Assignment : Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, San Pedro

Directions to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium:

From PIERCE take the San Diego Freeway south to the Harbor (110) Freeway San Pedro. Continue on the Harbor Freeway south, take the Catalina exit/Harbor Blvd (towards VincentThomasBridge). Turn right at the end of of the offramp and take Harbor Blvd. all the way to 22nd St. Turn right on 22nd and then left on Pacific Ave (second traffic light). Take Pacific Ave with Fort Mac Arthur on your left to 36th street. Turn left onto Stephen White Drive and follow curve to right to CabrilloBeach. There is limited free parking along the street or pull into the lot at the Aquarium for $6.50. Weekdays during the winter parking is (was?) free.

From RoyalPalmsStateBeachPark turn right onto Paseo del Mar and follow along the cliffs. The road will turn into Shepard Street at PointFerminPark. Continue and turn left on Pacific Ave. Follow Pacific Ave to 36th Street and turn right and follow curve to right to CabrilloBeach. There is limited free parking along the street or pull into the lot at the Aquarium for $6.00.

Plan at least 3 hours to complete the exercise. The aquarium is excellent and you will probably want to spend longer and bring a friend.

Name:______

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium: Rocky Intertidal Exercise

Visit each of the exhibits listed below, read the information provided in the text and answer the following questions.

Rocky Intertidal Ecology

Answers to the following questions will be found by examining the following exhibits at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium: Shell Drillers, Predatory and Scavanger Snails, Masters of Masonry, Predators of PlantLike Animals, Predatory Seastars, Grazers and Browsers, Seashore Vegetarians, and Living in the Surf.

1.Describe the feeding habits (how they feed - what is the mechanism they use to eat) of the following and their food (what they eat) for the following organisms.

Exhibit - Seashore Vegetarians

feeding habits food

Haliotis cracherodii
(Black abalone)
Aplysia californica
(Sea hare)
Megathura crenulata
(Giant keyhole limpet)
Astraea undosa
(Wavy topshell)
Norrisia norrisi
(Norris=s welk)

Exhibit: Non-predatory Echinoderms

feeding habits food

Strongylocentrotus purpuratus
(Purple sea urchin)
Strongylocentrotus franciscanus
(Red sea urchin)
Ophithrix spiculata
(Spiny brittle star)

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Exhibit - Hunters on the Rocky Seashore: Diets of Seastars

feeding habits food

Pisaster ochraceus
(Ochre seastar)
Astrometris sertlifera
(Sea star)

Exhibit - Hunters on the Rocky Seashore - Local Snails/Hunters and Scavangers

feeding habitsfood

Acanthina sp.
(Unicorn welk )
Conus californica
(California Cone snail)
Ceratostoma nuttalli
(Nuttal=s welk)
Kellettia kelletti
(Kellet=s welk)
  1. Exhibit - Hiding in a Mussel Bed
  1. How many different species of organisms may be found in one square foot of a mussel bed?
  1. Which are the four most abundant species and approximately of each were found?
  1. Exhibit - Borers of the Rocky Shore

Name three species of bivalves (clams) that bore into rocks and describe how they bore.

A.

B.

C.

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Name one species that occupies the holes bored by these clams after they die.

  1. Exhibit - Masters of Masonry

What types of organisms form tubes in the rocky intertidal zone - and of what materials are their tube made?

  1. Exhibit - Living on the Edge

Find and describe where in the rocky intertidal zone (upper, middle or lower zone) each of the following species located? After doing this find as many as you can in the ALiving in the Surf@ tank.

Species Zone

Littorina sp. (periwinkle)
Pachygrapsus crassipes (lined shore crab)
Chthamalus fissus (buckshot barnacle)
Egregia sp. (feather boa kelp)
Mopalia muscosa (hairy chiton)
Pagurus samuelis (hermit crab)
Tegula sp. (Turban snail)
Balanus glandula (acorn barnacle)
Aplyisa californica (sea hare)
Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (Purple sea urchin)
Collisella scabra (rough limpet)

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6.Exhibit: Filter Feeders

Explain how the mussel Mytilus californianus and how barnacles feed. How are they similar and how are they different?

7.Exhibit - Hunters of the Rocky Seashore

Name at least one predator of each of the following organisms:

Polychaete worms

Anemones

Mussels

  1. You find a dead clam in a tidepool with the following predators: Pteropurpura, Ocenebra, and Pisaster. Explain how you would determine which of these animals was responsible for the death of the clam. (See Local Snails: Hunters and Scavangers)

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium: Wetlands Exercise

  1. Exhibit - Mudflat: Cradle of Life

This exhibit shows you where the most common wetlands aquatic plants and animals are typically located in this habitat. Answer the following questions and complete the table below.

Describe in general the intertidal zonation scheme for the wetlands habitat.

Which species are found the highest in the zone, and which are the lowest?

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What types of organisms are the following species, where in the intertidal zone are they found in which type of microhabitat?

Species / Type of organism / Intertidal Height / Microhabitat
Zostera marina / XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lacuna sp.
Mitrella sp.
Urechis caupo
Spartina foliosa
Chaetopteris variopedatus
Hemigrapsus nudus
Clevlandia ios
Conus californica
Cerrithedia californica
Tresus nuttalli
Upogebia sp.
Salicornia sp.
  1. Exhibit - The Feasting Flocks

This exhibit about sea birds depicts the most of the common species you will see in southern California and northern Baja California wetlands. Look at all of the birds and read the information supplied for each of them. After thoroughly examining the exhibit fill in the table below.

What are the feeding methods employed by the following species of birds and on what do they prey?

Bird Species / Feeding Method / Prey Items
California Gull
Caspian Tern
Clapper Rail
Ruddy Duck
Heerman=s Gull
Willet
Great Blue Heron
Dowitcher
Sanderling
  1. Exhibit - Buried Alive

Infaunal species are those that live within the sediments in tubes, burrows or tunnels. In this exhibit there are several different infaunal bivalves (clams) species are represented along with explanations of the way in which they live within the sediments.

Define infaunal.

Why do you suppose the majority of bottom (benthic) organisms are infaunal?

  1. Exhibit - Using the Right Tool

How do the feet and beaks of shore birds differ?

Beaks

Feet

  1. Exhibit - Buried Alive

For each species listed below describe where in the mud they live (deep, shallow, etc), and the adaptations mentioned in the exhibit that they possess for living an infaunal existence.

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Clam Species / Adaptations
Macoma
Chione
Tresus
Tagelus
Lysonia

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