Oyster Blog — Tideflat Critters

Sea stars, the echinoderms formerly known as starfish, have neither brains nor blood. Their circulatory system uses filtered sea water, and their central nervous system is spread out among the rays, or legs, which scientists believe communicate sensory information to each other whenever the starfish... whoops, sea star, decides to move or eat. Severed sea star rays normally grow back, and a tropical species known as Linckia can regenerate an entire sea star from a single ray. Some sea stars, like the one above, are predators that feed on mussels, clams, and oysters. The stars first pry the bivalves open,...

Here are two grainyhand hermits (Pagarus granosimanus) locked hand in hand. Or claw in shell. The larger male hermit crab, on the left, has his small left claw, which he normally uses for eating, firmly clamped down on the shell of a smaller female hermit crab. He'll drag her around with him until she molts, at which point he'll fertilize her eggs. Visit our March 17th post to learn more about hermit crabs. (Sorry that we can't link directly to the post. It's a work in progress.) Today's hermit crab entry is dedicated to the little girl who just stopped...

Hermit Crab in Moon Snail Shell Fragment   This lovely creature is a Hairy Hermit (Pagurus hirsutiusculus)--a species easily identified by the white bands around its walking legs (which you can clearly see in the middle photo). It came in on the oyster barge and was put back out on the beach after the photo shoot. Hairy Hermits are the most common hermit crabs in Puget Sound. Like all hermit crabs, they make their home in abandoned snail shells. A hermit crab's asymmetrical, unprotected abdomen fits easily into spiral snail shells. Hermit crabs won't kill a snail in order to...

Here are some facts you probably didn't know about sea cucumbers: They breathe through their anus. They have a compound in their skin called catch collagen that allows them to liquefy or melt on command. They use this skill to escape into small, safe crevices to evade predators. They have an escalating response to stress. If you poke them with a stick, or hold them in your hand, they'll probably goopify. If you continue to mess with them they may puke their guts out, or eviscerate themselves. If you really, really bother a sea cucumber, it will inhale a bunch of...

 Spider crab, shown above, are like Daddy Long Legs... they have a really scary outline, but relatively inefficient pinchers. They might make a mark, but they won't take off your finger. Dungeness crab, on the other hand, are super dangerous and more aggressive than a rabid wiener dog. But they're no match for Jim. Here are some pictures of Jim picking a Dungeness crab up out of a slough:     The crab season in the Canal is open only fitfully and mainly to recreational crabbers. Occasionally the Skokomish Tribe will have a commercial crab opening, but for the most...