Eelgrass
Zostera marina
- Not on exhibit
- Animal type
- Plants & algaes
- Ecosystem
- Coastal wetlands
- Relatives
- Terrestrial grasses; Group: Monocot; Family: Zosteraceae
- Diet
- Photosynthesis (converts energy from sunlight and nutrients)
- Range
- Temperate and Arctic waters of the Northern Hemisphere
- Size
- Up to 12 inches (30 cm)
About eelgrass
Eelgrass is one of the few marsh plants to grow under water in coastal wetlands. Eelgrass beds are home to a variety of animals, including perfectly camouflaged pipefish that look like leaves with eyeballs. Other wetland inhabitants, like worms and shrimp, burrow in the mud around its roots. The blades provide mooring for herring eggs, hydroids and others.
Conservation
In the 1930s, eelgrass almost completely disappeared from both sides of the Atlantic due to unusually high water temperatures.
Cool facts
- Seeds were harvested and used like wheat by the Seri Indians in the Gulf of California.
- Eelgrass is one of the few flowering plants that grow in the ocean.
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