SeaNet

This is a guide to common marine invertebrates, seaweeds and fishes likely to be encountered on rocky shores and kelp forests of Monterey Bay and central California. The site was created as a teaching tool for undergraduate students at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, CA. Notes on abundance and microhabitat pertain to southern Monterey Bay and may not apply directly to other locations. Cryptic and/or small-bodied species are under-represented here, since they are seldom encountered in the field without special efforts.
If you would like to learn more about the biology of these organisms, see Ecology and Conservation of Kelp Forest Communities , an intensive summer course at Hopkins Marine Station, open to both Stanford and non-Stanford students.
This site was created by James Watanabe, who has taught and conducted ecological research on kelp forests and rocky shores of Monterey Bay for more than 35 years. Chris Patton provided invaluable technical support & photographic assistance.

Phylum Porifera - sponges, simple suspension feeders Class Calcarea - sponges with calcium carbonate spicules Class Demospongiae - sponges with glass spicules
Phylum Cnidaria - radially symmetrical stinging predators Class Hydrozoa: hydroids, hydrocorals, siphonophores Class Scyphozoa: true jellyfish Class Anthozoa: sea anemones, corals, tube anemones, sea pens
Phylum Nemertea - ribbon worms Phylum Sipuncula - peanut worms Phylum Platyhelminthes - flatworms
Phylum Bryozoa - moss animals, colonial suspension feeders Class Stenolaemata: tubular bryozoans Class Gymnolaemata: higher bryozoans Class Phylactolaemata
Phylum Mollusca - snails, slugs, clams, cephalopods, etc Class Gastropoda "Prosobranchs" shelled gastropods Opisthobranchs nudibranchs & allies Class Bivalvia: clams, scallops, mussels Class Cephalopoda: octopus & squid Class Polyplacophora: chitons, with 8 dorsal shell plates
Phylum Annelida - segmented worms Class Polychaeta: marine worms, tube worms Class Clitellata: earthworms, leeches
Phylum Arthropoda - armored & jointed animals Class Crustacea - barnacles, crabs, amphipods, isopods, etc
Phylum Echinodermata - spiny skinned, pentaradial animals Class Echinoidea: sea urchins, sand dollars Class Holothuroidea: sea cucumbers Class Ophiuroidea: brittle stars Class Asteroidea: sea stars
Phylum Chordata - animals with gill slits & notochords Subphylum Urochordata Subphylum Vertebrata Fishes Scorpaeniformes (rockfish, sculpins, greenling), Perciformes (& most other fishes) Mammals
Seaweeds Phylum Rhodophyta - red seaweeds Phylum Ochrophyta (Phaeophyceae) - brown seaweeds