Rock Pooling: What you can see... an introduction to the major groups

Thursday, 12 April 2012

What you can see... an introduction to the major groups

There is a huge variety of marine organisms that live around the UK coasts. Below is a introduction to the major groups you may see whilst rock pooling.....

Marine Algae (Red-Rhodophyta, Green- Chlorophyta, Brown- phaeophyta)

Seagrass (Angiospermophyta)

Sponges (Porifera)

Sea squirts (Ascidiacea)

Bryozoans (Bryozoa)

Actinaria (Including Anemones (above), Corals, Hydrzoa & Jellyfish)

Annelid worms (Annelida)

Crustaceans (including Decopods, Amphipods, Isopods & Cirripedia)

Crustaceans (Decopods)

Crustaceans (Amphipods)

Crustaceans (Isopods)

Crustaceans (Cirripedia)

Sea spiders (Pycnogonida)

Molluscs (Including Gastropoda (above), Polyplacophora, Bivalvia & Opistobranchia)

Molluscs (Polyplacophora)

Molluscs (Bivalvia)

Molluscs (Opistobranchia)

Echinoderms ( Including Echinoidea (above), Asteroidea, Ophiuroidea & Holothurioidea)

Echinoderms (Asteroidea)

Echinoderms (Ophiuroidea)

Fish (Pisces)

Lichens (Ascomycota)

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Rock Pooling Etiquette

Rock pooling is a fun and fascinating activity and it is important to respect the marine organisms you encounter.

The best time to go rock pooling is at low tide when the intertidal zone is exposed. The intertidal zone is the area of the shore that is covered and exposed by the sea as it rises and falls. It experiences daily fluctuations in environmental conditions and the creatures that live there will have
positioned themselves to reduce the extremes they must endure. Therefore it is important to return creatures to the place that you found them and to return any boulders or seaweeds you may have overturned in your pursuit.