This project delves into a sandy beach ecosystem, especially in regards to the intertidal zone,

In south Texas there are several types of ecosystems one of those ecosystems are the dunes. South Texas dunes are found along the Texas coastline and the general abiotic conditions are sandy soil, high salt content, some fresh water, flooding in the occasion of severe storms and moisture from rain and waves. Sea Oats and Bitter Pancum are two types of plants that dominate the South Texas dunes. Bitter Pancum adaptation for living in this type of ecosystem is that they are tolerant to high salinity. Sea Oats are less tolerant to high salt but their adaptation is to grow rapidly. Some common animal species that live in the dunes are crabs, which are tolerant to high salt water, gulls, and terns feed on crabs and other species around the

Ray McClain). The ‘farmed’ and the wild crawfish are both composed of the same species, the red swamp crawfish (Procambarus clarkii) and the white river crawfish (P. zonangulus). The more popular of the two crustaceans the red swamp crawfish, as it is caught more often is purchased more at the market. There are other crustaceans that are important to the basin besides crawfish, however. Blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) are a vital resource in Louisiana’s seafood industry. The crabs are harvested by way of traps. In the case that the traps are lost or abandoned, they will continue to catch crabs. This is leading to a downturn in the blue crab population. Fish are also affected by the traps, as they are also caught. Despite the risked to the crab population, , the Marine Stewardship Council recognized the Louisiana blue crab fishery as the only sustainable blue crab fishery in the world in March of

Although it supports a number of different organisms, Nudgee Beach lacks many of the fundamentals that make up a healthy and successful ecosystem. The first indicator of this is from the lack of birds present in the area. Although it has been noted for terrestrial bird species – such as kingfishers, pelicans, ibis, egrets, jabiru, stilts and heron – and wading bird species – such as golden plovers, curlews, tattlers and godwits – to have been spotted at Nudgee Beach and surrounding areas in the past; after a day’s worth of extensive observation and research, it was found that the birds observed were limited to magpie, ibis, great knot and eastern curlew species. To intensify this factor, at the time by which this lack of species was recorded, Nudgee Beach was expected to have started seeing tens of thousands of birds arrive for the migratory season [21]. This blatant lack of bird species diversity and quantity may have been due to the lack of small organisms within the ecosystem. The restricted number of small organisms at Nudgee Beach is detrimental to the entire ecosystem as these organisms make up the bottom levels of the food web and provide higher-level organisms with adequate amounts of food to consume. The smaller organisms expected to be observed – including; crustacean, shell, mollusc, lizard, frog, fish, worm, arachnid and insect species – was limited to the infrequent observation of crustacean, shell,

Crabs spawn near the mouth of the Bay in Virginia water, therefore few sponge crabs (female crabs carrying eggs) are seen in Maryland (“Chesapeake Wildlife”). Juvenile crabs migrate northward to feed and grow in the brackish creeks of the Tidewater.

The life cycle of a Blue Crab involves Zoeae, Megalops, Juveniles, and Adulthood (Zinski, 2006) (“Blue Crab Life Cycle, 2016). Mating occurs only once for female crabs. Female crabs undergo a pubertal mold which is indicative of a sexually mature state in their life cycle. During the pubertal molt females release pheromones which attract males. The actual ritual of mating does not occur until females molt their shells (Zinski, 2006). At which point females will then retreat to high salinity water to begin spawning. Spawning will occur for the first time 2-9 months after mating. Interestingly, males will protect females during the period which females have molted and it is at this point in which mating occurs (Hill, 2004).

Distribution: There are eight subspecies of the beach mouse, including five on the Gulf Coast (Alabama beach mouse (P. p. ammobates), Perdido Key beach mouse (P. p. tryssyllepsis), Santa Rosa beach mouse (P. p. leucocephalus), Choctawatchee beach mouse (P. p. allophrys), and the St. Andrew beach mouse (P. p. peninsularis) and three on the Atlantic Coast (Pallid beach mouse (P. p. decoloratus, Anastasia Island

This lab is based off of European Green Crabs preying on Periwinkle Snails. From the name, one can tell the European Crab originated in Europe and is not native to North America. The crab ranged its expansion north of Cape Cod, where Periwinkle snails were introduced to a new predator. (McRae, 2015-pg. 1)

To understand the life cycle of a lobster it is important to understand the first five to seven years of a lobster because until this age lobsters are not at a large enough length to be taken ashore (NOAA, 2012). Little is known about the exact timeline as to how long a female lobster holds and releases the eggs that she carries (NOAA, 2012). Before the lobster egg appears on the tail of a lobster a range from nine months to slightly over a year is the time span needed for eggs to develop inside the female lobster (NOAA, 2012). Nine to twelve months later, eggs will slowly attach to the external swimmerets which are a part of the female lobster’s tail (NOAA, 2012). There is a huge timespan between having an egg and forming a baby lobster at

Hypothesis: High amounts of algae growing in the salt marsh will cause a large decrease in the mud snail population.

Shells before 1884, were high-spiraled with thin walls. Compared to the shells found after 1884 were low-spiraled with thick walls. After doing some research, Seeley found that an intertidal crab, Carcinus maenas, had sought after the snails for food.(Seeley) It was found that the shell size had changed due to the harmful

Every hermit crab changes shells eventually because, their old shell could get too small or they just feel like trying something new. Once a crab finds a new shell, it then

The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the invasive red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, may hamper capelin recruitment through egg consumption, by carrying out fieldwork studies (2005, 2006), laboratory experiments (2011), and applying models of consumption. To explore the response of the predator to prey density, crab abundance and capelin egg density were estimated in stratified study areas. An exponential decay model was used to estimate stomach evacuation rates of capelin eggs in red king crab stomachs, and the average evacuation time estimated was 5.38 h at 2.9°C. The average evacuation time was applied to a consumption model where uncertainty in input values was assessed by Monte Carlo simulation. Estimated

Mytilus Californianus are known as California mussels that form dense mussel beds and considered one of the most abundant intertidal organisms. They are found clustered together in the upper-middle zone on the open coast. Mytilus Californianus attach themselves to rocks by byssal threads. They have geographic range from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska to northern Mexico of Baja California (Morris et al. 1980). “It provides habitat, refuge, and provides food for over 300 other species” including human (rust, 2011). For long period of time, human use these mussels as a food source. These mussels can grow up to 130 to 150mm in size but the process usually is attained in three years. Scientists

The group of crabs known as fiddler crabs actually encompasses over 90 species and subspecies of the genus Uca that come from a variety of locations. Males and females are quite easily distinguished by their claws - the females have small claws, but the males have one very large claw (see photos of males and females). The largest fiddler crabs only reach a mature size of about 2 inches across their

The intertidal rocky shore of Caloundra Beach is inhabited by diverse range of biodiversity of animals and plants, many of which have developed high levels of adaptations throughout their existence. The very boundary of marine and terrestrial ecosystem, this environment is subjected to extremes of the physical environment such as temperature, desiccation, wave turbulence as well the ecological interactions that commonly occur in biotic communities (e.g. competition, predation). However Rocky intertidal shores are easily accessible by humans and provide an enjoyable opportunity for passive recreation and for science and environmental education as well.