ldissly's Identifications

Common Name: Blood Star

Location: Found alive while diving about 20 feet deep on Pump House Beach, Nahant, MA.

Habitat: Normally found on rocky substrate, from the low tide line to 7,920 feet deep.

Physical Description: Small, five pointed star, with a radius of 4 inches. Usually reddish in color, can be purple or white.

Fun Fact: Unlike other sea stars, Blood Stars do not have a free swimming larval stage.

Martinez, Andrew. Marine Life of the North Atlantic: Canada to Cape May. (New York: Aqua Quest Publications, 2003) 200-201.

The Lady Crab is fround on sand, mud, or rock bottoms from the low tide line to 150 ft. They range from Cape Ann, MA to Gulf of Mexico. The carapace has five marginal teeth on either side of the eyes. Their legs are long in proportion to their width, and theur pincers are serrated, sharp, and very long. Their walking legs are flat and their last pair of legs are paddle-like to allow the crab to swim efficiently. They have a beautiful carapace coloration, with light gray to lavender with putple/brown speckles.
Source:
Marine Life of the North Atlantic by Andrew J Martinez

Fun Fact:
Predators of the Lady Crab are the Oyster toadfish, tautog, striped bass, American lobsters, and others.
https://www.roysfarm.com/lady-crab/

Dead Man's Fingers is found growing on solid substrate, from sub-littoral to 40 ft deep. They range from Cape Ann, MA to New Jersey. The algae grows in large, rope-like, branching strands that are spongy. They are green with light green tips.
Source:
Marine Life of the North Atlantic by Andrew J Martinez

Fun Fact:
Dead Man's Fingers is an invasive species, originating in Japan. It arrived in North America in 1957.
https://deadmansfingers.weebly.com/facts.html

The Northern Moon Snail is found from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to North Carolina. They are found on mud or sand in the intertidal zone, always on the search for other mollusks to consume. They use their radula to drill holes into other shells, release digestive enzymes, and feast! Their shell is thick and globular with five convex whorls. The operculum is brown and the foot is gray and large, extending from the edge of the shell.
Source:
Marine Life of the North Atlantic by Andrew J Martinez

Fun Fact:
The biggest moon snails can stretch out to about a foot long!
http://www.realmonstrosities.com/2014/11/moon-snail.html

Common Names: Softshell Clam
Location Found: found on the beach at low tide, among other bivalve and gastropod shells, the shell was empty
Habitat Types: on mudflats or in a mixture of sand and mud, intertidally to subtidally
Physical Description: white to pale gray, periostracum can be grey to tan, and can grow up to 102 mm
Fun Fact: This species has actually been harvested by man since prehistoric times!
Source: 'Marine Life of the North Atlantic' - Andrew J. Martinez

Common Names: Common Periwinkle
Location Found: found at the intertidal zone at low tide, in a colony on rocks, alive
Habitat Types: intertidally on algae and algae films that cover rocks
Physical Description: dark gray to chocolate brown, grows up to 25 mm
Fun Fact: This species was a European immigrant!
Source: 'Marine Life of the North Atlantic' - Andrew J. Martinez

Common Names: Atlantic Surf Clam
Location Found: found on the beach among other shells, empty and just one half of the organism
Habitat Types: sand and mud from the low-tide line to 31m
Physical Description: yellowish white, grows up to 20 cm long and 14 cm high
Fun Fact: This species is a very important commercial bivalve. It is used for fish bait.
Source: 'Marine Life of the North Atlantic' - Andrew J. Martinez

Common Name: Moon Snail
Location Found: found on the beach among other shells, found dead
Habitat Type: can typically be found on mud and sand, intertidally to 366m
Physical Description: grey to brown, about 127mm, typically soft to touch
Fun Fact: Moon snails have a very powerful foot that allows them to plow underneath the sand!
Source: 'Marine Life of the North Atlantic' - Andrew J. Martinez

The softshell clam is found on mudflats or in a mixture of sand and mud, intertidally and subtidally from the Arctic to North Carolina. Live individuals have a gap between the valves at the posterior end with a shell color of white to pale gray. They can grow up to 4".

Fun fact:
This clam has been harvested by man since prehistoric times.

Source:
Marine Life of the North Atlantic by Andrew J Martinez 

Commonly known as: Atlantic Razor Clam/Jackknife Clam

Found on Long Beach, Nahant while walking on beach during low tide in October. Sediment was small grain sand.

Habitat: low-tide line to shallow water on sand flats from Canada to Florida

Physical Description: Long, narrow clam with slight curve. Much longer than it is wide. Color range from white to brownish.

Fun Fact: Putting salt down the burrow of a razor clam is a common practice by clammers. It makes the clam come out of the burrow!

Source:
Marine Life of the North Atlantic Field Guide App - Martinez

http://www.edc.uri.edu/restoration/html/gallery/invert/razor.htm

Common Name: Violet tunicate or Orange sheath tunicate.

Found on a small/medium sized rock during low tide in Nahant, MA.

Habitat: On hard substrate in protected waters from low-tide line to shallow water along the entirety on the Atlantic coast.

Physical Description: Colonial tunicate that forms a gooey, fleshy mass on the outsides of rocks, mussels, etc. Color is variable from orange to yellow to red. Height of the colony ~3mm.

Fun fact: Reproduces asexually via budding!

Source: Marine Life of the North Atlantic Field Guide, Martinez