Miscellaneous Creatures

A collection of the various creatures of the world not in my other wildlife galleries, such as the little creatures who spend their entire lives in Oregon's tidepools.

Creatures of the Tidepool

A collection of images I've taken in Oregon's tide pools. I don't know much about the identification of these creatures, so I've used common names for them instead of their specific species name.

Sea Anemone

Keep Your Friends Close, Your Anemones Even Closer When the tide is out and they are exposed to the air, sea anemones appear as an unattractive lump of mush and pebbles. When the tide is in and they are submerged once more, the anemone opens up and extends its beautiful tentacles. Beautiful, but deadly to the little creatures that get trapped by them. Taken at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area in Newport, Oregon. Yaquina Head is not only my favorite tidepool spot on the coast, but my favorite spot on the coast period.

Hermit Crab

Neighbors Tidepools provide a glimpse into the lives of some exotic creatures, all packed into a very tight space. Here, a hermit crab walks along an empty mussel shell towards a sea anemone, with a sea urchin buried underneath the shells.

Other Crabs

I'm not sure what type of crab this is that the gull has captured, but I thought it provided a nice example of how life in the tidepool doesn't always stay in the tidepool.

Opportunity As the tide comes in and fills the tidepools with water, the little ecosystems come alive as animals come out to feed. Sometimes the larger world intrudes, however, and an opportunity for a crab to feed is also an opportunity for a gull to swoop in and snare a quick meal.

Mussels

Not Much Elbow Room It's a good thing mussels don't need much personal space, as they spend their lives in a dense pack attached to a large rock, such as this group exposed by low tide at Seal Rock State Park. Seal Rock is my second favorite spot on the Oregon coast, my favorite is Yaquina Head but the tidepools at each park have a different feel to them.

Starfish

I grew up calling these starfish, but I believe sea star is the more proper term. Still, it's my website, so I'm going with starfish.

Is the Tidepool Half Full or Half Empty? The answer to the age old question depends not on whether you're an optimist or a pessimist, but on how fast you can move with the changing water levels. If you're a starfish, it's half empty.

Framed I found this orange starfish in a tidepool at Yaquina Head and liked the way the dark seaweed framed the orange star.

Brothers in Arms The receding tide left these two high and dry above the tidepool, arm in arm, their forbidden starfish love exposed.

Sea Urchin

Urchincy A group of sea urchins in a tidepool at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. The urchins are hunkered down in circular depressions in the rock, little homes they slowly carve out over time to keep them from being blown about by the tides. There's not much they can do about the little pieces of driftwood that get blown on top of them though. Most urchins in Oregon's tidepools are purple, but every once in a while you'll find one of the rare red ones.

Other Creatures

Fiddler Crab

Don't Wave That Thing At Me The male fiddler has one large claw that looks quite intimidating. Its bark is apparently worse than its bite — the claw's main purpose is so that the male can wave it around and impress the females. It actually hinders the males from catching food, so the females tend to be better than the males at hunting. In this case it is the right claw that is largest, but the large claw can grow on either the right or left side. Regardless of the claw's main purpose, I decided not to test its effectiveness with my own fingers.