growing inside an DIET feeding tentacles and round, white egg cells (right). COMMON PREDATORS empty oyster shell. Lacy bryozoans are thin, white, lacy Lacy bryozoans eat phytoplankton, bacteria, and other Sea slugs, sea urchins, and grazing fish eat bushy invertebrates with rectangular, evenly spaced zooids. small particles in the water. HABITAT bryozoans. Bushy bryozoans prefer to grow on hard surfaces, HABITAT COMMON PREDATORS including human-made objects and oyster reefs. You can Lacy bryozoans grow on kelp leaves, rocks, and shells in Sea slugs eat lacy bryozoans in their native range. We find them in shallow, protected waters such as harbors, the shallow waters of the subtidal zone. don’t know of any lacy bryozoan predators in New York estuaries, and eelgrass meadows. Harbor.

DID YOU KNOW? 2 - 30 cm tall DID YOU KNOW? depending on Lacy bryozoan zooids can grow spines to defend themselves Bushy bryozoan larvae can recognize their siblings and will try to settle near them. against sea attacks. species Variable; Colonies: up to 8 cm width; Zooids: 0.5 mm length

92 | SESSILE ORGANISMS SESSILE ORGANISMS | 93 ULVA LACTUCA AGARDHIELLA SUBULATA SEA LETTUCE AGARDH’S RED WEED Phylum “” • Class Ulvophyceae • Order Ulvales • Family Ulvaceae Phylum Rhodophyta “Red Algae” • Class Florideophyceae • Order Gigartinales • Family Solieriaceae

Upright, branching red algae Delicate, rounded fronds Pale green and lettuce- like, with ragged edges

Can float freely at the Flat algae surface of the water

Usually red, but can Often dotted with range from yellow, to Attaches to surfaces with grazing holes from snails pink, to brown a round holdfast, which is a Texture is rather fleshy root-like structure Grows from a disc-shaped holdfast, which is a root-like structure

Pictured: A piece of sea lettuce. Sea lettuces are lettuce- DIET like green algae that can grow on a surface or float freely Sea lettuces are photosynthetic. Pictured: An Agardh’s red weed. Agardh’s red weed is DIET in the water. an upright, branching red algae with delicate, rounded Agardh’s red weed is photosynthetic. COMMON PREDATORS fronds. HABITAT Sea urchins and sea snails eat sea lettuces. COMMON PREDATORS Sea lettuces grow in the shallow intertidal zone. They are HABITAT Sea slugs and sea snails eat Agardh’s red weed. often attached to rocks or shells, but can also be free- Agardh’s red weed lives in the intertidal and subtidal floating. Sea lettuces are particularly common in polluted zones. It usually grows on hard surfaces like rocks and bays and estuaries. shells, but it can also float freely in the water.

DID YOU KNOW? 10 – 40 cm in DID YOU KNOW? Sea lettuces have symbiotic bacteria that tell them to how height; Fronds 15 - 60 cm Agardh’s red weed grows on stones or shells. But it can survive tall to develop. Without these bacteria, sea lettuces grow as are 2 – 4 mm in and continue reproducing if strong currents or storms rip it free. disorganized clumps of loose cells. diameter

94 | SESSILE ORGANISMS SESSILE ORGANISMS | 95 SESSILE ORGANISMS OF NEW YORK HARBOR

BARNACLES RIBBED MUSSEL BLUE MUSSEL HYDROIDS ORANGE-STRIPED GREEN ANENOME FRILLED ANENOME Balanidae pg. 72 pg. 73 Mytilus edulis pg. 74 Ectopleura crocea pg. 86 Diadumene lineata pg. 87 pg. 88

JINGLE SHELL EASTERN OYSTERS NORTHERN QUAHOG LINED ANENOME BUSHY BRYOZOAN LACY BRYOZOAN pg. 75 Crassostrea virginica pg. 76 Mercenaria mercenaria pg. 78 Edwardsiella lineata pg. 91 Bugula spp. pg. 92 pg. 93

EUROPEAN SEA SQUIRT SEA GRAPES CHAIN TUNICATES SEA LETTUCE AGARDH’S RED WEED pg. 79 Molgula manhattensis pg. 81 Botrylloides violaceus pg. 82 Ulva lactuca pg. 94 Agardhiella subulate pg. 95

GOLDEN STAR TUNICATES BORING SPONGE RED BEARD SPONGE pg. 83 Cliona spp. pg. 84 Clathria prolifera pg. 85

96 | SESSILE ORGANISMS SESSILE ORGANISMS | 97 Adaptation (noun): An adaptation is a change that a spe- Arthropod (noun): An arthropod is an invertebrate animal toxins in their bodies. Scientists can study grass shrimp The new individual is basically a clone of the original or- cies makes to become better suited to its environment. with a segmented body and many-jointed legs. Arthro- to understand how much has entered their ganism, as they share the same DNA. Jellyfish, tunicates, Adaptations evolve over several generations through the pods are a huge group of animals that includes insects, habitat. sponges, and bryozoans can all reproduce by budding. process of natural selection. An adaptation can be a body crustaceans, spiders, ticks, horseshoe crabs, , Budding is a great way to reproduce if there are no other structure (like a specially shaped fin), a behavior (like and . Bivalve (noun): A bivalve is an aquatic mollusk that lives members of your species nearby. hiding in seagrass), or a physical tolerance (like the abil- in a shell. Bivalve shells are made up of a pair of “valves,” ity to breathe in low- water). Adaptability might (noun): The Atlantic Ocean is the second- which are the two cupped halves of the shell. Each valve is Byssal Thread (noun): Byssal threads are thin threads help a species survive the effects of climate change. largest ocean in the world, after the Pacific Ocean. The connected by a hinge. Oysters, clams, mussels, and scal- that some bivalves use to anchor themselves to surfaces. Atlantic Ocean separates North and from lops are all bivalves. Blue mussels and jingle shells can adjust their position Algal Bloom (noun): An algal bloom is a sudden increase Europe and Africa. by shortening and lengthening their byssal threads. in algae in the water. During an algal bloom, algae often (noun): A bottom-feeder is any aquatic Oysters don’t have byssal threads. Instead, they attach completely cover the surface of the water. Algal blooms Ballast (noun): Ballast is any heavy material (like rocks, creature that feeds in the benthic zone, which is the themselves to hard surfaces with a cement-like fluid. usually happen when an ecosystem becomes eutrophic gravel, sand, or water) that people place in the bottom very bottom of a body of water. Many bottom-feeding fish because of pollution (like sewage or from farm- of ships to make them more stable in rough seas. People are scavengers who eat dead and decaying material that Calcium Carbonate (noun): Calcium carbonate is the main ing). Nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous run into often collect ballast from wherever the ship is docked. sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Other bottom-feeders ingredient in the shells of oysters, mussels, barnacles, the water and make algae grow very quickly. Algal blooms When people collect ballast, they also collect all the or- eat living organisms in the benthic zone, like bristle and many other marine animals. These animals can’t can harm the entire ecosystem by blocking sunlight, eat- ganisms that were living in the rocks or swimming in the worms and clams. make their own calcium carbonate - they have to get it ing up all the oxygen in the water, and even releasing water. When the ship arrives at its destination, people from the seawater around them. Normally, there’s plenty toxins that can kill fish. sometimes dump the ballast and all the organisms back Brackish (adjective): Brackish water is slightly salty water. of free calcium carbonate in the water that animals can into the water, even if they’re halfway around the world. Brackish water can range in saltiness from slightly less use. But with climate change, the ocean has become more Algonquian (adjective): Algonquian languages are a group Ballast is a major pathway for invasive species introduc- salty than seawater to slightly more salty than fresh acidic, making calcium carbonate harder to find. Many of languages spoken by indigenous peoples of North tions. water. You can find brackish water in habitats where shelled animals now have difficulty growing and repairing America from the East Coast to the Rocky Mountains. seawater and freshwater meet, like at river mouths or in their shells. Barbel (noun): A barbel is a sensitive, fleshy whisker that estuaries. Ambush Predator (noun): Ambush predators are also grows from a fish’s mouth. Fish use barbels to look for Camouflage (noun): Camouflage is a type of coloration called sit-and-wait predators. Ambush predators conceal food in dim, murky environments. Brood (verb): Brooding is a way of incubating eggs. Some that helps animals conceal themselves from predators themselves by hiding or with camouflage and wait for animals brood their eggs by sitting on them, carrying and prey. Camouflage can make animals look like some- prey to pass by. Then, they launch a surprise attack and Benthic Zone (noun): The benthic zone is the ecological them on the outside of their body, or keeping them inside thing they’re not. For example, spider crabs decorate quickly capture their prey. zone at the very bottom of a body of water. The benthic a brood pouch. Seahorses and pipefish brood their eggs, their body with other organisms so they look like a rock zone is home to organisms that live on the sea floor, or as do blue crabs and slipper snails. covered in algae and sponges. Camouflage can also help Amphibious (adjective): Amphibious animals can live both buried into the sand/mud. animals blend in with their background. For example, on land and in water. Brood Pouch (noun): A brood pouch is a body structure grass shrimp are transparent, which is a type of camou- Biodiversity (noun): Biodiversity is the variety of organ- that seahorses and pipefish use to brood their eggs. flage that makes them difficult to see on any background. Amphipod (noun): Amphipods are tiny crustaceans that isms that live in an ecosystem. Healthy ecosystems often These fish protect their fertilized eggs inside of their Other species, like flounder and sea horses, can change live in many aquatic environments. Amphipods have no have high biodiversity, or many different species living in brood pouches until the eggs are ready to hatch. their color to blend in with different backgrounds. Coun- carapace and they are usually flattened from side to side. them. Oyster reefs are an example of an ecosystem with tershading is an example of camouflage that many fish Amphipods are an important food source for many spe- high biodiversity. You can find many different species of Bryozoan (noun): Bryozoans are a group of invertebrate use. cies of fish, crabs, shrimp, worms, and sea anemones. fish, crustaceans, worms, mollusks, and algae all living animals that live in water. All bryozoans are filter-feeders together on oyster reefs. that strain particles out of the water for food. Bryozo- Carapace (noun): The carapace is the hard, outer shell of Apron (noun): An apron is a flap on a crab’s underside. Bioindicator (noun): A bioindicator species tells scientists ans are colonial animals. They are made up of individual a crab or shrimp. The apron is shaped differently in male and female crabs. something about the health of the ecosystem that they zooids that work together like cells in a body. Bryozoan live in. Bioindicator species can show us that an ecosys- species can look very different from one another. (noun): Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas Arctic Ocean (noun): The Arctic Ocean is the ocean that tem is healthy or unhealthy simply by existing. For ex- that humans produce when we burn fossil fuels like coal, surrounds the North Pole. The Arctic Ocean is the world’s ample, high bristle worm populations are a sign that an Budding (verb): Some organisms can reproduce without a oil, and natural gas. In the last 200 years, the amount northernmost and coldest ocean. On the North American estuary might be polluted. On the other hand, healthy partner though budding. Budding is when a small growth of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased very side, the Arctic Ocean begins at the very top of Alaska cunner populations are a sign that the water quality is appears on an organism’s body. This growth eventually quickly because of human industry. Atmospheric carbon and . acceptable. Some bioindicators, like grass shrimp, store separates from the body and becomes a new individual. dioxide is a major cause of global warming and climate

98 | GLOSSARY GLOSSARY | 99 change. Some of the carbon dioxide that we produce ends out of their head. webs. Without decomposers, ecosystems would be over- erosion by stabilizing plants that grow in river banks. up in the ocean, where it causes ocean acidification. run with dead plants and animals. But if there are too Colonial (adjective): Colonial animals live together in many decomposer bacteria in an aquatic ecosystem, they Eutrophic (adjective): All organisms need nutrients to Carrageenan (noun): Carrageenan is a gelatin-like sub- groups. Some colonial animals (like bats, bees, and ants) can use up most of the oxygen. survive. But too much of a good thing can cause prob- stance that red algae make. People add carrageenan to ice form colonies to breed and rest, but can move around lems. Eutrophic ecosystems have too much nitrogen, cream, jelly, pudding, and cosmetics to make them thicker independently. Other colonial animals (like tunicates, Bay (noun): Delaware Bay is a large bay that phosphorous, and other nutrients that algae love. In in texture. corals, and hydroids) are physically connected to one an- separates southwestern from northeastern eutrophic harbors and estuaries, algae and bacteria grow other and can’t live independently. Delaware. Delaware Bay is south of New York Harbor and out of control and suffocate the other organisms. In New Cape Cod (noun): Cape Cod is a large coastal landform north of . York Harbor, eutrophication is mostly caused by untreat- that juts out into the ocean at the southeastern corner (noun): Copepods are a group of tiny, shrimp-like ed sewage flooding into the Harbor during rainstorms. of Massachusetts. Cape Cod is just north of Long Island crustaceans. Some copepods are zooplankton, while oth- Dormant (adjective): When organisms become dormant, That sewage is fuel for algal blooms, which can devastate Sound. Above Cape Cod, the ocean becomes much colder ers live in the benthic zone. Copepods are an important they enter a state that is similar to a very deep sleep. local ecosystems. than it is around New York Harbor. source of food for many young fish and filter-feeding Their normal activities, like feeding, moving, and breath- animals. ing, may slow down or even temporarily stop. Many fish Fertilization (noun): Fertilization is the joining of a female Cellulose (noun): Cellulose is the main ingredient in plant in New York Harbor become dormant for several months egg and a male sperm. Once the sperm fuses with the cell walls. Cellulose is a tough and fibrous substance that Coronet (noun): A coronet is a crown-shaped, bony crest during the winter, when the water temperature is very egg, the egg is fertilized. The egg can then begin to de- we use to make paper and clothes. Cotton balls are made on a seahorse’s head. Seahorses use their coronet to cold. Dormancy helps animals survive through difficult velop into an . of 90% cellulose. Colonial tunicates are some of the only communicate with other seahorses. The coronet is a sea- periods in the year when there isn’t a lot of food available. animals on earth that can make cellulose. horse’s “thumbprint,” because each coronet is shaped Filter-Feeder (noun): A filter-feeder is an animal that differently. Dredging (verb): Dredging is when people scoop out mud feeds by straining small particles out of the water. Fil- Chesapeake Bay (noun): Chesapeake Bay is a long, nar- and rocks from the bottom of a waterway to make it ter-feeders often have unique body structures in their row bay that makes up the largest estuary in the United Countershading (noun): Countershading is a type of col- deeper. New York Harbor has been dredged many times mouths, gills, or tentacles that help them trap plankton. States. Chesapeake Bay separates from , oration that helps many marine animals camouflage. so that large ships can enter the harbor without scraping Filter-feeders make the water clearer by removing algae, and is south of Delaware Bay. Chesapeake Bay is critical Fish with countershading have dark-colored backs and the bottom. Dredging destroys the aquatic life on the sea mud, and other particles from the water. Filter-feeders habitat for eastern oysters and blue crabs. light-colored bellies. When a predator looks at a fish from floor. It takes a long time for the ecosystem to return to are often keystone species, because they can drastically below, the fish’s white belly blends in with the light sky normal after it has been dredged. change how an ecosystem looks and functions. Chlorophyll (noun): Chlorophyll is a green pigment that above it. When a predator looks at a fish from above, the lives inside the cells of plants and green algae. Chlorophyll fish’s dark back blends in with the dark water (or sea Embryo (noun): An embryo is an organism’s developing, Flatfish (noun): A flatfish is a flattened marine fish (like a helps these photosynthetic organisms make their own floor) below it. Countershading helps fish blend in with unborn (or unhatched) offspring. In many sea creatures, flounder) that swims on its side and has two eyes on the food. Chlorophyll allows plants and algae to absorb energy their background from many different angles. grow inside of eggs after they have been fertil- same side of its body. from sunlight and transform it into sugars and starches. ized. Crustacean (noun): Crustaceans are a group of inverte- Foot (noun): The foot is a muscular organ that some mol- (noun): Chordates are a large group of animals brate animals that includes crabs, shrimp, amphipods, Encrusting (adjective): Encrusting organisms grow as a lusks use to move around. Snails, whelks, and oyster drills that have a simple backbone at some stage in their life isopods, and copepods. Crustaceans are a smaller group thin layer (or crust) that is tightly attached to an under- all move using their foot. Some bivalves, like blue mussels cycle. Humans and fish are both chordates and verte- within a larger group called arthropods, which includes water surface. Sponges, tube-building bristle worms, and and quahog clams, can also move by extending their foot brates, because we have relatively complex backbones insects and horseshoe crabs. tunicates are all examples of encrusting animals. out of their shell and dragging themselves along the and many other bones that help us move. Tunicates are ground. Oyster larvae have a foot, but they absorb it after chordates because their larvae have a simple backbone Cyst (noun): A cyst is a tough, protective coating that Erosion (noun): Erosion is a natural process that happens they settle down and metamorphose into spat. called a “notochord”. But tunicates are not forms over some animals during droughts, freezing tem- when the repetitive movement of wind and water grinds like fish and humans, because tunicates don’t have a peratures, or other harsh periods. Animals like orange- rocks to dust. Then, these same forces pick up the dust Frond (noun): A frond is a soft, leaflike tendril that some complex backbone or any other internal bones. striped green anemones can remain dormant in cysts for and carry it far away. Storms, rainfall, currents, and hu- red algae and bryozoans have. several months while they wait for better conditions to man activities can all increase erosion on sea cliffs and Cilia (noun): Cilia are tiny, short, hair-like projections that return. river banks. Erosion can happen slowly, over thousands of Gamete (noun): A gamete is a generic term for a male or help filter-feeding animals trap plankton. years. Humans and animals can also make erosion happen female reproductive cell. Eggs and sperm are examples Decomposer (noun): A decomposer is an organism that too quickly, which is harmful to ecosystems. Some ani- of gametes. Fertilization happens when male and female Cirri (noun): Cirri are slender, hairlike tendrils. In feather eats dead or rotting material and breaks it down into mals, like mitten crabs, make erosion worse by weakening gametes fuse together. After fertilization, the embryo blennies, cirri look like two feathery tentacles growing smaller pieces. Decomposers are very important in food river banks. Other animals, like ribbed mussels, reduce can begin to grow and develop.

100 | GLOSSARY GLOSSARY | 101 Genus (noun): A genus is a category that people use to out to sea toward Greenland. The Gulf Stream current is and sea anemones. In hydrozoans, the hydroid stage is . The Iroquois confederacy is also known talk about groups of species that are very closely related. so large that it can influence weather on both land and sessile and attaches to hard surfaces. Like jellyfish and as the Six Nations, and is made up of the Mohawk (or When you look at an organism’s Latin name, the first sea. The Gulf Stream also serves as a highway for many sea anemones, hydroids use tentacles to filter-feed. Hy- Kanien’kehá:ka) Onondaga (or Onöñda’gaga’), Oneida word is the genus category. For example, the Latin name migrating marine fish. droids can look very different from one another, but most (or Onyota’a:ka), Cayuga (or Gayogohó:no’), Seneca (or for striped killifish is Fundulus majalis, and the Latin name are colonial. Onödowá’ga), and Tuscarora (or Skarù:rę) tribes. for mummichog is Fundulus heteroclitus. Both species of Herbivore (noun): A herbivore is an animal that mainly fish are in the genus Fundulus, which means they are very feeds on plants or algae. Inlet (noun): In a large water body, an inlet is a long, nar- Isopod (noun): Isopods are small, armored crustaceans close relatives. row finger of water that juts into the shoreline. An inlet is that usually live around water. Pill bugs (or roly-polys) are Hermaphroditic (noun): Hermaphroditic animals can pro- like a very narrow bay. probably the most famous isopods. All isopods have two Gill (noun): Gills are organs that many aquatic animals use duce both eggs and sperm at some point in their life pairs of antennae and hard plates covering their bodies. to breathe underwater. In fish, gills often look like thin cycle. Some animals start out life as female and eventu- Intertidal Zone (noun): The intertidal zone is the area of Some isopods are parasites that suck the blood of fish. slits near their head. In other animals, like bristle worms ally become male (or vice versa). Other animals can pro- the shore that is above water during low tide and un- Other isopods live freely and eat rotting wood, plants, or and barnacles, gills can look like feathery tendrils. Oys- duce both eggs and sperm at the same time throughout derwater during high tide. Many plants and animals are plankton. ters and other bivalves have gills inside of their shells. their life. Some hermaphroditic animals, like bryozoans, adapted to live in the intertidal zone. Intertidal organisms Gills are perfectly adapted to remove oxygen from flow- have male and female individuals living in a single, con- must be able to endure extreme environments, including Jetty (noun): A jetty is a human-made structure that ing water, but they don’t work very well in air. When you nected colony. Some hermaphroditic animals can fertilize exposure to air for a few hours. sticks out into the water from the land. Jetties can be handle aquatic animals, make sure to put them back in themselves. made of wood, rocks, or concrete. In urban harbors, jet- the water as quickly as possible. Introduced (adjective): An is an or- ties act like artificial reefs that provide shelter for fish, Holdfast (noun): A holdfast is a root-like structure that ganism that humans have intentionally or accidentally crabs, and sessile organisms. (noun): A gill raker is a body structure that algae, sponges, and bryozoans use to attach themselves brought to a new part of the world. Introduced organisms some filter-feeding fish have on their gills. Gill rakers are to rocks and other hard surfaces. are not native, but they may or may not be harmful to the Juvenile (noun or adjective): A juvenile is a young animal. bristly growths that look like tiny pipe cleaners. As wa- ecosystem. People have introduced many species to New ter flows through the gills, plankton get trapped on the (noun or verb): Just like you might host a guest in York Harbor through international shipping. Green crabs Kelp (noun): Kelp is a large brown alga (or seaweed) that gill rakers. Larger gill rakers tend to trap larger prey, like your home, some animals host other animals that live and sea vases are examples of introduced species in New grows in dense, underwater forests. Kelp forests support zooplankton. Smaller gill rakers tend to trap smaller prey, on or in their bodies. Comb jellies host lined anemones, York Harbor. a lot of biodiversity, but they are threatened by climate like phytoplankton. which live inside the comb jellies’ guts as parasites dur- change and invasive species. ing part of their life cycle. Parasites and hosts evolve to- Invasive (adjective): An invasive species is an introduced Gizzard (noun): A gizzard is an organ that many birds, fish, gether very closely. Some parasites can only live on one species that harms the ecosystem and/or the economy. Keystone Species (noun): A keystone species is an organ- and invertebrates use to grind up tough food (like seeds host species. Invasive species like mitten crabs play an important role ism that drastically changes the environment it lives in. or mollusks) before it enters their stomach. Animals in their native ecosystems. But when people introduce in- Keystone species are critically important to the health of with gizzards sometimes eat pebbles on purpose. These Hudson River (noun): The Hudson River is a long river that vasive species to new parts of the world, they can throw ecosystems. Keystone species can be very small, like . pebbles stay in the gizzard and act like a second set of runs from north to south, beginning in the Adirondack off the balance of the ecosystem. Often, invasive species They can also be huge, like bison. Oysters are an example teeth, helping the animal crush and crunch up their food. mountains of New York and draining into New York Har- have few predators in their introduced range, so they can of a keystone species. Estuaries with oyster reefs look bor. The upper part of the Hudson is freshwater, but as grow out of control. In some cases, invasive species have very different (and support much more biodiversity) than Gonads (noun): Gonads are reproductive organs that pro- you travel closer to the Harbor, the water becomes more caused the extinction of other species. estuaries without oyster reefs. duce either eggs or sperm. brackish and estuarine. Invertebrate (noun): An invertebrate is any animal that Landlocked (adjective): A landlocked water body is com- Gulf of Maine (noun): The Gulf of Maine is a large water Hybrid (noun): A hybrid animal is the product of two dif- doesn’t have a backbone. Most of the animals on earth are pletely surrounded by land and has no exit to the ocean. body in the Atlantic Ocean. The Gulf of Maine begins above ferent species mating and reproducing. Most of the time, invertebrates, including all insects, crustaceans, worms, Cape Cod and ends at the southern portion of Nova Scotia, different species can’t successfully breed together. But octopuses, squid, jellyfish, sea anemones, sponges, and (noun): A larva is the hatchling (or newborn) form of in Canada. The waters of the Gulf of Maine were histori- if they’re closely related (like lions and tigers), they can bivalves (like oysters). Some invertebrates have external many marine animals. Larvae usually look quite different cally very cold, but they are warming rapidly because of sometimes produce hybrid offspring. Hybrids don’t hap- (or “exoskeletons”). Other invertebrates have from their adult form. Many sessile animals, like oysters, climate change. pen very often in the wild. Sometimes, hybrid animals are soft bodies and live inside of shells. have mobile larvae that swim around in the water. Even- sterile and can’t have offspring of their own. tually, the larvae will metamorphose into their adult form. Gulf Stream (noun): The Gulf Stream is a warm, fast-mov- Iroquois (noun): The Iroquois (or Haudenosaunee) ing that starts in , travels along the Hydroid (noun): A hydroid is a life stage for animals called people are an indigenous confederacy whose histori- Lenape (noun): The Lenape (or Lenni Lenape) people are coastline of northeastern North America, and then moves hydrozoans. Hydrozoans are related to jellyfish, corals, cal homelands extend throughout the northeastern an indigenous tribe whose historical homeland includes

102 | GLOSSARY GLOSSARY | 103 parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The Le- grate for many reasons, including to find food, to escape members of the Iroquois (or Haudenosaunee) Pilings (noun): Pilings are sturdy posts that hold up docks nape were the main inhabitants of the New York Harbor extreme weather, and to breed. Confederacy. and piers. Pilings can be made out of wood, metal, or con- area when the first Europeans made contact in the 16th crete. In urban harbors, pilings act as habitat and shelter century. Mollusk (noun): Mollusks are a large group of invertebrate Oral Arms (noun): Oral arms are four long, stinging ten- for many aquatic plants and animals. animals. Snails, slugs, bivalves (like mussels and oys- tacles that jellyfish use to hunt and eat. Jellyfish use Limpet (noun): A limpet is a type of aquatic snail. Limpets ters), octopuses, and squid are all mollusks. Mollusks their oral arms to stun plankton and bring them to their Poaching (verb): Poaching means illegally hunting, , have pyramid-shaped shells. They cling tightly to rocks in have soft, squishy bodies that are often covered with mouth. or collecting plants. Hunting and fishing laws are meant the intertidal zone. hard, protective shells. Mollusks usually live in or near to protect wildlife populations and make sure that no- water. Parapodia (noun): Parapodia are bristly structures that body harvests too many plants or animals. When people Long Island (noun): Long Island is a large, populated island bristle worms use to crawl, swim, hunt, and/or breathe poach plants and animals, they put those species at a due east of Manhattan. Long Island forms the eastern Molt (verb): Molting is when animals shed their skin, underwater. higher risk of becoming endangered or locally extinct. border of New York Harbor. The New York City boroughs shells, feathers, or hair. Crustaceans (like crabs and of Brooklyn and Queens are on Long Island. The stretch shrimp) have to molt their carapaces every now and then Parasite (noun): A parasite is an animal that lives on or Polyp (noun): A polyp is the sessile life phase of a jellyfish. of ocean in between Long Island and mainland New York/ as they grow larger. inside another animal. Parasites always harm their host Polyps look like tiny sea anemones. They grow attached is known as Long Island Sound. animal in some way. Some parasites steal a portion of to surfaces and use their stinging tentacles to capture Monogamous (adjective): Monogamous animals have only whatever their host eats. Other parasites suck their plankton. Polyps reproduce by budding. Polyps also pro- Marine Snow (noun): Marine snow is a shower of organic one mate at a time. Seahorses are a rare example of a host’s blood or burrow into their flesh. Some parasites duce medusas, which are the free-floating life phase of particles that falls from the surface of the water down to monogamous fish. weaken and eventually kill their host, but most parasites a jellyfish. the depths of the ocean. Marine snow is made of bits of have less-than-lethal effects. dead animals, plankton, and fish poop! Mycobacteriosis (noun): Mycobacteriosis is a fish disease Prehensile (adjective): Prehensile tails are able to grasp caused by harmful bacteria. Pelagic Zone (noun): The pelagic zone is the area from the tightly onto objects. Many monkeys have prehensile tails, Matrix (noun): In tunicates, the matrix is a jelly-like sub- surface of the water to just above the sea floor. Pelagic as do seahorses. stance that holds zooids in place. Narragansett (noun): The Narragansett people are an animals spend much of their time swimming in the water indigenous tribe whose historical homeland is in Rhode column, unlike benthic animals which live on or in the sea Proboscis (noun): A proboscis is a tube-shaped organ that Medusa (noun): The medusa is the free-floating life stage Island. The Narragansett language is in the Algonquian floor. bristle worms use to capture prey. Some bristle worms of a jellyfish. The medusa is what you think of when you language family. keep their proboscis tucked away unless they are hunt- imagine a jellyfish. Medusas have an umbrella-like shape Periostracum (noun): The periostracum is a skin-like coat- ing. When it’s time to eat, they extend their proboscis, and stinging tentacles. Medusas reproduce by spawning Narragansett Bay (noun): Narragansett Bay is a narrow ing on the surface of some animals’ shells. which often has a pair of jaws at the end of it. eggs and sperm into the water. Many jellyfish also have a bay and estuary at the southern boundary of Rhode Is- polyp stage. Unlike medusas, polyps are sessile and re- land, southwest of Cape Cod and northeast of Long Island. Pheromone (noun): A pheromone is a chemical that ani- (noun): Snails and slugs have , which are produce by budding. mals produce and release into their environment. Other sandpapery, tongue-like organs. Herbivorous snails use Ocean Acidification (noun): Ocean acidification is a harmful animals smell the pheromone and it changes their behav- their radulas to scrape algae off of rocks. Carnivorous Metamorphosis (noun): Metamorphosis is when an animal consequence of climate change. When humans burn fos- ior in some way. Pheromones can trigger animals to run snails like oyster drills use their radulas to drill into bi- transforms from its larval form into its adult form. Cat- sil fuels (like oil), we release lots of carbon dioxide as a away, attack, group up, or get ready to breed. valve shells. erpillars metamorphose when they turn into butterflies. waste product. Some of the carbon dioxide we release en- Just like caterpillars, many aquatic creatures metamor- ters the ocean and dissolves in seawater. Carbon dioxide (noun): Photosynthesis is how green Ram-Feeding (noun): Ram-feeding is a hunting strategy phose at some point in their life. Fish larvae undergo has made the ocean more acidic today than it has been for plants and algae create their own food from sunlight, that some carnivorous fish use to capture their prey. metamorphosis when they transform from zooplankton millions of years. Animals that make shells, like oysters, carbon dioxide, and water. Photosynthesis involves a Ram-feeding predators swim forward quickly with their into young fish. have difficulty growing and surviving in acidic water. green pigment called chlorophyll that is found inside of mouth open and swallow their prey. plant cells. Midden (noun): A midden is a trash dump where people (noun): An omnivore is an animal that eats a Ray (noun): Fish fins have long, thickened rays which sup- once threw out unwanted material, like bones, vegetable mixture of plants and animals. Phytoplankton (noun): Phytoplankton are microscopic, port the thinner webbing that makes up the fin. Fin rays matter, and shells. Modern-day humans can learn a lot plant-like organisms that use photosynthesis to create can be hard and bony (sometimes called spines), or soft about earlier societies by looking at their middens. Onondaga (noun): The Onondaga (or Onöñda’gaga’) their own food from sunlight. Phytoplankton are usually and flexible. people are an indigenous tribe whose traditional home- smaller than zooplankton, which are animal-like plankton Migration (noun): A migration is a long journey that some land is in upstate New York, south of Lake Ontario and in that eat other plankton. Rostrum (noun): In crustaceans (like shrimp and crabs), animals undertake at certain times of year. Animals mi- the vicinity of the Finger Lakes. The Onondaga people are the rostrum is a beak-like snout in between their eyes.

104 | GLOSSARY GLOSSARY | 105 The rostrum is part of the carapace. Sperm (noun): Sperm are male reproductive cells. Sperm up their swimbladder depending on where they want to Without zooplankton, phytoplankton grow out of control can swim freely with the help of a long tail. Fertilization swim. When fish want to rise to the surface, they inflate and turn the surface of the water green. Sac (noun): A sac is a body structure that acts like a bag happens when an egg and a sperm fuse together. After their swimbladder with oxygen from the surrounding wa- or pouch. Egg sacs are simply hollow, flexible structures fertilization, the embryo can begin to grow and develop. ter. When fish want to sink to the sea floor, they deflate Tunicate (noun): Tunicates are a group of marine inver- that carry eggs. their swimbladder. Some fish don’t need a swimbladder, tebrate animals that includes sea squirts. Tunicates are Spermatophore (noun): A spermatophore is a small pack- because they spend their whole life near the sea floor. sessile (non-mobile), and often grow on hard surfaces in Sargasso Sea (noun): The Sargasso Sea is a large sea in age that contains lots of sperm and (sometimes) nutri- harbors. Tunicates can be colonial or live independently. the Atlantic Ocean. The Sargasso Sea stretches from the ents. In some species, the male animal creates spermato- (noun): A symbiosis is any close relationship Tunicates use two siphons to filter-feed on plankton in east coast of North America to the west coast of Africa, phores and passes them over to the female. between two different species. is a type of the water. and from northern Canada to the . The Sargasso symbiosis where one animal benefits and the other ani- Sea is surrounded by four currents that swirl around its Spore (noun): In algae, spores are reproductive cells. mal is harmed. “Mutualism” is another type of symbiosis Upstream (adjective): Upstream means in the opposite di- edges, but the Sea itself is very calm. The Sargasso Sea Spores can swim freely, and they don’t need to be fertil- where both animals benefit from the relationship. A clas- rection of water flow in a river. If you head upstream, you is the only place in the world where American eels breed. ized to grow and develop into a new individual. sic example of a mutualistic symbiosis is the relationship will be traveling toward the source of the river and away between sea anemones and clownfish. Sea anemones from the river mouth, which is near the ocean. Scavenger (noun): A scavenger is an animal that eats Streamlined (adjective): Streamlined animals have a body protect clownfish from predators, while clownfish feed dead, rotting plants and animals. Scavengers don’t hunt shape that helps them move quickly through the water. sea anemones with their droppings. Vertebrate (noun): A vertebrate is an animal that has a and kill their own food. Instead, scavengers spend much Streamlined fish are often shaped like a torpedo or a jet backbone and (usually) an internal skeleton. Humans and of their time searching for carcasses and other decaying plane, with a pointed snout and a wider body. Streamlin- Telson (noun): A telson is a tail-like appendage that some fish are vertebrates. Crustaceans, insects, snails, and material. ing reduces drag on the animal’s body as they swim. arthropods have. Horseshoe crabs use their telson to most of the animals in the world are invertebrates. maintain their balance and to flip themselves over if they School (noun): A school is a large group of fish that swims Stress (noun): In wild animals, stress is simply a response get turned upside down. Vulnerable (adjective): are likely to be- together, often in coordinated patterns. to threats and challenges. Stress can be a good thing, come endangered in the future. In a more general sense, because it helps animals escape from potentially danger- Territorial (adjective): Territorial animals defend a piece of vulnerable can mean that an animal is sensitive to envi- Sessile (adjective): Sessile organisms stay in one spot for ous situations. But too much stress can be harmful to an habitat from other animals of the same or different spe- ronmental conditions or at risk of declining. most of their adult lives. Oysters are examples of sessile animal’s health. cies. Territorial animals can be aggressive to other ani- animals, although oyster larvae do swim around before mals, and might chase away or even try to hurt intruders Wampanoag (noun): The Wampanoag (or Wôpanâak) their metamorphosis. Some animals are only partly ses- Subtidal Zone (noun): The subtidal zone is the part of the in their territory. people are an indigenous confederation of tribes whose sile – they are capable of moving if necessary, but most of ocean that is below the low tide line, but still relatively historical homeland is in southeastern Massachusetts. the time they remain fixed in place. shallow and close to shore. The subtidal zone is covered Thorax (noun): In arthropods, the thorax is the middle by water at all times. The subtidal zone is home to organ- section of the body in between the head and the abdo- Wampum (noun): Wampum are cylindrical beads made Siphon (noun): A siphon is a tube-shaped organ that isms that cannot tolerate being exposed to air, but still men. out of whelks and quahog clams. Indigenous peoples of some animals use to inhale water, oxygen, and food and like to live in shallow, coastal water. New York use wampum in storytelling, ceremonies, and to exhale waste and larvae. Trait (noun): In biology, a trait is a physical attribute or be- trade. Wampum are very important to dozens of tribes Surf Zone (noun): The surf zone is the part of the ocean havior that comes from your DNA. You inherit many traits Eastern North America. Sound (noun): In geography, a sound is a long, thin stretch where waves break near the shore. The surf zone is rela- from your biological parents. Having dimples, being left- of ocean that separates two bodies of land. A sound is like tively shallow, and is home to many crabs, clams, and handed, and enjoying the taste of cilantro are all traits. Zooid (noun): In tunicates and bryozoans, zooids are the a large inlet. young fish. The traits that animals inherit can determine whether individual animals that make up a colony. Zooids are like they survive or die, especially in changing environments. cells in an organism. Each zooid has different functions Spat (noun): Spat are oyster larvae that have settled Sustainable (adjective): Sustainable activities don’t use and abilities. Zooids can reproduce by budding. down and attached themselves to a hard surface. up natural resources faster than they can be replenished. Trophic Cascade (noun): Trophic cascades happen when In sustainable , the fish population remains sta- one level of the food web disappears from the ecosystem, Zooplankton (noun): Zooplankton are microscopic, ani- Spawn (verb): Spawning is when aquatic animals release ble or grows even with some amount of fishing. Scientists usually because of human activities. Trophic cascades mal-like plankton that eat other plankton. Zooplankton their eggs and sperm into the water. The eggs and sperm have to study fish populations very carefully to make sure cause compounding problems in the ecosystem that can are often larger than phytoplankton. Many fish, crusta- mingle in the water and fuse randomly. Spawning usually that fisheries remain sustainable. be difficult to predict. can cause trophic cas- ceans, and bivalves (including oysters) start out their happens at certain times of year, when water conditions cades in lakes and estuaries. When people harvest too lives as zooplankton before they metamorphose into are just right. Swimbladder (noun): The swimbladder is an air-filled or- many predatory fish, zooplankton-eating fish grow out of their adult form. gan that helps fish float. Fish control how much air fills control and eat all of the zooplankton in the ecosystem.

106 | GLOSSARY GLOSSARY | 107 AGATA PONIATOWSKI | EDITOR Agata Poniatowski is the Outreach and Engagement Manager at the Billion Oyster Project. Agata manages the Oyster Research Station Program engaging with schools throughout New York City, providing outdoor education opportunities, community engagement and developing harbor related informal education curriculum. She graduated with a B.S in Sustainable Development and Natural Resource Management through the CUNY BA program. In the past, she interned with WWF Bhutan, WCS in Coney Island and Organization for Aquatic Resource Management in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Sri Lanka.

ANN FRAIOLI | DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION As a founding teacher of New York Harbor School, Ann brings her knowledge of field science and love of teaching to the Billion Oyster Project. When she’s not in the classroom or at the water’s edge educating others, you will find her enjoying the outdoors and spending time with her sons, Theo and Benji. Ann is a pathfinder currently working to expand harbor literacy through the development of new Harbor Schools focused on the marine environment and careers.

LARA BRENNER | SCIENTIFIC WRITER Lara Brenner is an Island Scientist with The Nature Conservancy who works mainly on the remote California Channel Islands, but has always carried a torch for urban conservation ever since her childhood spent exploring the bayous of Houston, . In her spare time, she loves snorkeling, botanizing, and cooking at home.

SHIERE MELIN | SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATOR Shiere Melin is a creative leader with a strong aesthetic, refined technical skills and passionate confidence backed up with scientific know-how. This combination translates to accurate, educational, and compelling visuals. Shiere has worked as a graphic designer and illustrator in corporate and agency environments and currently does business as BluBlaze Creative. Her combined interest in science and art lead to a MFA from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor in Medical and Biologic Illustration. She has continued her illustration interest by achieving a Foundational Certificate in Botanical Art and Illustration at the Denver Botanical Gardens.

ERIN COUGHLIN | DESIGNER Erin Coughlin is a graphic designer, digital designer, and illustrator living in Brooklyn. By day, she creates digital products at the agency Work & Co. In her free time, she pursues projects that help bring an appreciation of the natural world to the public. When she’s not designing, you’ll find her exploring local parks, volunteering with the Audubon Society, and spending time upstate at her favorite place, Beaver Lake Nature Center, in her hometown of Baldwinsville, NY.

108 | ABOUT THE CREATORS ABOUT THE CREATORS | 109