Aggregating anemones, elegant flowerlike animals, have a tube-shaped body crowned with tentacles. Anemones are voracious feeders that eat almost anything. Stinging cells (nematocysts) on their tentacles paralyze small prey animals. Anemones can even ingest small crabs and then spew out the shells.
Size: column diameter to 2.5 inches (6.4 cm); crown to 3.5 inches (8.9 cm)
With its smooth, conical shell, a brown turban snail looks like a "foot" wearing a large hat. The shell, usually covered with red algae, is orange or bright brown. Hermit crabs use the empty turban snail shells for protective armor.
Size: to 1 inch (2.5 cm)
Mussel shells look lifeless when exposed to air at low tide, but at high tide they come alive. The shells open slightly and tiny hairs beat rhythmically to draw in water carrying tiny particles of food.
Size: to 5 inches (12.7 cm)
Coralline sculpins hug the bottoms of Pacific coast tide pools. Although common, these fishes can be hard to see-their colors blend in well as they hide among seaweeds and rocks.
Size: to 5.5 inches (14 cm)
The dark, spongy seaweed "fingers" dangle from the rocks. In the constant struggle for living space in the rocky shore, this alga hosts another alga—a red alga lives in clumps of dead man's fingers.
Size: to 15 inches (38 cm)
HA hermit crab wears an empty snail shell to protect its soft body. But as the crab grows, it needs bigger and bigger shells. You might see our hermit crabs battling over a prized shell home or moving into new ones. One claw is much larger than the other-hermit crabs use it for defense and food shredding.
Size: to .75 inches (1.9 cm)
To most of our touch pool visitors, lined chitons are unfamiliar, mysterious creatures. Their colors can vary drastically from reddish-browns to bright-greens or blues. Spots on their bodies visible around their plates give them away.
Size: to 2 inches (5 cm)
These fish, known as "monkeyface" or "blenny" eels, aren't eels at all. They're most active during high tides and usually return to their home rocky crevices as the tides recede.
Size: to 2.5 feet (0.8 m)
Ochre stars are extremely air-tolerant sea stars. They are found in a variety of shades from purple to orange and brown depending on their locations and the water temperature.
Size: to 14 inches (35.5 cm)
Though their colors vary, opalescent nudibranchs always have bright orange areas on their backs and blue lines along each side. Projections on their backs are brownish yellow, with white and gold tips.
Size: to 3 inches (7.6 cm)
The purple sea urchin, which has relatively short spines, is usually light purple or lavender. The purple sea urchin is well adapted to pounding surf—it usually lives in crevices or holes.
Size: to 4 inches (10 cm)
Since these algae deposit calcium carbonate (limestone) in most of their cell walls, red corallines have the appearance and rough texture of coral. They encrust mostly on rocks, although they may also grow on plants or animals.
Size: to 8 inches (20.3 cm)
Most nudibranchs sport bright colors-and these sea lemons are deep yellow to burnt orange. Black spots mingle with protruding bumps (tubercles) on the backs of sea lemons.
Size: to 4.5 inches (11.5 cm)
A sea cucumber uses sticky tentacles to vacuum food bits off the seafloor. One by one, it stuffs the tentacles in its mouth, licking them clean.
Size: to 10 inches (25 cm)