2M’s Guide to Long Island Sound Creatures May 2016

Bluefish Lives in shallow water It’s color is more green than blue It eats squid, crabs and butter fish It has sharp teeth By Aston

Osprey Lives near a water shore They are black and brown on top and white- black underneath Black beak Eat 99% fish Small hooks on toes to grab fish Good hunters by Bridget

Horseshoe Crab It lives on the sand and water It has 2 main eyes and a mouth at the bottom of the shell Eats worms, bivalves and other bottom dwelling creatures The name is somewhat misleading- Because it’s in the spider family By Cooper Horseshoe Crab

Sea Star They eat oysters, clams and scallops It looks like a star and it can be all different colors They have an eye at end of each ray They live in shallow water By Gray

Lions Mane Jelly It floats near the surface in offshore waters It has very long tentacles Its clear and a pinkish orange It eats zooplankton, fish eggs, small shrimp, occasionally other developing jellies The lions mane jelly’s predators are: sea turtles, sunfish, and some sea birds By Madeline

Heron Live in ponds, marshes and swamps They also live along coasts Tall bird with wide wings and a long neck with a bill Eats fish and frogs and small animals There are 60 species of herons By Harry

Dog Fish Shark It lives in a pack of fish in the water It looks like a dog/fish It’s thin, and long It’s brown or olive on top and white on the bottom It eats a lot of fish Its enemies are people and big sharks By Izzy

Flounder It lives at the bottom of the ocean It looks like a flat fish It eats small fish There are five different flounder in oceans One of the five different flounder is called a Japanese flounder Camouflage By Jacob

MOON JELLY Lives near top of ocean It is see through 16 inches wide Eats small plankton, fish eggs, sometimes other jellyfish Has 4 horseshoe shaped organs inside By Jada

Scallop It lives at the sea bottom on underwater sea beds. It has two hard gray shells attached by a hinge. Scallops eat plankton. Sea Stars and crabs eat scallops. Scallops use jet propulsion. By Jasper

Gulls Live near the shore It is white and gray Gulls eat fish It has wings They even eat garbage By Johnathan

Lobster Lives in crevices or burrows in rocky reefs and muddy bottom habitats. It is greenish-brownish, has a wide tail, large claws, eight legs. It eats fish, mollusks and other crustaceans scavenged on or near the bottom. One of their predators are people with bowls of melted butter. In “extreme cases” they can be up to forty pounds and three feet long. by Lauren

Harbor Seal Lives in Long Island Sound They have whiskers, flippers, tail and fluffy fur They eat fish, crab, lobster and squid. Some can be very fluffy and white or they can have polka dots. By Lexy

Hermit crab Lives in: sandy & other bottom habitats in depths up to 150 feet Looks like: it can be many different colors. It eats: detritus & algae Interesting facts: When his shell is too small for him he borrows another animal’s shell. By Lily

Lions Mane Jelly It floats near the surface in offshore waters It has very long tentacles Its clear and a pinkish orange It eats zooplankton, fish eggs, small shrimp, occasionally other developing jellies The lions mane jelly’s predators are: sea turtles, sunfish, and some sea birds By Madeline

Fiddler crab Eat things like dead plants and animal bits, and algae, that are in the mud Dig burrows in mud Live from Cape Cod to northern Florida on mud flats in marshes It has 8 legs, it’s red and brown or green-brown Males have a really big claw Males have a blue spot on top of them in the center By Mary

Osprey It lives near a river Its head is white and its back is black and brown It dives in the water to get fish Their nests are really big By Sloane

Oyster Most of the time they have barnacles on them They are gray and bumpy Their predators are horseshoe crabs, other crabs, seagulls, and some fish 3. They are filter feeders- that means they clean the water. 4.They eat plankton in the salt water 5. They live in salt marshes or attached to something under the water, like docks. By Thomas

Spider Crab Lives in bottom habitats in shallow and relatively deep water It’s brown to dull yellow with white claws It has a small round and spiny body with pointy beak and long thin legs ending in prinsers of equal size and shape It eats dead fish and sometimes even sea stars By Tobin