The sea anemone Anthopleura elegentismais found exclusively in the high intertidial at Cattle Point.This often abundant animal as been pushed to the periphery ofthe environment, because it is unable to compete for space elsewherewith the barnacles and rock weed. Therewere also numerous, small hermit crabs, all using very small periwinkleshells as homes. The dominant crab is the shore crab, Hemigrapsisnudus-in our target pool we found eight individuals. The dominant chiton in the area is the hairy chiton, Mopalia spp. sitkana) and limpets ( Lottia digitalis).On average, the mean body size of the animals in the high tidepool is smaller than those found elsewhere, and the diversityis very low. The dominant animals here are not barnacles orleather chitons, which are noticeably absent, but instead a vastnumber of small gastropods, including both periwinkle snails ( Littorinascutulata and L. The pools heat up sevento ten degrees during the average day, and though for air breatherslike us seven degrees doesn't feel like much, in a marine environmentwater acts as a heat sink, draining the heat from an animal twentyfive times faster than in air. Our characterizedpool (approximately ten by fifteen feet in size) has within itsurf grass, crevices, and exposed areas - all of which are foundin other environments, but the flora and fauna is almost completelydifferent. Themost limiting factor for life in these pools is the fluctuatingtemperature and salinity throughout a tidal cycle. Though desiccation, wave action,and surge doesn't pose a threat in the upper tide pools, thesepools do experience the most extreme environmental changes. The high intertidal is the harshest of CattlePoint tidepool environments. High Pools: the most exposed intertidal areas of Cattle Point
0 kommentar(er)
