always reach dry land. land. dry reach always www.nps.gov/ cabr ! lined up in a single file. file. single a in up lined and make sure that you can can you that sure make and For more information: information: more For ! home for hermit crabs. crabs. hermit for home are cream in color and usually found found usually and color in cream are not turn your back to the waves waves the to back your turn not shells are also a favorite favorite a also are shells Tegula Empty Whelk Whelk Kellet’s the of eggs The tide. low Name _____________________________ _____________________________ Name Be aware of the incoming tide. Do Do tide. incoming the of aware Be • frequently be found in shallow water at at water shallow in found be frequently microscopic algae and seaweeds. seaweeds. and algae microscopic purple-black in color. They feed on on feed They color. in purple-black intertidal zone) but can can but zone) intertidal in height and deep deep and height in caution. caution. lives deeper than the the than deeper lives rocks. They are 1 to 1.5 in. in. 1.5 to 1 are They rocks. (meaning that it it that (meaning sublittoral sturdy shoes and step with with step and shoes sturdy Intertidal Guide Guide Intertidal crevices or on sides of of sides on or crevices length. This species is is species This length. area extremely slippery. Wear Wear slippery. extremely area Cabrillo National Monument Monument National Cabrillo often form clusters in in clusters form often can reach up to 6 in. in in in. 6 to up reach can Waves and algae can make the the make can algae and Waves • Tegula intertidal, mid- Whelk is tan to white and and white to tan is Whelk Found in the high and and high the in Found Kellet’s the of shell The fingers. fingers. ) ) kelletii Kelletia ( Whelk Kellet’s ) ) funebralis Tegula ( Snail Turban Black homes, and only touch with two two with touch only and homes, live here, avoid disturbing their their disturbing avoid here, live Be respectful of the critters who who critters the of respectful Be • ! waste. California. limpet is considered a delicacy in Baja Baja in delicacy a considered is limpet shell is used to both respire and excrete excrete and respire both to used is shell trail warnings. warnings. trail black. The keyhole at the apex of their their of apex the at keyhole The black. Owl foraging. after spot same exact the can range in color from tan, brown, and and brown, tan, from color in range can to return and Ulva on graze They black. Please stick to the path and heed heed and path the to stick Please “keyhole”. Their mantle mantle Their “keyhole”. white, brown, and and brown, white, Only explore in designated areas. areas. designated in explore Only • ending in a large oval oval large a in ending profile shell mottled mottled shell profile fleshy colored mantle mantle colored fleshy 2 in. with a lumpy, low low lumpy, a with in. 2 of any kind is against the law. law. the against is kind any of small shell under their their under shell small in. Most specimens are are specimens Most in. federally protected area, taking taking area, protected federally these limpets have a a have limpets these limpets, growing up to 4 4 to up growing limpets, Remember you are entering a a entering are you Remember • in the low- intertidal, intertidal, low- the in the Pacific Coast true true Coast Pacific the Found on rock surfaces surfaces rock on Found These are the largest of of largest the are These Intertidal Safety Tips Tips Safety Intertidal ) ) crenulata Megathura ( Limpet Keyhole ) ) gigantea Lottia ( Limpet Owl Mussels (Mytilus californianus) Sea Lettuce (Ulva californica) Seagrass (Phyllospadix scouleri) Mussel beds are firmly Ulva forms dense green, Seagrasses are flowering attached to the rocks turf-like stands atop rocks plants that form large by tough strands in the mid- and low- clumps in the lower cemented in place. intertidal. Consists of intertidal. Algae that grow Shells are tear-shaped smooth blades, roughly ¾ on the grasses are called and dark blue-black in of an inch. Ulva leaves are epiphytes and the critters color. Mussels are edible and quite tasty, that graze epiphytes are The Rocky Intertidal commonly 3-5 in. long and open during fresh or dried. called epifauna. high tide to filter feed on incoming Welcome to one of the world’s most plankton. Mussel beds are often Dead Man’s Fingers (Codium fragile) Coralline algae (Corallina spp.) unique ecosystems. This vast expanse interspersed with barnacles. where land meets sea supports a thriving Codium is a green algae Corallines are small pink that forms large drooping plants with stony segments body of marine organisms and plants all clumps with cylindrical that branch into a feather adapted to live under the harsh Gooseneck Barnacles (Pollicipies polymerus) environmental pressures characteristic of branches that are spongy pattern. These are perhaps Gooseneck barnacles this area. Dictated by the gravitational in texture. Codium is unique the most abundant of have a fleshy, muscular in that it only has one large intertidal species in S. pull of the moon and sun, the tides stalk reaching 4 to 6 in. in cell wall, the outer skin. California. predictably flow in and out daily creating length with a calcareous a low, high, and middle tidal zone. Each tip. They can be found in Wire Weed (Sargassum agardhianum) Sea Bubble (Colpomenia sinuosa) of these zones maintains a unique clumps interspersed with community waiting for you to explore. Use mussel beds. Once they This brown algae forms Colpomenia grows on rocks this pocket guide to help you in your attach to the rocks as larvae, they do not thick stands in the mid- to and other seaweeds in the adventure and discover the amazing move their entire lives. Barnacles filter low- intertidal. Averaging mid intertidal. They are animals that call the intertidal home. feed when the tide is high using small 1-3 ft. long, they have yellow-brown in color, feather like appendages called cirri to smally leafy blades and hollow and bubble-like, Guided adapted from: “Life Between the Tides” and 1-3 in wide. by: Brandon & Rokop catch plankton. spherical floats. form urchin barrens. barrens. urchin form ecosystem, they can run rampant and and rampant run can they ecosystem, . pyrifera Macrocystis Kelp, nematocysts. nematocysts. predators are removed from an an from removed are predators Giant the eating and around crawling underside of rocks or in sandy areas. areas. sandy in or rocks of underside their prey using stinging cells called called cells stinging using prey their on Giant Kelp. When the urchin’s urchin’s the When Kelp. Giant on them find often will You . tidepools to 3 in. in diameter and found on the the on found and diameter in in. 3 to algae that live in them. Anemone catch catch Anemone them. in live that algae In the kelp forest adjacent to the the to adjacent forest kelp the In voracious predators and feed frequently frequently feed and predators voracious are mostly small, ranging from 1 1 from ranging small, mostly are tidepools coloration comes from the symbiotic symbiotic the from comes coloration stick to rocks. They are are They rocks. to stick live normally crabs these five arms. Bat stars in the the in stars Bat arms. five green in color. Their Their color. in green them move around or or around move them intertidal, the into swept structures between their their between structures 3 to 5 in. and are light light are and in. 5 to 3 small tube feet that help help that feet tube small found be can they Though stars they have web like like web have they stars up to 10 in., but are often often are but in., 10 to up reach nearly 1 ft. in size. size. in ft. 1 nearly reach their spines, they have have they spines, their more. Unlike other sea sea other Unlike more. can reach a diameter of of diameter a reach can diameter. Along with with Along diameter. can and color in brown orange, brown, and many many and brown, orange, California anemones. They They anemones. California between 2 and 4 in. in in in. 4 and 2 between reddish to purple deep multitude of colors of red, red, of colors of multitude is the largest of the S. S. the of largest the is Kelp Crabs are are Crabs Kelp Globose Purple sea urchins range range urchins sea Purple Bat stars come in a a in come stars Bat The solitary sea anemone anemone sea solitary The ) ) nuttalli Taliepus ( Crab Kelp Globose ) ) purpuratus Strongylocentrotus ( Urchin Sea ) ) miniata Patiria ( Star Bat ) ) xanthogrammica Anthopleura ( Anemone without a permit. permit. a without detritus. and digesting the animal externally. externally. animal the digesting and illegal to take under a certain size and and size certain a under take to illegal of forms other and material plant consumer pushing their stomachs out of their bodies, bodies, their of out stomachs their pushing as they do not like being in the sunlight. sunlight. the in being like not do they as their commercial importance, they are are they importance, commercial their They threatened. when “battle” will but covering them with their long arms, arms, long their with them covering found under boulders or in kelp holdfasts holdfasts kelp in or boulders under found urchins or other animal remains. Due to to Due remains. animal other or urchins predators avoid to sideways quickly move knobby spines.