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Critter's Common Name:
Green Sea Turtle
Scientific Name:
Chelonia Mydas
Description: 5 cm long when born, grow up to be 1.5 meters long, can weigh over 300 kg, largest of the hard shell turtle, dorsal shell is wide, smooth, brownish-olive color, underside of shell is yellow, greenish hue to skin, head can not retract into turtles shell, speeds of 56 km/h, lay 100-200 eggs at a time.
Food Source: Sea grasses, algae, as babies they eat fish, shrimp, and plankton.
Habitat: The female turtles lay eggs on the beaches, shallow, coastal waters with lush sea grass beds. Adults live in inshore bays, lagoons, shoals with lush sea grass. Sea turtles mostly live in Europe, North America, Eastern Pacific, and Chile
Migration: These turtles migrate between their foraging (place to obtain food) grounds and nesting grounds. They go hundreds to thousands of miles. Migrating to nesting areas is to breed.
Niche: Eats plants, jelly fish, controlling sponge distribution, helps maintain the health of the ocean
Competition/Cooperation: It cooperates with other herbivore turtle species to find plants like algae and seaweed.
Challenges: The green turtles are endangered because they are killed for their eggs, meat, skin, and shell. The green turtles habitat is being destroyed and climate change is impacting the turtles nesting sites.
Symbiotic relationships: Mutualism - yellow tangs clean the shell of the Green Sea Turtle by eating the algae off of it. This makes the shell smooth , reducing friction, allowing the turtle to be able to swim faster.
Importance: Adult green turtles migrate to the Chesapeake Bay and feed on the algae. If the Green turtles are removed the algae and plants will overgrow.
Interesting Facts: They can live 80 or years, and nest along coastlines of more than 80 countries. Wherever the mother was born, is where the turtles are born.

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Critter's Common Name: sandbar shark
Scientific Name: carcharhinus plumbeus
Description: brownish or dark gray body with a white ish  belly. rounded snout triangular saw like teeth. 1 tail ,2 dorsal fins. adults reach 7 feet and babies can reach 2 to 3 feet
Food Source: eats bottom dwelling fish
Habitat: lives in the Chesapeake bay prefers remaining of coastal waters up to 20 to 65 meter deep
Does your critter migrate? They migrate only when they are adults but when they are juveniles they stay near the nursing grounds
Niche: bottom feeders that prey on bony fish, smaller sharks, rays, and crab
Competition/Cooperation: Other sharks, they fight for food and eat eachother
Challenges: adult bull sharks prey heavily on baby sand bar sharks also fight other sharks for food
Symbiotic relationships: the host shark is kept clean from parasites and romora is a species that travel with the sharks
Importance: sand bar sharks are constantly eating so it is controlling bottom dwelling fish
Interesting Facts:sand bar shark spends most of there time at the bottom of the ocean

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Critter's Common Name: Osprey
Scientific Name: Pandion Hailaetus
Description: patterned with brownish black patches in crooks of wings, white head and belly, brown tipped feathers, black stripe across yellow eyes body length: 53-65 cm, weight: 1.2-2.1 kg, wingspan: 130-180 cm.
Food Source: Different kinds of Fish
Habitat: found throughout the tidal portions of the Chesapeake, including its shorelines, marshes, rivers, and open waters
Niche: hunting birds that prey on other water birds and animals that live near water, predators
Competition/Cooperation They Compete with eagles for food
Challenges: Predators such as raccoons, snakes, owls, eagles, ingestion of pesticides in its food supply, nest building sites are exposed to weather, obvious to predators. Ex- cross bars of power poles cause electrocution
Symbiotic Relationships: Commensalism - a sparrow will build its nest under the nest of an osprey. The sparrow gets protection because other predators will not mess with the osprey. The osprey is not helped or harmed by the sparrow.
Importance: good indicators of health and abundance of fish stocks they hunt, alert us to threats to that fish stock in the form of harmful pollutants
Interesting Fact: An ospreys outer tow is reversible which helps catch fish

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Critter's Common Name: Striped Bass
Scientific Name:
Morone Saxatilis
Description:
Can grow up to be 70 lbs, about 7 horizontal lines across body, and 6 fins.
Food Source:
Striped Bass eat other fish and organisms such as crabs, lobsters, sea worms, squid, and soft clams.
Habitat:

Found mostly along Northern American Atlantic Coast.
Does you critter Migrate? Yes, there are two types of migration. Coastal migration which is where they move up North. Spawning migration is where they move to fresh water to spawn.

What is the role of your organism in the community:
The Striped Bass controls the population by being a top predator.
Competition/Cooperation:
Seals, Sharks, etc. eat Striped Bass
Challenges:
The striped bass population is declining because of over harvesting.
Symbiotic relationships:
Commensalism- Angler are warned by Striped Bass when predators are near.
Importance:
They are a key predator in the bay's food web. They also support the bay's commercial and recreational fisheries
Interesting Facts:
Striped Bass are attracted to Herring, Mackerel, Eel, etc. So that is good bait to catch them.

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Critters common name: great blue heron

Scientific name: Areda herodias

Description: Tall, lean, skinny, Big wing span and is about 90 lbs

Food source: the great blue heron eats mostly fish but will also eat insects, amphibians, crustaceans,  and other small mammals.

habitat: the great blue heron lives mostly in wetlands like swamps and marshes also in both fresh and salt water.

Migration: The great blue heron does migrates from southern Canada to North South America.

Niche: The great blue heron niche in the ecosystems to make sure the the fish, small mammals, and other crustacean  don't over populate.

Organism in the community:  The great blue heron eats almost anything smaller than him. So its the biggest consumer.

Competition: The biggest competition  is the great horned owl witch even eats there baby's it eat all the small animals that the great blue heron eats.

Challenges: The great blue heron isn't endangered but is getting there, there so close that there a protected species.

Symbiotic relationship: The beaver shares a relationship with the Heron when the beaver builds a damn which is holds food for the heron.
Importance: It makes sure that other smaller animals don't over populate. Also there eggs provides food for many predators

interesting facts: The great blue heron is the biggest heron in all of North America

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Ian Hendrix, Misha Hatton, & Jacob Parker

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Ian Hendrix, Misha Hatton, & Jacob Parker

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Critters common name: American oyster.
Scientific Name: Crassostrea virginica.
Description of organism: The American Oysters look like rocks, they have a hard, rough shell. The shell is lid-like and the two pieces of the shell are almost always closed.
What our organism eats: The American Oyster is a filter feeder, so they feed on plankton by pumping water into their gills through opening their shell. The process will take in bits of food with it.
Where it lives: Our American oyster lives in the Chesapeake bay which is an oceanic habitat.
Does the critter migrate?:  Adult American Oysters stay in the bay even while it's freezing, but the larvae can move around for three weeks.,
What role does the organism serve in the community?: Oysters are consumers in the environment because they consume things like algae and plankton, but it also does its own fair share of help to the environment by filtering it.
With what other organism does your critter compete for resources?:  For oysters they don't depend on other animals as much as other animals depend on them for food and shelter.
What challenge does your organism face?:  Oyster suffer from disease and over-harvesting as main problems, and this has made them endangered in the Chesapeake Bay..
Symbiotic Relationships?: Oysters main symbiotic relationship is called commensalism, when a parasitic crab lives in an oyster they gain food and shelter.
Importance of your critter to the bay's ecosystem: Oysters provide food and a habitat (oyster reefs). Oysters also filter water to improve water quality.
What interesting information have you found about you critter:  The American oyster was made the Louisiana official state gem in 2011. We’ve also been eating oysters since at least 6950 B.C., but if we don't eat them, they can have a lifespan of up to twenty years!

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Critters common name:  Water Star Grass

Scientific Name: Heteranthera Dubia

Description:
Qualitative:
*Green and Yellow
*Has long blades of grass
Quantitative:
*Entire plant is up to 10.16 cm.
* Five Petals
*Leaves and stem are 13.97 cm.

Organism Uses For Food: Detrius.
They also use the sun and the water for photosynthesis.

Lives in: Shallow waters up to 1 meter deep. They can survive on mud banks in the Chesapeake Bay.

Does it migrate?: No, it's a plant, but they can be washed up to shore naturally.  They can survive in mud or sand where the lake-shore has receded.

Role of Organism: Reproduces from seeds and goes through fragmentation. It feeds ducks and wading birds, but is not known as important.

Cooperate/Compete:
*Cooperates with sun
*Competes with ducks and wading birds

Challenges our organism faces:
*Predators - such as wading birds and ducks

Symbiotic Relationships: Water Stargrass depends on the sun so it can perform photosynthesis.  Without the sun, the plant would have no source of food.

Importance of critter to the Bay's ecosystem: There would be less food for birds and ducks, and they give off oxygen for other organisms to breathe.

Other Interesting Information: Native to North and Central America.  Water Stargrasses widespread goes from Canada to Guatemala.  It lives submerged in freshwater such as river or lakes.

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Critter's Common Name:
Grass Shrimp
Scientific Name:
Palaemonetes paludous
Description:
Nearly transparent, 3.8 cm, pointed serrated horn, red, yellow, white, or blue spots.
Food Source:
The Grass Shrimp eats algae, zooplankton, dead plants and animals, small worms and crustaceans.
Habitat:
Shallow waters, near bay grass beds.
Migration:
Yes, they migrate towards warmer and deeper waters during the winter.
Niche:
They provide us with food . They also eat dead organisms to clean up the environment.
Cooperation/Competition:
They compete with ducks and crayfish for food such as zooplankton, algae, and detritus.
Challenges:
They have to face predators such as the striped bass, red drum, white perch, and the spotted sea trout.
Symbiotic relationship:
Commensalism-  Grass Shrimp will take on the color of the Chocolate Chip Sea Star to camouflage from predators.
Importance:
If they were removed, many animals would die because grass shrimp are a big food source for many animals.
Interesting Facts:
The common grass shrimp is the most abundant of the four species known to live in the bay.

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Common Grass Shrimp | Chesapeake Bay Program

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The common grass shrimp has a delicate, nearly transparent body with a distinctive serrated "horn" over the eyes. It lives in shallow waters throughout the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers.

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Critters Common Name: Atlantic Menhaden
Scientific Name: Brevoorita Tyrannus
Description: The Menhaden is a silvery blue fish with dark spots on it's shoulders. It's underbelly is usually a light cream color. The Menhaden also has a deep forked tail.

Food source: It is a filter feeder, it swims rapidly to capture water in its open mouth, then filters it out
Habitat: They are born over the mid Atlantic shelf and drift to the Chesapeake bay.
Migration: Menhaden of all sizes and ages migrate during the Fall and Winter.
Niche: The Menhaden filters plankton out of the water, making the water cleaner.
Cooperation/competition:
The Menhaden do not compete for food, but are a food source for many other animals
Challenges: Predators --
Blue fish, Weakfish, Stripped Bass, Sharks, Mackerel, and Heron
Symbiotic Relationships: Sometimes there is a large crustacean parasite inside the Menhaden's mouth.
Importance: The third level consumers would lose a valuable food source. This could kill off the consumers.
Interesting Facts: The Menhaden is sometimes used for bait but are mainly used for fish oil.

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Critter's Common Name: Phytoplankton
Scientific Name: hyperia marocephala
Description: small, glowing, and insect like.
Food Source: They use the sun for photosynthesis and energy, just like plants.
Habitat: Bodies of water like, lakes, seas, & oceans in the zone called the Euphoric Zone.
Niche: Both a producer of oxygen through photosynthesis, and a good source of food for othere animals.
Competition/Cooperation: Phytoplankton compete with plants and other phytoplankton  species for sunlight.
Challenges: Other plankton they compete with for algea.
Symbiotic relationships: Phytoplankton have a symbiotic relationship with sea birds. When phytoplankton are eaten by krill, the toxin krill release at death attracts sea birds.
Importance: For a good food source, for others animals, as well as a feeder of a 1 level consumers.
Interesting Facts: Phytoplankton play a big role in the global carbon-cycle. During photosynthesis, they remove carbon dioxide in the sea and release oxygen as a by-product, and store carbon as organic matter.

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Critter's Common Name:
Blue Crab
Scientific Name (Genus species):  Callinectes sapidus
Description: Hand size, blueish, reddish, and brownish claws and legs, 3 legs, 1 pair of claws, brownish body, 2 eyes, 2 blue or brownish swimming/paddle fins, 1 pair of big spikes on side, many spikes lined in front of shell, 15 cm or more across, 1/2-1 kg.
Food Source(s): Clams, oysters, mussels, smaller crustaceans, freshly dead fish, and smaller soft shelled blue crab.
Habitat: Trenches, male in fresher water, and female in saltier water.
Migration: The blue crab migrates of the Chesapeake bay to spawn, then they move to lay their eggs.

Niche: They are food for other fish and animals as well as keeping other populations of animals from overpopulation.

Competition/ Cooperation: The blue crab competes with humans and sea gulls to get oysters.
Challenges: Predators- Croakers, Red Drum, Great Blue Heron, and Sea Turtles. Habitat loss and over-fishing.
Symbiotic relationships: Has a symbiotic relationship with aquatic plants. The blue crab eats mollusks that feed on the plants, and the plant hide the crabs from predators.
Importance: Food for us, keeps prey/food from overpopulation, and food for other animals.
Interesting Facts: The blue crab can live up to 3 years, its a native species, its scientific name comes from the Greek words "beautiful" and "swimmer"

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Critter's common name: American Shad
Scientific Name: Alosa Sapissima
Description: They are a white color with a dark blue towards the top of them, the size is about 76.2 cm. It has a metallic affect to it's body. It has a forked tail and is a very fast swimmer.
Food Source: Shad feed on zooplankton, insects, and smaller fish but fish are a minor part of their diet.
Habitat:Rivers,mostly in the ocean but migrate to swamps and tributaries.
Niche:American shad provide beneficial nutrients to the water after they die and their bodies decompose. They are also a snack to humans and provide nutrients to us as well.
Competition/cooperation:
They compete for food by eating a lot of the same fish that the striped bass eat, they both eat menhaden. They compete for these food resources but don’t seem to cooperate with any others. They also compete with blue fish which have extremely large, sharp teeth. All compete for zooplankton as well.
Challenges:
-Symbiotic relationship: The Shad use commensalism by laying eggs inside of the mussel's mouth and this is that relationship because the Shad gets the mussel's protection to their egg, as the mussel gets nothing.
- predators may include bears, striped bass, blue fish, eagles, hawks, humans, and other large organisms.
Importance: The Chesapeake American Shad is important because they form a important link in the food web and food supply for us humans.
Interesting facts:
- They like to feed on Planktons
- It weighs about 8 pounds full grown
- Smaller Males migrate back to rivers first
-The largest shad ever reported was 2 feet 6 inches
-The oldest Shad ever reported was 11 years old
- The American Shad is the largest fish appon their species.
-Females are larger then males.

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Critter's Common Name: Northern Krill
Scientific Name:
Meganyctiphanes norvegica
Description:
Translucent abdomen, thorax, and telson, stringy transparent maxillia and swimming legs, 2 compound eyes on stalks, orange and reddish coloration on head and abdominal persopeds and throughout thorax, usually around 3.5 cm.
Food Source:
Phytoplankton as well as smaller zooplankton
Migration:
from seafloor to the surface to reproduce
Habitat:
Northern Atlantic Ocean, saltwater, bays
Niche:
Necessary food source for large aquatic mammals, such as baleen whales.
Competiton/ Cooperation:
Compete with other phytoplankton eaters such as jellyfish, baleen whales, and a variety of small fish
Challenges:
Predators- baleen whales, herring, mackerel, cod, rockfish, crabs, pollock, squid, hake, and whiting
Symbiotic Relationships:
Live in feeding groups
Importance to Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem:
Provides lots of food for many fish integral to the food web, like mackerel, cod, and herring, which are a common food source not only for larger predators but also for humans.
Interesting Information:
Migrate vertically, used as Omega-3 fatty acid supplements.

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The order Euphausiacea comprises two families. The more abundant Euphausiidae contains 10 different genera with a total of 85 species. Of these, the genus is the largest, with 31 species. The lesser known family, the Bentheuphausiidae, has only one species, Bentheuphausia amblyops , a bathypelagic krill living in deep waters below 1,000 m (3,300 ft).

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Critter's Common Name: Perch Fish
Scientific Name: Morone Americana
Description: 18-25 cm, silvery greenish-gray body with a  white-ish belly, mildly forked tail, slightly projected tail, 3 spines in anal fin, deep notch in dorsal fin
Food Source: Fish eggs, insects, zooplankton, detritus, other fish, and mollusks
Habitat: Flat, shallow,
Migration: Juveniles migrate to brackish waters
Niche: Carnivore
Competition/Cooperation: Cooperate with other white perch.
Challenges: The main challenges the Perch fish faces are predators and over fishing. Predators include bluefish, weakfish and, striped bass.
Symbiotic relationships: None
Importance: Food source for humans, commercial and sport fishing, balances ecosystem as a predator and prey
Interesting Facts: They are a common food source across the U.S