Zoology 432
Marine Invertebrate Zoology
“Team Mud”
Summer 2004
Life in, on, and around the Mud
The marine invertebrate diversity at Garrison Bay
“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful” -E.E. Cummings
“But in the mud and scum of things there always, something sings.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
MAJOR THEMES
Species diversity
Surficial characteristics
Roles of different substrates
Microhabitats
Shell material
Variations with sediment depth
Sampling strategies
Taxon abundance and spatial scale
Polychaetes as soft sediment heros
Physical stresses
______________________________________________________________________________
TOP “TEN” areas to explore and appreciate about Garrison Bay:
11. Mud as musical instrument
10. Modern sedimentary environments as analogs for the fossil record
9. Rocky microhabitats: differences from other sites we have visited
8. Adaptations to life in soupy sediments: protection, locomotion, feeding, and reproduction
7. “Heidi” spelled backwards
6. Measuring diversity in 3-dimensions
5. Variation in surficial characteristics along an intertidal gradient (e.g., burrows, shell material)
4. Variation in oxygen content with sediment depth
3. Trails and burrows as indicators of organism behavior and substrate characteristics
2. Dead shells as islands in a sea of mud
1. Analogies between mud and snow
QUESTIONS
Some topics to investigate in, on, and around the mud:
1. How is faunal abundance partitioned among taxonomic groups at Garrison Bay? How
does this differ from the other habitats we have visited on San Juan Island?
2. Without direct observation of living organisms, what are other physical clues as to the
behaviors of animals inhabiting Garrison Bay?
3. How does the physical environment vary with tidal height?
4. Does tidal height influence the distribution of any of the species present at the site?
5. What are the different microhabitats recognizable at the site?
6. How does faunal composition and abundance vary among microhabitats?
7. Is there a difference in faunal composition between surficial sediment and that found in
dead shells?
8. If you were to quantify the diversity you observe at this site what method(s) would be
most effective? And does this differ among species?
“Team Mud”
Summer 2004
Zoology 432
Marine Invertebrate Zoology
Temperatures at different depths below surface, high elevation
100
High1
High2
Temperature (degrees Fahrenheit)
90
High3
High4
80
High5
70
60
50
40
AM
12
:0
0
PM
4/
04
7/
7/
3/
04
12
:0
0
AM
12
:0
0
PM
3/
04
7/
2/
04
12
:0
0
AM
7/
7/
2/
04
12
:0
0
PM
:0
0
12
1/
04
7/
7/
1/
04
12
:0
0
AM
30
Date and Time
Temperatures at different depths below surface, low elevation
100
Temperature (degrees Fahrenheit)
Low1
Low2
90
Low3
Low4
80
Low5
70
60
50
40
AM
7/
4/
04
12
:0
0
PM
7/
3/
04
12
:0
0
AM
7/
3/
04
12
:0
0
PM
7/
2/
04
12
:0
0
AM
7/
2/
04
12
:0
0
PM
:0
0
12
1/
04
7/
7/
1/
04
12
:0
0
AM
30
Date and Time
120
Number of individuals
100
80
Lower intertidal
Lower-mid intertidal
60
40
20
0
Tresus capax
siphons
Metridium sp.
on shells
Melanochlamys sp. Haminoea sp. egg
egg masses
masses
“Team Mud”
Summer 2004
Zoology 432
Marine Invertebrate Zoology
Garrison Bay Activity Sheet
1. Sketch the intertidal noting the distribution of potential microhabitats.
Make sure to include in your sketch the divisions of the intertidal indicated by the stakes
Transect
TAXA
Ph. Porifera
Haliclona permollis
Ph. Nemertea
Paranemertea
Ph. Annelida, Cl. Polycheata
F. Arenicolidae
F. Capitellidae
F. Cirratulidae
F. Dorvilleidae
F. Glyceriadae
F. Hesionidae
F. Lumbrineridae
F. Maldanidae
F. Nephtyiadae
F. Nereidae
F. Ophulidae
F. Owenidae
F. Phyllodocidae
F. Sabellidae
F. Syllidae
F. Terrebellidae
Ph. Cnidaria, Cl. Anthozoa
Epiactus prolifera
Halliplena lineata
Metridium sp.
Diatomaceous
Mud
Rock
Shell
Dock
No Shell
Zoology 432
Marine Invertebrate Zoology
Ph. Mollusca, Cl. Bivalvia
Clinocardium nuttallii
Crassostrea gigas
Gemma gemma
Macoma nasuta
Melonchlamys
Mytillus sp.
Prototheca staminea
Transennella sp.
Tresus capax
Ph. Mollusca, Cl. Polyplacophora
Mopalia muscosa
Ph. Mollusca, Cl. Gastropoda
Aeolidia papillosa
Batillaria sp. (attramentaria?)
Bittium eschrichtii
Haminoea visicula egg masses
Hermissenda crassicornis
Lacuna vincta egg mass
Littorina digitalis
Littorina pelta
Lottia pelta
Margarites sp.
Melanochlamys diomedia egg
masses
Nucella lamellosa
Nucella ostrina
Searlesia dira egg mass
Ph. Arthropoda
Amphipod
Balanus sp.
Cancer magester
Cancer productus
Pagurus sp.
Cumacid
Mysid
Ostracoda
Echinodermata
Amphipholus squamata
Phoronida
Phoronopsis sp.
“Team Mud”
Summer 2004