Cape Arago

Today we went on another field trip - to Cape Arago. Here are some of the things that I got pictures of. I won't put them all up because I feel like you might go crazy.

The intent of this field trip was to collect purple sea urchins so that we can culture them in marine developmental biology.

In the water, collecting the urchins.

Leptasterias hexactis. This is a sea star - it's partially hiding in a hole. It has 6 legs, rather than the usual five, although you can't see by this picture.

Cryptochiton stelleri. This is the largest species of chiton in the world!

Pyncnopodia helianthoides. The sunflower star. It's huge and doesn't have a set number of legs.

An anemone (I think it's Anthopleura xanthogrammica - it's hard to tell when it's closed) eating a purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus).

This is just some of the view. Sorry if you get tired of these kinds of pictures. They are some of my favorites.

Anthopleura xanthogrammica and some limpets and a snail and other things.

That is a hermit crab eating a snail.

Pisaster ochraceus. A sea star! He's hiding under the sea grass. There are also purple ones.