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 This field guide is intended to help identify and provide some background information about the animals commonly found on our rocky shores in New Brunswick.
Below is a list of the common phyla to which the animals belong, please click on the phylum of the animal you wish to view. If you are unfamiliar with the names of the different phyla, there are some general characteristics to help narrow down your search under each phylum name.
Phylum Porifera
- Sponges
- Tiny visible holes covering the entire surface
- Attached to substrate, i.e. rocks
- Dead specimens often found washed up on the shore
Phylum Cnidaria
- Jellyfish and Anemones
- Anemones:
- Found attached to substrate
- Will produce a sting, which sometimes feels sticky, if touched
- Body has one main stalk with many tentacles, either singular or branched, radiating from top
- May have the appearance of a plant
- Jellyfish:
- Free swimming individuals
- Rarely found in the intertidal zone
- Body is usually the shape of a bell with many tentacles extending from the outside edge or extending out from the middle
Phylum Annelida
- Worms
- Body is worm-like can be: covered in small scales, segmented, or smooth and slimy
- Movement achieved by using small legs called cetae or parapodia, or by undulating the body
- Some species can swim
Phylum Mollusca
- Periwinkles, clams, mussels, moon snails, sea slugs, octopus, squid, etc.
- Body is covered with a hard calcareous shell (exception: sea slugs, squid and octopus)
- Found throughout the intertidal zone (exception: octopus and squid)
Phylum Arthropoda
- Barnacles, crabs, lobsters, shrimp
- Jointed appendages
- Body covered by hard chitinous carapace (shell)
- Usually have 2 claws, 8 walking legs, 2 eyes, and 2 pair of antennae
- Movement achieved by legs (exception: barnacles, they are sessile)
Phylum Echinodermata
- Seastars, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, sand dollars
- Rough textured or spiny skin
- Only found alive at the lower end of the intertidal zone
- Movement achieved by using many small tube feet
Phylum Chordata
- Fishes and Tunicates
- Tunicates
- Soft, leathery body
- Attached to substrate by a stalk or directly to the base of the body
- 2 holes/pores in the body for inhaling and exhaling water
- Usually orange or peach in colour, but some species lack colour pigment and are therefore transparent
- May have the appearance of a plant
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