Feature Creature of the Month:

Eelgrass

Description: This months feature is actually one of the few types of plants to grow in the ocean. Each blade of eelgrass grows to be about 12 inches long.  Many animals make their homes in these eelgrass beds. Pipefish, for example, camouflage to look just like the eelgrass blades. Other animals that you might find hiding in this habitat include worms and shrimp. Some smaller animals such as hydroids and others live on the blades of the eelgrass.

Where it is Found:Eelgrass is found in cooler waters of the northern hemisphere.

Diet:Since eelgrass is one of the few flowering plants in the ocean, it photosynthesizes, or produces its own food from the sun’s energy.

Status  in the ocean:  Eelgrass is currently fairly abundant.

WOW!!! In the 1930’s eelgrass almost completely disappeared from the Atlantic Ocean because it could not survive the unusually high temperature.

Past Feature Creatures: Decorator Crab, Bottlenose Dolphin, SCUBA Diver, Wolf Eel, Sanddab, Globe Crab, Horn Shark, Sea Hare, CA mussel clam, Pipefish, Giant Kelpfish, Two-Spotted Octopus, Hermit Crab, Spider Crab, Spiny Lobster, Opaleye, Catalina Goby, Garibaldi, Thornback Ray, Tube Anemone, Cabezon, Swell Shark, Moray Eel, Orange Puffball Sponge, White Plume Anemones, Sheephead, Ocean Sunfish, Sunflower Star

All photos not labeled otherwise are from Eric Martin of the Roundhouse.