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)
Fish (Pisces)

Lichens (Ascomycota)