Rocky Intertidal Multi-species Guide

multi species
Habitats:
Habitats on rocky shores can sometimes be
difficult to distinguish. For instance, when
does a sloping rock flat become a crevice?
When is a large boulder considered flat
rock and so on. Some locations may only
have one or two types of habitats, whilst
others may contain several. Use this
picture as a guide but follow your intuition
and common sense to make the decision
on what is the most common habitat a
species lives in. If a species occurs evenly
in all habitats, chose the habitat that is
most common on the platform.
On the rocky shore
Open water
Littoral (intertidal zone)
Supralittoral (supratidal zone)
Boulders
Sublittoral
(subtidal zone)
Rockpools
Crevice/cracks
Updated May 2014
Flat rock
climatewatch.org.au
Use this scale bar in photos for reference and to assist in species identification
Giant rock barnacle
Ribbed-top shell
Military turban
earthwatch.org.au
Cart-rut shell
Surf barnacle
Scale 1cm
Algae
Durvillea potatorum
Bull kelp
Eklonia radiata
Common kelp
Hormosira banksii
Neptune’s necklace
Phyllospora comosa
Strap weed
Austromegabalanus nigrescens
Giant rock barnacle
Size: 5 cm high, 3 cm diameter
Intertidal Zone: Low
Chamaesipho tasmanica
Honeycomb barnacle
Size: 2 cm high, 2 cm diameter
Intertidal Zone: High-Mid
Catomerus polymerus
Surf barnacle
Size: 2 cm height, 2 cm diameter
Intertidal Zone: Mid-Low
Codium fragile
Velvet weed
Barnacles
Echinoderms
Holothuria leucospilota
Black sea cucumber
Size: up to 30 cm in length
Intertidal Zone: Low
Tripneustes gratilla
Collector urchin
Size: up to 15 cm
Intertidal Zone: Low
Meridiastra calcar
Eight-armed seastar
Size: Arm radius up to
5 cm across
Intertidal Zone: Mid-Low
Parvulastra exigua Pin cushion seastar
Size: up to 5 cm in
diameter
Intertidal Zone: High-Mid
Echinometra mathaei
White-tipped urchin
Size: up to 15 cm
Intertidal Zone: Low
Nerita atramentosa
Black nerite
Size: up to 3 cm
Intertidal Zone: High-Mid
Dicathais orbita
Cart-rut shell
Size: up to 8 cm
Intertidal Zone: Mid-Low
Melicerona felina
Cat cowrie
Size: up to 3 cm
Intertidal Zone: Low
Scutus antipodes
Elephant slug
Size: up to 15 cm
Intertidal Zone: Low
Cypraea annulus
Gold ring cowrie
Size: up to 5 cm
Intertidal Zone: Low
Turbo (Dinassovica)
militaris
Military turban
Size: up to 10 cm
Intertidal Zone: Low
Tenguella marginalba
Mulberry Whelk
Size: up to 2.5 cm
Intertidal Zone: Mid-Low
Pyura stolonifera
Cunjevoi
Size: Max height is 30 cm
Intertidal Zone: Low
Galeolaria caespitosa
Galeolaria worm
Size: Tubes up to 3 cm long
Intertidal Zone: Mid-Low
Aulactinia veratra
Green anemone
Size: up to 8 cm
Intertidal Zone: Mid-Low
Austrocochlea constricta
Ribbed-top shell
Size: 5 cm long
Intertidal Zone: High-Mid
Janthina janthina
Violet snail
Size: 5 cm
Low shore (strand-line)
Austrocochlea porcata
Zebra-top shell
Size: 3 cm
Intertidal Zone: Mid-Low
Nodilittorina pyramiladis
Noddiwink
Size: 2 cm
Intertidal Zone: High
Austrolittorina unifasciata
Blue Periwinkle
Size: up to 2 cm
Intertidal Zone: High
Molluscs
Others
Use this scale bar in photos for reference and to assist in species identification
Periwinkle
Gold ring cowrie
Elephant slug & White-tipped urchin
Actinia tenebrosa
Waratah anemone
Size: up to 8 cm
Intertidal Zone: Mid-Low
Eight-armed seastar
Violet snail
Zebra-top shell
Scale 1cm