Showing posts tagged as "invertebrates"
There’s always something going on in the Kelp Forest Touch Pool. Right now you can see the giant keyhole limpet (Megathura crenulata). This is no ordinary snail. The body of a keyhole limpet can grow to be almost 10 inches long (our largest is about four inches). It’s named for the large “keyhole” in the middle of the shell, for excreting waste (visible in the middle of the black area in photo). This intertidal animal is soft to the touch and adheres to surfaces with its large foot. Senior Aquarist Barbara Utter found these limpets, along with other species, while diving in local reefs. The exhibit also contains a juvenile horn shark , juvenile wolf eel, rockfish, scorpionfish, kelp bass, gumboot chitons and a warty sea cucumber.

