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British Invertebrates - marine

Species 1 - 45 of 45

Acorn barnacle (Semibalanus balanoides)
Barnacles are well-known intertidal organisms. They were not firmly accepted to be crustaceans until the 1830s; before this time... More	7 Images	0 Videos

Beadlet anemone (Actinia equina)
The beadlet anemone is the most familiar sea anemone in Britain. When disturbed or exposed to air at low tide it appears... More	20 Images	4 Videos

Common brittlestar (Ophiothrix fragilis)
Like all brittlestars, the common brittlestar has five long, slender arms, which radiate out from a central disc. The mouth... More	7 Images	1 Video

Common cockle (Cerastoderma edule)
This well-known edible cockle has a solid shell, consisting of two valves, which feature prominent ribs and concentric... More	7 Images	2 Videos

Common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis)
The cephalopods (meaning 'head-footed'), a group of molluscs containing the octopuses, squid and cuttlefish, are probably the most... More	12 Images	8 Videos

Common hermit crab (Pagurus bernhardus)
Despite the common name, hermit crabs are related more closely to lobsters than to crabs. They lack a hard carapace, and adopt the... More	7 Images	4 Videos

Common jellyfish (Aurelia aurita)
This is the most common jellyfish on British shores. The body is a saucer shaped 'bell', which is colourless except for 4 obvious... More	8 Images	9 Videos

Common limpet (Patella vulgata)
The common limpet is a well-known seashore species. It has a conical shell, the outer surface of which is greyish-white. Shells... More	6 Images	3 Videos

Common lobster (Homarus gammarus)
The common lobster is a very large and commercially important species. The upper surface is dark blue in colour with yellowish... More	6 Images	5 Videos

Common mussel (Mytilus edulis)
The common mussel has a roughly triangular shell, which is bluish, purplish or brown in colour and covered with a black outer... More	10 Images	5 Videos

Common octopus (Octopus vulgaris)
The cephalopods (meaning ‘head-footed) are a group of molluscs that contain the octopuses, squid and cuttlefish, and are probably... More	9 Images	3 Videos

Common prawn (Palaemon serratus)
The common prawn is a well-known swimming crustacean, which is pinkish-brown in colour and features reddish spots and lines. The... More	9 Images	3 Videos

Common shore crab (Carcinus maenas)
The shore crab is one of the commonest crabs on the shore, and anyone who has gone rock-pooling is likely to have encountered one.... More	11 Images	5 Videos

Common shrimp (Crangon crangon)
The common shrimp, also known as the brown shrimp, is cryptically coloured; it is brown and covered with tiny flecks. Although most... More	5 Images	3 Videos

Common starfish (Asterias rubens)
The common starfish has 5 arms (although individuals may occasionally have just 4 or as many as 6). The colour varies from red... More	10 Images	5 Videos

Common whelk (Buccinum undatum)
This large, common whelk has a stout, yellowish-brown shell with lighter and darker spiral areas. It has 7-8 whorls, and a large... More	8 Images	3 Videos

Compass jellyfish (Chrysaora hysoscella)
The compass jellyfish has a saucer-shaped bell, with 32 semi-circular lobes around the fringe, each one with a brown spot. On the... More	5 Images	0 Videos

Curled octopus (Eledone cirrhosa)
The cephalopods (meaning 'head-footed'), a group of molluscs that contain the octopuses, squid and cuttlefish, are probably the... More	10 Images	2 Videos

Dead man's fingers (Alcyonium digitatum)
Dead man's fingers is a colonial soft coral that forms thick, fleshy and irregular masses, which are often finger-like... More	11 Images	3 Videos

Edible crab (Cancer pagurus)
The common and familiar edible crab is easily identified by its large black-tipped toothed pincers and characteristic... More	12 Images	2 Videos

Edible periwinkle (Littorina littorea)
Periwinkles are a large family of gastropod molluscs found on the shore. The edible periwinkle is perhaps the best known species... More	8 Images	2 Videos

Edible sea urchin (Echinus esculentus)
The edible or common sea urchin has a large, rounded 'shell', which is actually an external skeleton, correctly called... More	8 Images	2 Videos

European cowrie (Trivia monacha)
The European or spotted cowrie is a marine mollusc that has an egg-shaped glossy shell featuring many transverse ridges with a long... More	7 Images	2 Videos

Fan mussel (Atrina fragilis)
Growing to an impressive 48 cm in length, the fan mussel (Atrina fragilis) is one of the largest of the bivalve molluscs found... More	10 Images	1 Video

Flat periwinkle (Littorina obtusata)
Periwinkles are a large family of gastropod molluscs found on the shore. The flat periwinkle is so-called because the spire of the... More	5 Images	1 Video

Goose barnacle (Lepas anatifera)
Goose barnacles gave rise to one of the strangest of animal beliefs. The heart-shaped shell, or capitulum, is a chalky-white... More	7 Images	0 Videos

Ivell's sea anemone (Edwardsia ivelli)
A simple animal, the sea anemone is made up of a column with a mouth, used to take in food and expel waste, and several tentacles.... More	1 Image	0 Videos

Jewel anemone (Corynactis viridis)
The jewel anemone is so-called because of its spectacular colouration. Individuals may be bright green, orange, red, pink or white... More	10 Images	2 Videos

Laver spire shell (Hydrobia ulvae)
The laver spire snail, also known as the mudsnail, has a small, spiralling shell, which is brown to yellow in colour. The snail... More	1 Image	3 Videos

Lugworm (Arenicola marina)
The presence of this lugworm can be detected by the characteristic signs of one of its U or J-shaped burrows; depressions are... More	7 Images	3 Videos

Masked crab (Corystes cassivelaunus)
The masked crab (also known as the sand crab) has an elongated carapace, which is reddish brown to yellow in colour, and sometimes... More	4 Images	1 Video

Native oyster (Ostrea edulis)
The native oyster is a bivalve mollusc, which means ‘two shells', and is rough, scaly and yellowish-grey in colour. Each valve... More	3 Images	0 Videos

Peppery furrow shell (Scrobicularia plana)
The peppery furrow shell is a bivalve mollusc with a thin, flattened, rounded shell. The outer surface of the shell may be white... More	4 Images	1 Video

Pink sea fan (Eunicella verrucosa)
Pink sea fans are formed from a colony of tiny polyps; they may be a deep pink to white in colour, and attach to the substrate with... More	6 Images	2 Videos

Razor shell (Ensis ensis)
This razor shell is a common, burrowing mollusc, which has an elongated fragile and narrow shell shaped like a cut-throat razor... More	3 Images	0 Videos

Sand hopper (Talitrus saltator)
Sand-hoppers are so called because of their ability to leap when disturbed; they do so by tucking in the tail, and rapidly flicking... More	1 Image	1 Video

Sea gooseberry (Pleurobrachia pileus)
Members of the phylum Ctenophora are known as sea-gooseberries or comb-jellies, and are startlingly beautiful marine invertebrates.... More	4 Images	3 Videos

Sea lemon (Archidoris pseudoargus)
The sea lemon, Archidoris pseudoargus (also known as Archidoris tuberculata in much of Europe) is a common sea slug around Britain.... More	6 Images	1 Video

Sea slater (Ligia oceanica)
The common sea slater is a sea-shore relative of woodlice that can grow up to 3 cm in length. It has a flattened, oval-shaped body... More	8 Images	0 Videos

Sea-fan anemone (Amphianthus dohrnii)
This small anemone is pink, orange, red or buff-coloured with streaks of white, and has up to around 80 irregularly arranged small... More	4 Images	0 Videos

Sea-spider (Nymphon gracile)
The sea-spiders, or pycogonids, are an unusual group of marine arthropods, which are completely unrelated to terrestrial spiders... More	2 Images	1 Video

Star ascidian (Botryllus schlosseri)
The star ascidian is a colonial sea-squirt. The individual members of the colony (known as zooids) are embedded in a jelly-like... More	5 Images	2 Videos

Sunset cup coral (Leptopsammia pruvoti)
The slow-growing and long-lived sunset cup coral has a porous skeleton about the size of a thimble. The polyps are similar... More	6 Images	1 Video

Tall sea pen (Funiculina quadrangularis)
Sea pens are colonial organisms that belong to the same group as corals and sea anemones. Each animal comprises of a colony... More	4 Images	0 Videos

Velvet swimming crab (Necora puber)
The fast-moving velvet swimming crab has a flattened carapace, which is wider than it is long. The upper surface is blue but has... More	17 Images	2 Videos

Species 1 - 45 of 45

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