Invertebrates of the Salish SeaSponsored by the Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory, Fidalgo Island, Anacortes, WA; a campus of Walla Walla University |
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| This page serves as an entrance to a fascinating
look at many of the
marine invertebrates found in and near the Salish Sea, especially Puget
Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Washington. Each
species has
a special page with its description, photos, and notes about its
natural
history plus observations we have made of the species. Most
of the
photos were taken of live animals, either in the field or in the lab on
animals that were then returned to the field. I am a
scientist and
teacher, not a professional taxonomist and I have been known to
mis-identify
a species on occasion, so if you see something that needs to be
corrected
please
contact me.
My sincere thanks
to the experts on various groups who have given me advice and helped
with
identification. You can also check out my main web page at https://people.wallawalla.edu/~david.cowles
If you know or think you know the group or name of
your species you
may quickly navigate directly to it by using the Alphabetic
or Systematic
indices; otherwise you
may use the dichotomous keys to find out what it is. Wherever
possible,
the keys are supplemented with definitions to terms and with pictures
of
relevant species and the parts being compared. You can also
go directly
to the glossary from nearly any page to look up other terms. Cautionary
note: Systematic classification of these species is continually
changing.
I try to keep up with these changes, but this site should not be
considered
authoritative for the latest systematic (taxonomic) classification.
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Alphabetic List of Species and Groups |
Illustrated Glossary |
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Systematic Index(Organized in Systematic order, alphabetically under phyla) |
Annotated Bibliography |
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Key to Species--Starting with Recognizable Group(Starts with Phylum, Class, or other recognizable group, which are listed alphabetically by phylum) |
Other Web Resources |
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Key to Groups of Invertebrates(Start here if you don't know what kind of animal it is or what group an animal is in) |
Content partner to the Encyclopedia of Life |
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What is the
Salish Sea and where is the
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Contributors to this Project |
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| Introduced Species
and Species of Concern in the Salish Sea
(Covers only marine invertebrates) |
Send me Feedback(comments, corrections, observations, permission to use photos) |
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| Instructions on how to use a dichotomous key |
I've been interested in this for a long time! (photos) |
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The key currently
contains more than 400 species in
17 Phyla, 80 Orders, and 200 Families.
Phylum Arthropoda:
Crustaceans and Chelicerates
Subphylum Chelicerata
Class
Pycnogonida: Pycnogonids, sea spiders
Subphylum Crustacea
Class Maxillopoda
Infraclass
Cirripedia: Barnacles
Class Malacostraca
Superorder Eucarida
Order Decapoda
Infraorder
Thalassinidea: Mud shrimp and ghost shrimp
Infraorder Anomura: Hermit crabs and other crablike species
Infraorder
Brachyura: True crabs
Natantia--shrimp
(Caridea) and prawns (Dendrobranchiata, Penaeida)
Infraorder
Caridea: Shrimp
Infraorder
Penaeidea: Prawns
Superorder Peracarida
Order
Amphipoda: Amphipods
Order
Isopoda: Isopods
Order
Lophogastrida: Lophogastrids--Deep-sea shrimplike
species such
as Gnathophausia
Order
Mysida: Mysids
Phylum Brachiopoda: Lampshells
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Urochordata:
Tunicates, salps, doliolids,
larvaceans
Class
Ascidiacea: Tunicates, sea squirts
Phylum Cnidaria:
Class
Anthozoa: Anemones, corals, sea pens
Class Hydrozoa: Hydroids,
siphonophores, hydrozoan
jellyfish
Hydromedusae
Hydroid
polyps (Order Hydroida have a well-developed polyp--most
colonial hydroids
are here)
Orders
Chondrophora/ Siphonophora (Siphonophores--pelagic, floating
or midwater
colonies with float or swimming bells)
(sub)order Stylasterina
(fire corals and their relatives)
Class
Scyphozoa: True jellyfish
Order
Semaestomae: Pelagic jellyfish
Order
Stauromedusae: Attached jellyfish
Phylum Ctenophora: Comb jellies
Phylum Echinodermata
Class
Asteroidea: Sea stars
Class
Crinoidea: Sea lilies and feather stars
Class
Echinoidea: Urchins and sand dollars
Class
Holothuroidea: Sea cucumbers
Class
Ophiuroidea: Brittle stars, basket stars
Phylum Echiura: Echiuroid worms, spoonworms
Phylum Entoprocta: Entoprocts
Phylum
Hemichordata:
Hemichordates
Class
Enteropneusta:
Acorn worms
Phylum
Mollusca:
Class
Bivalvia: Bivalves: Clams, mussels,
scallops
Class
Cephalopoda: Octopus and squid
Class Gastropoda: Snails and
nudibranchs
Subclass
Prosobranchia: Most marine snails with shells
Subclass
Opisthobranchia: Nudibranchs, etc.
Class
Polyplacophora: Chitons
Class Scaphopoda: Tusk shells
Phylum Nemertea: Ribbon or proboscis worms
Phylum Platyhelminthes:
Flatworms
Class
Turbellaria: Freeliving flatworms
Phylum
Porifera:
Sponges
Class
Demospongiae (Most of our common sponges are here)
Phylum
Sipuncula:
Peanut Worms
How to Use a Dichotomous Key:A Dichotomous key is a simple pathway to find specific information, based on a simple principle. Choices in the key are numbered consecutively. Each choice gives you only two options about your species, and you must decide which of the two options matches your species. For example, choice 1a may say the species is spherical while choice 1b says the species is not spherical. If your species is shaped like a cube, you would choose choice 1b. At the right of each choice is a number to jump to next if that choice is correct. For example, if choice 1b had a "7" beside it, that would mean to go next to choice 7 if choice 1b is correct. You continue this process until you arrive at the correct species.This key has some real advantages over a normal printed key. First, it is web-based, and each choice is a link. That means you can quickly travel through the key, and even back up (by using your browser's back button) easily. Just click on the number after the correct choice and you will be taken to the next choice. It also has many definitions and illustrations throughout, so that you can easily see what terms mean or see special structures that are described. Click here or use your browser's back button to return to the top of the page |
What is the Salish Sea and where is Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory located in it?The Salish Sea is the inland sea along the border between northern Washington and southern British Columbia. It includes all the waters between or behind the Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island, including the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca, Desolation Sound, Haro and Rosario Straits, Puget Sound, and Hood Canal. The Salish Sea acts as an estuary due to the inflow of the Fraser River and many smaller rivers. Cities bordering the Salish Sea include Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Everett, and Bellingham, Washington and Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. Island groups within the sea include the northern and southern Gulf Islands and the San Juan Islands. For more information on the Salish Sea and its ecology, for an account of how the name came to be (given by Bert Webber, who originally proposed the name), or for a geographic map of the Salish Sea or check out the SeaDocs web site.Rosario
Beach Marine Laboratory,
a campus of Walla
Walla University,
has a central location in the Salish Sea. The laboratory is
on Fidalgo
Island, one of the San Juan Islands about halfway between Seattle, WA
and
Vancouver, BC. The laboratory borders Rosario
Strait. Admiralty Inlet, Puget
Sound, and Hood Canal are to the south, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, San
Juan Islands, and Haro Strait are to the west, and the Strait of
Georgia
is to the northwest.
Rosario
Beach Marine Laboratory
coordinates:
Click here or use your browser's back button to return to the top of the page |
Page created by Dave Cowles, 6-2002
Edited by: Anna Dyer, 08-2002
Edited by: Melissa McFadden, 08-2002
Edited by: Dave Cowles, 2002-present
Salish Sea Invertebrates web site provided courtesy of Walla
Walla University