nudiesbranches's Identifications

Common name: Sea lettuce
Location found: This Ulva lactuca was found in the intertidal region of the Great Salt Marsh between Plum Island and Ipswich, MA.
Habitat types: Sea lettuce is found on rocks and in low-shore rock pools. The species is widely distributed. (http://www.seaweed.ie/descriptions/Ulva_lactuca.php)
Physical description: This piece was green in color, fairly circular, and about 8 cm long.
Fun fact: Ulva is sometimes collected and used as a garnish or in salads. (http://www.seaweed.ie/descriptions/Ulva_lactuca.php)

Common Name: Atlantic Rock Crab
Location Found: while diving at 12ft, found on sea floor hiding in a crevice between two rocks, alive
Habitat Types: rocky shores, intertidally to 793m
Physical Description: forward border of the carapace has nice rounded pointed teeth with granulated edges, carapace- yellowish with red to purple red brown dots, can get up to 89mm long, and 127mm wide
Fun Fact: This species of crab is very commercially important as it is a popular crab for eating in Maine.
Source: 'Marine Life of the North Atlantic' - Andrew J. Martinez

Common Names: Atlantic Rock Crab
Location Found: found on the beach covered by algae at low tide, dead
Habitat Types: rocky shores, intertidally to 793m
Physical Description: forward border of the carapace has nice rounded pointed teeth with granulated edges, carapace- yellowish with red to purple red brown dots, can get up to 89mm long, and 127mm wide
Fun Fact: This species of crab is very commercially important as it is a popular crab for eating in Maine.
Source: 'Marine Life of the North Atlantic' - Andrew J. Martinez

Common Name: Dulse
Location Found: spotted while diving at about 12ft, alive and attached to sea floor
Habitat Types: intertidally to subtidally
Physical Description: deep red purple, size- up to 30cm, multiple blades from on stalk
Fun Fact: This algae is harvested commercially for culinary and even medicinal purposes!
Source: 'Marine Life of the North Atlantic' - Andrew J. Martinez

The knotted wrack is found in quiet, rocky, intertidal water where there is minimal wave activity, as intense wave actions prevents this species from becoming established. It can be found from the Arctic to Long Island with its easily identifiable narrow, olive green to green black, ribless blades with air bladders. It has irregular branching with small, short branchlets.

Fun fact:
This algae is commercially valuable and is harvested and used for food emulsifiers and thickeners.

Source:
Marine Life of the North Atlantic by Andrew J Martinez 

False Irish moss is found year round mostly on the open coast in exposed areas, attached to rocks around the low-tide level and in mid-to lower intertidal tide pools. The edges of the blades are curved/rolled, with small, irregular, rounded, or elongated proliferations or bumps. They are a dark purplish-red to almost black, and can grow 3-10cm tall.

Source:
Illustrated Key to the Seaweeds of New England by Martine Villalard-Bohnsack

Fun fact:
False Irish moss is harvested for carrageenan, which is used in a variety of products such as ice cream and cosmetics.

https://www.britannica.com/science/Irish-moss

Common name: blue mussel
Location found: tide pool, attached to rock near other mussels. Found alive.
Habitat Types: Typically found on hard, rocky substrates or mud, found in the littoral zone.
Physical description: Umbo (hinge) located precisely at end, black or brown shell is smooth except for growth rings. Are often purplish to blue at umbo end. Can grow to 10.1 cm. Attach to each other with strong threads. Can look similar to Modiolus modiolus (northern horsemussel), however, M. modiolus has a thick reddish-brown periostracum (shell covering) with long hairs.
Fun fact: Like other filter feeders, M. edulis plays an important role in its environment by removing bacteria, heavy metals, and other contaminants from the water.
References: Pollock, Leland W. "A Practical Guide to the Marine Animals of Northeastern North America." Rutgers University Press, 1998, pp. 156-158.
"Blue Mussel." URI EDC, University of Rhode Island, www.edc.uri.edu/restoration/html/gallery/invert/bluem.htm.

This horseshoe crab was dead when we found it. It was in a tidal river in the Great Marsh. Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs are found all along the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. Their habitat includes shallow water, but they can also live in deeper water.

Horseshoe crabs can grow up to 60cm, including the tail, but average between 16cm and 20cm in length. Females are typically larger than males. There is a size gradient along the coast with the largest animals being found in the mid-Atlantic region.

Fun Fact:
Horseshoe crabs have hemocyanin instead of hemoglobin, which makes their blood blue.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_horseshoe_crab

This one was dead when we found it.

Razor clams or jackknife clams can be found from Canada to South Carolina. They are a distinct bivalve. The shell is long, rectangular and skinny.

Fun fact:
This clam is difficult to catch because it can out-dig humans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_jackknife_clam

This sea star is native to both the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It can also be found on the coasts of Greenland and Scotland. It is usually bright red, but can also be purple, yellow, or orange. Its average diameter length is between 7 and 10cm.

Fun Fact:
This starfish broods its eggs and does not go through a larval stage.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Henricia_sanguinolenta/

Common Name: Atlantic Rock Crab

Location: Carapace found washed ashore on Canoe Beach, Nahant, MA.

Habitat: Typically found on rocky intertidal shores to 2,600 feet deep.

Physical Description: Carapace is reddish in color with nine rounded teeth bordering the front. Can have a length of 3.5 inches and a width of 5 inches.

Fun Fact: This crab is edible.

Martinez, Andrew. Marine Life of the North Atlantic: Canada to Cape May. (New York: Aqua Quest Publications, 2003) 180-181.

Commonly called the Jonah Crab this individual was found dead on the beach at the south end of Plum Island. Typically found on rocky shores and bottoms up to 793 meters deep. Range is from Nova Scotia to Florida. Typically about 10 cm long by 15 cm wide. Have 9 teeth on the side of each eye with deep, indented margins between teeth (good for differentiating from rock crab). Carapace is red in color and the underside is yellow. Can commonly be confused with Cancer irroratus, the rock crab (Marine Life of the North Atlantic by Andrew J. Martinez).

Photo from under a microscope

Common Name: Graceful Red Weed, Red Spaghetti

Location: Found dead offshore on Canoe Beach, Nahant, MA.

Habitat: Subtidal warmer waters.

Physical Description: Dark red in color. Highly branched with tapered projections.

Fun Fact: Farmed commercially for agar.

Stewart Van Patten, Margaret. Seaweeds of Long Island Sound. (Connecticut: Connecticut Sea Grant College Program, 2009) 70.

This horseshoe crab was found dead in the salt marsh on the muddy flat.This species is typically found in sand and mud bottoms from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico. The carapace is horseshoe shaped and convex with a spiked tail. Each side of the abdomen has 6 spikes and pairs of pinched located in the front. They also have five pairs of walking legs. A fun fact is that they are not actually a crab, but distantly related to the spider. Also, they have blue blood that is used in medical practices to determine if there are toxins present in serums. (Marine Life of the North Atlantic, Andrew J. Martinez)

Commonly called the Jonah Crab this individual was found dead on the beach at the south end of Plum Island. Typically found on rocky shores and bottoms up to 793 meters deep. Range is from Nova Scotia to Florida. Typically about 10 cm long by 15 cm wide. Have 9 teeth on the side of each eye with deep, indented margins between teeth (good for differentiating from rock crab). Carapace is red in color and the underside is yellow. Can commonly be confused with Cancer irroratus, the rock crab (Marine Life of the North Atlantic by Andrew J. Martinez).

note: requires taxonomic key and microscope for identification

Location found: This Pylaiella littoralis was found washed up on the berm of Long Beach, Nahant, MA.

Habitat types: It is commonly found on the open coast and in estuaries, in the intertidal and shallow subtidal zones. It is usually epiphytic on coarser algae, but can also be found on rocks or free floating.

Physical description: Phaeophyta. Thallus is yellowish to dark brown and composed of uniseriate filaments often twisted and forming visible rope-like strands. Its reproductive structures are intercalary as well as terminal. It has occasional opposite branching.

Fun fact: The species has a long history of decaying in large masses on Massachusetts beaches in Nahant, Lynn, and Swampscott. Masses have to be scraped off beaches using front-loaders, costing up to $150,000 in removals annually.

Villalard-Bohnsack, Martine. Illustrated Key to the Seaweeds of New England. Kingston: The Rhode Island Natural History Survey, 2003.

Location found: This stand of Dead Man's Fingers was found in about 10ft of water off Pump House Beach, Nahant, MA.

Habitat types: Its range extends from Cape Ann, MA to New Jersey, and an isolated population lives in Boothbay Harbor, ME. It grows on solid substrate from the sub-littoral zone to 12m.

Physical description: Chlorophyta. It grows in large, rope-like, branching strands that are spongy and feel like wet felt. Its color is green/yellow-green with light green tips, and it grows up to 1m.

(Less than) fun fact: Dead Man's Fingers has also been called "oyster thief" because when it develops on an oyster or scallop and actively photosynthesizes, oxygen bubbles trapped in the algae can cause it to become actively buoyant, dragging the oyster or scallop above the substrate and eventually killing it.

Martinez, Andrew. Marine Life of the North Atlantic: Canada to Cape May. New York: Aqua Quest Publications, Inc. 1994.

Polysiphonia fibrillosa is a red alga that is common in the subtidal zone attached to rocks or epiphytic on other algae (can be mistaken for Vertebrate lanosa if not viewed under a microscope). It has a bushy thallus that can be identified under microscope by their little branchings at the base and their cortication around the main axes and branches. They are found from Cape Cod southward.
Source:
Illustrated Key to the Seaweeds of New England by Martine Villalard-Bohnsack

Fun Fact:
The genus Polysiphonia is represented by more than 150 species, about 16 species are reported from India.
http://www.biologydiscussion.com/algae/polysiphonia-occurrence-features-and-reproduction/46779

Description: one of the more common sea stars they are found in the inter tidal all the way from Maine to Texas. Generally they have 5 arms but have been found with up to seven. This one was found on a rocky substrate
Fun fact: Although many people call them starfish, it is more scientifically correct to call them sea stars as they aren’t fish and don’t have a backbone