Life History Information for Selected California Marine Invertebrates and Plants

Species	Primary depth range in feet ( x 0.305 = meters)	Primary Geographic range within state using four regions	Habitat Preference juveniles	Habitat Preference adults	Unique or significant life history characteristics	Larval type	Larval duration [potential larval dispersal]	Potential for adult dispersal
Crab, box	0-1800	All regions, including islands	rocky reef, submarine canyons	rocky reef, submarine canyons	unknown	planktonic	unknown	unknown
Crab, brown rock	0-300	All regions, including islands	rocky reefs, kelp beds	rocky reefs, kelp beds	rock crabs may live 5-6 years	planktonic	3-4 months	moderate
Crab, Dungeness	0-750	N,NC,SC	sand, sand-mud, estuaries	sand, sand-mud	larvae may be transported more than 50 miles offshore	planktonic	105-125 days	moderate
Crab, red rock	0-750	All regions, including islands	rocky reefs, submarine canyons	rocky reefs, submarine canyons	may co-occur with spot prawns miles offshore	planktonic	3-4 months	moderate
Crab, sand	Intertidal	All regions, including islands	intertidal, shallow subtidal sand	intertidal, shallow subtidal sand	larvae may occur with Dungeness crab larvae	planktonic	unknown	low
Crab, spider (sheep crab)	20-410	South	rocky reefs, kelp beds	rocky reefs, kelp beds	cease molting after reaching maturity	planktonic	unknown	moderate-high
Crab, yellow rock	0-300	South	sand, soft bottom	sand, soft bottom	egg-bearing females may congregate in rock-sand interface habitat	planktonic	3-4 months	moderate
Lobster, California	0-240	South, mainland and islands	surf grass beds	rocky reef, kelp beds, eel grass beds	egg-bearing females generally found in shallow water	planktonic	5-9 months	moderate-high
Prawn, spot	150-1,600	All regions, including islands	shallower mud, mud-sand, sand/rock. rocky reef, submarine canyons	mud, mud-sand, sand/rock. rocky reef, submarine canyons	change sex from male to female during year 4	planktonic	unknown	moderate
Prawn, ridgeback	145-525	South; mainland and islands	sand, shell, green mud	sand, shell, green mud	positive response to El Nio conditions	planktonic	unknown	low
Shrimp, bay (several species)	0-575	All regions	soft bottom, estuaries	soft bottom, estuaries	major prey item for fishes	planktonic	30-40 days	low-moderate
Shrimp, coonstripe (several species)	60-600	N, NC	sand, gravel, rocky reef, submarine canyon	sand, gravel, rocky reef, submarine canyon	change sex from male to female during year 1 or 2	planktonic	unknown	moderate
Shrimp, ghost and mud shrimp (several species)	Intertidal	All regions	sand, sand/mud, sand/gravel	sand, sand/mud, sand/gravel	form permanent burrows or impermanent tunnels	planktonic	unknown	low
Shrimp, ocean	150-1200	N,NC,SC: Oregon border to Pt. Arguello	green mud, mud-sand	green mud, mud-sand	change sex from male to female during year 2	planktonic	2.5 to 3 months	moderate
Cucumber, sea (several species)	0-300	All regions, including islands	rocky reefs, sand/mud	rocky reefs, sand/mud	do not form spawning aggregations	planktonic	51-91 days	low
Urchin, purple	0-300	All regions, including islands	rocky reefs, kelp beds, under canopy of adults	rocky reefs, kelp beds	require high densities for successful spawning	planktonic	6-8 weeks	low
Urchin, red	Intertidal to 500	All regions, including islands	rocky reefs, kelp beds, under canopy of adults	rocky reefs, kelp beds	require high densities for successful spawning	planktonic	6-8 weeks	low
Urchin, white	0-990	South, including islands	sand, eel grass beds	sand, eel grass beds	extremely efficient grazers on smaller algaes	planktonic	30-60 days	low
Abalone, black	Intertidal, 0-20	NC,SC,S	crevices in rocky reefs, kelp beds	rocky reefs, kelp beds	susceptible to withering syndrome disease	planktonic	4-7 days	low
Abalone, flat	20-70	All regions, including islands	crevices in rocky reefs, kelp beds	rocky reefs, kelp beds	generally a cryptic species	planktonic	4-7 days	low
Abalone, green	Intertidal, 0-30	South, mainland and islands	crevices in rocky reefs, kelp beds	rocky reefs, kelp beds	feed on drift algae	planktonic	4-7 days	low
Abalone, pink	Intertidal, 20-120	South, mainland and islands	crevices in rocky reefs, kelp beds, rock outcrops	rocky reefs, kelp beds, rock outcrops	generally occurs where water temp is above 14 C	planktonic	4-7 days	low
Abalone, pinto	Intertidal to 70	N,NC,SC	crevices in rocky reefs, kelp beds	rocky reefs, kelp beds	commonly found at approx. 4-inch length	planktonic	4-7 days	low
Abalone, red	Intertidal to 100	All regions, including islands	crevices in rocky reefs, kelp beds, boulder outcrops, under canopy of red urchins	rocky reefs, kelp beds, boulder outcrops	largest abalone species in the world	planktonic	4-7 days	low
Abalone, threaded	20-80	South, mainland and islands	crevices in rocky reefs, kelp beds	rocky reefs, kelp beds	some consider it a subspecies of Pinto abalone	planktonic	4-7 days	low
Abalone, white	80-200	South, mainland and islands	exposed rocky areas	exposed rocky areas	maximum age estimated at 40 years	planktonic	4-7 days	low
Squid, market	0 to at least 600	NC,SC,S	over soft bottom	over soft bottom	short-lived; average squid in commercial fishery is year old.	planktonic	unknown	high
Clam, California jackknife	Intertidal to	South, mainland and islands	sandy mud, estuaries	sandy mud, estuaries	occupies a permanent burrow	planktonic	unknown	low
Clam, chione (several species)	Intertidal to 165	South, mainland and islands	sandy mud, estuaries	sandy mud, estuaries	smooth chione subject to habitat loss due to harbor development	planktonic	unknown	low
Clam, littleneck (several species)	Intertidal	All regions, including islands	cobble beds	cobble beds	prized food item	planktonic	unknown	low
Clam, gaper (several species)	Intertidal to 150	All regions	sand, sand/mud, estuaries	sand, sand/mud, estuaries	may live to 17 years	planktonic	unknown	low
Clam, geoduck	0-360	All regions	sand, sand/mud, estuaries	sand, sand/mud, estuaries	individuals may exceed 10 pounds	planktonic	2 weeks	low
Clam, Manila	Intertidal	All regions	sand, sand/mud, estuaries	sand, sand/mud, estuaries	introduced from Japan; important recreational species	planktonic	3 weeks	low
Clam, Pismo	Intertidal to 80	SC,S	exposed sand	exposed sand	primary prey item of California sea otters	planktonic	pelagic phase 2-3 days	low
Clam, razor	Intertidal and shallow subtidal	N,NC,SC	exposed sand	exposed sand	individuals can bury themselves in 7 seconds	planktonic	8 weeks	low
Clam, softshell	Intertidal	N,NC,SC	mud	mud	may have been introduced with eastern oyster	planktonic	unknown	low
Clam, Washington (several species)	Intertidal to 100	All regions	sand/mud, estuaries	sand/mud, estuaries	known to concentrate paralytic shellfish poisoning toxin	planktonic	4 weeks	low
Cockles	Intertidal to 660	All regions, including islands	sand, sand/mud, mud, estuaries	sand, sand/mud, mud, estuaries	one species may live to 16 years	planktonic	unknown	low
Limpets	Intertidal to 100	All regions, including islands	rocky reefs	rocky reefs	some species may live 15 years	planktonic	less than 1 week	low
Mussels (several species)	Intertidal to 130	All regions, including islands	rocky reefs, pilings	rocky reefs, pilings	bio-accumulator of toxins	planktonic	1 month	low
Octopus (several species)	Intertidal to 660	All regions, including islands	rocky reefs, kelp beds, soft bottom	rocky reefs, kelp beds, soft bottom	eggs are attached to substrate and brooded by females	planktonic	1 month or less	low
Scallop, rock	Intertidal to 100	All regions, including islands	rocky reefs, pier pilings, rock jetties	rocky reefs, pier pilings, rock jetties	intolerant of salinity less than 25 ppt	planktonic	5 weeks	low
Sea hare (two species)	0-60	NC,SC,S	hard and soft bottom, kelp beds	hard and soft bottom, kelp beds	large nerve ganglia make them useful for research	planktonic	4-5 weeks	low
Sea stars (many species)	Intertidal to deepest canyons	All regions, including islands	rocky reefs, hard bottom, sand	rocky reefs, hard bottom, sand	some species adapted to exposure at low tides	planktonic	unknown	low
Snail, moon	Intertidal to 500	All regions, including islands	soft bottom	soft bottom	has aquiferous system of spongy sinuses in foot	planktonic	2 weeks	low
Snail, top (several species)	0-100	S	rocky reefs, kelp beds, including canopy	rocky reefs, kelp beds, including canopy	common in upper kelp canopy	planktonic	unknown	low
Snail, turban (several species)	Intertidal to 250	All regions, including islands	shallower rocky reefs, kelp beds, including canopy	rocky reefs, kelp beds, including canopy	feeds primarily on kelp and coralline algae	planktonic	unknown	low
Whelk, Kellet's	0-230	South, including islands	rocky reefs, kelp beds, gravel, sand	rocky reefs, kelp beds, gravel, sand	spawning aggregations of up to 20 individuals occur in spring	planktonic	unknown	low
Worms (polychaetes)	Intertidal to deepest canyons	All	rocky reefs in mussel beds, cobble beds, soft bottom	rocky reefs in mussel beds, cobble beds, soft bottom	several species have toothed proboscis	planktonic	variable	low

Algae

Gelidium sp. (many species)	Intertidal, to 100	All regions, including islands	rocky reefs	rocky reefs	may forms mats of algal turf	not applicable	not applicable	none
Gracilaria sp. (many species)	Intertidal to 50	All regions, including islands	soft bottoms	soft bottoms	used as spawning substrate by herring in SF Bay	not applicable	not applicable	none
Porphyra sp. (many species)	Intertidal to 100	All regions, including islands	rocky reefs	rocky reefs	may be common in high-energy surf zones	not applicable	not applicable	none
Sea palm	Intertidal	N,NC,SC	exposed rocky reefs	exposed rocky reefs	individuals can regenerate blades but not stipe	not applicable	not applicable	none
Kelp, giant	20-120	NC,SC,S	on sand and rock substrate	on sand and rock substrate	fronds may grow up to 24 inches per day	not applicable	not applicable	none
Kelp, bull	10-70	N,NC,SC	on rock or cobble substrate	on rock or cobble substrate	found where water temp is less than 60 F	not applicable	not applicable	none

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Life History Information for Selected California Marine Invertebrates and Plants

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