Long-Clawed Hermit Crab
Pagurus longicarpus
Using a mudsnail shell for protection. Approx. 1.5in.

Acadian Hermit crab
Pagurus acadianus

This shell, first occupied by a moon snail, is now a home for two other animals. It protects the soft, reduced abdomen of the hermit crab and provides a hard surface for pink snail fur (a species of hydroid) to attach. In this mutualistic relationship, the pink snail fur helps to camouflage the shell, while the crab provides mobility for the sessile hydroids.

Tubularian Hydroids
Tubularia sp.
Related to jellyfish, sea anemones and coral.
Captures microscopic food with whorls of tentacles. Each tentacle contains hundreds of stinging cells called nematocysts.

Northern Star Coral
Astrangia poculata

Colony of animals called polyps. Tentacles equipped with nematocysts to sting, capture and bring food to its central mouth. Secretes shell-like skeleton on rocks and other hard objects.

Forbes' Sea Star feeding on a mussel bed
Asterias forbesi

As members of the Echinoderm Phylum, these spiny skinned animals have radial symmetry as adults and use a water-vascular system for movement and food getting. Water enters through the madreporite on their dorsal (top) side, travels down each arm, and into "tube feet". Located on their ventral side (along with their mouth), rows of tube feet act as suction cups which work together to pull open the shells of bivalves. The sea star then inverts its stomach out of its mouth, secretes digestive enzymes, and finally ingests its meal.

Sea urchins are omnivores, feeding on seaweeds and sedentary invertebrates,and scavengers, feeding on dead animals of any kind.

Purple Sea Urchin
Arbacia punctulata

Sea urchins are members of the Echinoderm Phylum, or Spiny-Skinned Animals, which also includes the sea stars, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers.

Spider crabs burrow into the sand when not feeding. These slow moving scavengers prefer to defend themselves through camouflage rather than aggression.