Blog Post 9:: Shannon Point

• Purple Shore Crab
• Identified based on its size, coloring, claw shape, and light spots on its back
• Found in tide pools very close to the water
• Was hiding under a medium sized rock
• This crab is a mid tier predator in the tidal zone's food chain eating other organisms in the tidal pools but at risk from birds and other higher predators

• Crimson Anemone






• Identified by Nate. Featured a slightly squishy body, red spots, and a lighter colored spot at the top where all the tentacles have been pulled in to protect itself
• Found on the boat during our first location near one of the islands
• It was actively hiding and trying to protect itself from harm by retracting its tentacles into its body
• The Crimson Anemone provides shelter and habitat for smaller organisms like shrimps and small crabs though they are predators that eat on similar organisms that are not resistant to its attacks

• Ribbed Limpets
• Identified by their ribbed shells, off-center peaks, and coloration
• Found in the tide pools on a large rock just on the edge of the dry rocks
• They were holding on to the rock tightly to maintain as much moisture as they could before the tide came up enough to submerge them
• Limpets eat algae and are near the very bottom of the food chain where they primarily serve to keep algae levels in check and act as food for any predator able to get them off their rock

• Graceful Decorator Crab
• Identified based on its long spindly legs and "accouterments"
• Features a much lighter color in daylight
• Found on the boat at either the first or second site though pictured back in the lab
• In the lab it wasn't particularly moving much though on the boat it was moving around quite a bit in the sieve however
• This crab unlike the Purple Shore crab is much more camouflaged and doesn't have as hard a shell suggesting it has more predators though it still is a predator itself for smaller organisms

The most interesting thing I saw during the trip at Shannon Point was definitely the little pod Harbor Porpoises that was much cooler and larger that my very bad photo suggests.

I knew the area had a few types of crab but everywhere we turned seemed to find another different kind of crab on the tide pools and on the boat.

Is the Pacific Northwest area better suited to crab like organisms leading to such a large amount of them?

The famed Harbor Porpoise