How little we know about the biodiversity of marine invertebrates.
Tag: marine invertebrates
Ask the Naturalist, Wildlife
Ask the Naturalist: Why Are Sea Hares Multiplying In Lake Merritt?
Nearly 100 giant sea slugs have been spotted in Oakland’s Lake Merritt — and they’re breeding! But why? We asked Cal Academy’s Terry Gosliner about this sudden influx.
Spring Issue 2013
How do barnacles make baby barnacles?
Barnacles are hermaphroditic – they contain both male and female sex organs. You’re thinking, “Well, they always have a date on Saturday night.” No, it’s a really bad idea to self-fertilize: Inbreeding results in little genetic diversity. Worms, slugs, snails – slow-moving animals with low rates of encounter – are all hermaphroditic. And you could not get any slower than an adult barnacle!
Spring Issue 2011
Naturalist’s Notebook: Interrupt Your Commute and Find Natural Wonders
We pass fascinating natural hotspots every day. Try stopping between here and there — you may discover biodiversity where you least expect it, just like he did at Brisbane Lagoon off Highway 101.
Winter Issue 2007
Standing the Tests of Time
Walk patiently along a few ocean beaches in the Bay Area, and you just might find objects of stunning beauty that also provide clues to a lost world, fossil sand dollars that are as much as 2 million years old. These fossils, not shells but skeletons called tests, show up only near Daly City and Point Reyes, so it’s a privilege to find intact specimens that have survived the rigors of the coast for many centuries.
Spring Issue 2003
Hidden Treasures of the Harbor
Below the opaque surface of the calm waters of Richmond and Sausalito Harbors lies an unexpected world of curious forms, brilliant colors, and furious competition for a place to hold on.
