Best Intertidal

The sea palm, a brown alga (Laminariaceae) endemic to wave-swept rocky shores of the northeastern Pacific coast of North America, the sole species in its genus and resembling a miniature palm tree.

The Sally Lightfoot crab is a brightly colored crustacean native to the Pacific coast of the Americas, celebrated for its incredible agility on rocky shorelines.

Small aromatic red alga common on Atlantic European rocky shores, the currently accepted name for the species long known as Laurencia pinnatifida or pepper dulse in culinary tradition.

The Red Rock Crab is a large crustacean found along the Pacific coast of North America, notable for its powerful claws and characteristic brick-red shell.

The Atlantic ghost crab is a pale, sand-colored crustacean found on beaches along the eastern coast of the Americas, notable for its rapid running speed and deep burrows.

The Puget Sound king crab is a distinctive crustacean found along the North American Pacific coast, recognized for its uniquely textured, bulky exoskeleton and bright coloration.

The Atlantic Rock Crab is a decapod crustacean inhabiting the coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean, recognized by its nine marginal teeth and reddish-brown shell.

The Pacific Rock Crab is a crustacean native to the western coast of North America, notable for its distinctive purple-spotted claws and preference for rocky sea floors.

The Yellow Rock Crab is a marine decapod native to the Pacific coast of North America, distinguished by its yellowish-brown shell and its importance to regional fisheries.

The Bleeding Tooth Nerite is a coastal marine snail native to the Caribbean, notable for the bright red coloration inside its shell aperture that resembles a bleeding tooth.

The Mole Crab is a small marine crustacean found on sandy beaches worldwide, notable for its ability to rapidly burrow backward into the sand to safely evade the force of crashing ocean waves.

The Velvet Swimming Crab is a marine crustacean found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, notable for its flattened hind legs adapted for swimming and its velvety shell.

The feather boa kelp, a long-strapped brown alga (Lessoniaceae) ranging along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California, named after Scottish botanist Archibald Menzies (1754–1842).

The horned ghost crab is an Indo-Pacific shore crustacean distinguished by the unique, elongated eye stalks on its carapace that resemble small horns.

A broad-bladed brown kelp (Laminariaceae) of the northeastern Pacific that entirely lacks a stipe, attaching its undivided blade directly by a holdfast to rocks in the low intertidal zone.

The Sponge Crab is a marine crustacean known for its unique behavior of cutting and shaping live sea sponges, which it holds over its shell using specialized rear legs for camouflage.

The purple shore crab is a common crustacean found along the Pacific coast of North America, notable for its deep purple carapace and lack of hair on its legs.

The banana fiddler crab is a small, brightly colored crustacean native to the mangroves of northern Australia, where males use a vivid yellow claw for complex mating signals.

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium is a Los Angeles city aquarium founded in 1935, with a larger Frank Gehry-designed facility opened in San Pedro in 1981.

Listed as federally endangered in 2009, the black abalone was devastated along the California coast by withering syndrome disease and overharvesting.

The Common Periwinkle is a marine sea snail native to the rocky coasts of Europe that was introduced to North America in the 1800s and now dominates the intertidal zone.

The striped shore crab is a fast-moving crustacean found on the rocky coasts of the Pacific Ocean, distinguished by the distinct green and black stripes on its carapace.

Bryopsis plumosa is a delicate feathery green alga of temperate and subtropical rocky shores, forming plume-like fronds in shaded intertidal and subtidal pools.

The sand fiddler crab is a small crustacean native to the eastern coast of North America, recognized by the male's massive claw used for attracting mates on sandy beaches.

Heavily calcified articulated red alga widespread on North Atlantic and Mediterranean rocky shores, forming pink-white tufts that serve as microhabitat for numerous invertebrate species.

*Fucus vesiculosus*, known as bladder wrack, is a brown seaweed recognized by its paired air bladders and historically used in Europe as a rich source of iodine.

The Umbrella Crab is a marine crustacean found along the North Pacific coast, notable for its unusually broad, dome-shaped carapace that completely conceals its legs, resembling an open umbrella.

The red-eyed rock crab is a marine crustacean found in the tropical Indo-Pacific, easily identified by its striking, bright red eyes and preference for rocky coastal crevices.

The marbled rock crab is a medium-sized crustacean native to the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea, easily identified by its distinctively mottled, marbled shell pattern.