Encyclopedia10 min read
Atlantic Wolffish (Anarhichas lupus): The Shell-Crusher of Cold Reefs
Meet the Atlantic wolffish — a fanged, antifreeze-blooded reef fish that crushes sea urchins and has declined badly from trawl bycatch.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Kelp & Ocean Encyclopedia
Structured profiles of the species that build, inhabit and depend on kelp forests — from giant kelp to sea otters, urchins to weedy seadragons.
322 articles · Browse the structured Encyclopedia →
Encyclopedia7 min read
Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator): Dive-Bomber of the Kelp Coast
Plunging from thirty metres at highway speed, the Australasian gannet runs the baitfish economies of southern kelp coasts. Meet Morus serrator, the takapu.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Encyclopedia10 min read
Australian Fur Seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus): Species Profile
A species profile of the Australian fur seal, Bass Strait's biggest pinniped — nearly sealed out of existence, now recovering along the kelp coasts of the south.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia9 min read
Ballan Wrasse (Labrus bergylta): The Kelp Forest's Cleaning Foreman
Europe's biggest wrasse rules the kelp rocks: nest-building, sex-changing, shell-crushing — and now conscripted onto salmon farms as a cleanerfish. Full profile.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Banded Morwong: Tasmania's Banded Elder of the Kelp Reef
The banded morwong is a slow-growing, site-loyal grazer of Tasmania's kelp reefs — a fish that can live for generations and taught fisheries a hard lesson.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Encyclopedia9 min read
Basket Star (Gorgonocephalus eucnemis): Species Profile
Basket stars unfurl branching arms into cold currents to sieve plankton at night. Meet Gorgonocephalus eucnemis, the kelp coast's living gorgon head.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Bat Ray (Myliobatis californica): Species Profile
The bat ray is a winged, shell-crushing ray of Pacific bays and kelp edges. Biology, the famous feeding pits, and why divers mistake it for something grander.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Bat Star: The Patient Omnivore Cleaning Up Kelp Forest Detritus
The bat star (Patiria miniata) is the kelp forest's web-fingered clean-up crew — a slow omnivore that turns detritus into reef fertility. Facts, ecology, where to see one.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Encyclopedia9 min read
Big Skate (Beringraja binoculata): Species Profile
The big skate is the Pacific's largest skate — a 2.4-metre flatfish-eyed predator of the kelp-edge sands, famous for giant mermaid's-purse egg cases with twins inside.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia9 min read
Black-and-Yellow Rockfish (Sebastes chrysomelas): Kelp Bed Homebody with Attitude
The black-and-yellow rockfish holds one crevice for years and defends it with venom-tipped spines — a lesson in how site-attached reef fish live and recover.
Dr. Elias Brandt ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Black Croaker (Cheilotrema saturnum): The Night Drummer of the Kelp Bed
The black croaker drums after dark in Southern California's kelp beds. How to identify Cheilotrema saturnum, where to find it, and why it sings.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Black-Eyed Goby: Two Inches of Nerve Over the Kelp Floor
The blackeye goby's hovering economy: how a 10 cm fish harvests plankton over reef edges, feeds the food web, and tells surveyors what a reef is doing.
Tom Okafor ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Black Rockfish (Sebastes melanops): The Kelp Edge's Common Schooler
Black rockfish: the dark, schooling Sebastes of northeast Pacific kelp edges — identification vs blue rockfish, life history, fishery and conservation.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Black Surfperch: The Kelp Bed's Plodding Picnicker
The black surfperch (Embiotoca jacksoni) is the thick-lipped, slow-browsing seaperch of California kelp beds — live-bearing, territorial and endlessly photogenic.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Black-and-Yellow Rockfish (Sebastes chrysomelas): The Jewel of the Shallow Rocks
The black-and-yellow rockfish is one of the most boldly patterned fish of California's shallow kelp reefs — dark as kelp shadow, patched with shout-yellow.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Blackeye Goby: The Drifting Guard Posts of the Kelp Bed
Pale, black-eyed and hovering nose-down over the reef: how to find, identify and read the blackeye goby, one of the kelp forest's most telling fish.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia9 min read
Blacklip Abalone (Haliotis rubra): Australia's Reef-Grazing Giant
The blacklip abalone is southern Australia's largest abalone — a kelp-fed reef grazer that supports one of the world's most valuable wild shellfish fisheries.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Blacksmith: The Damselfish Guarding Kelp Forest Plankton
The blacksmith (Chromis punctipinnis) is the blue-grey damselfish clouding over California kelp beds. Profile: nesting wars, cleaner queues and plankton patrol.
Tom Okafor ·
Encyclopedia9 min read
Blood Star: The Scarlet Slow-Mover of the Lower Reef
Henricia leviuscula, the scarlet blood star of Pacific reefs — smooth-skinned, patient, and able to catch plankton with its stomach. A complete species profile.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Blue-Rayed Limpet (Patella pellucida): The Kelp-Grazer with Neon Lines
The blue-rayed limpet lives its whole life on kelp, its shell shot through with living blue light — a profile of Europe's smallest, most beautiful kelp grazer.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Brown Rockfish (Sebastes auriculatus): The Dusky Homebody of Shallow Kelp
The brown rockfish is the shallowest of the Pacific rockfish — a dusky, bay-loving homebody of kelp beds, pier piles and eelgrass edges from Alaska to Baja.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Butterfish (Rock Gunnel): The Eel-Like Slip of European Kelp
Pholis gunnellus lives in kelp holdfasts and under tidepool stones, can cross wet rock between pools, and carries a necklace of eyespots down its back.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus): The Grumpy Guardian of the Reef
The cabezon Scorpaenichthys marmoratus is the largest sculpin on the Pacific coast — an egg-guarding ambush predator of kelp reefs with famously toxic roe.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia9 min read
California Flying Fish (Cheilopogon pinnatibarbatus californicus): Gliding the Warm Edge
California flying fish: the biggest glider above the kelp coast. How they launch, why they arrive with warm water, and what eats them.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·