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Critter's Common Name:
Blue Crab

Scientific Name:

Callinectes sapidus

Description:
Their shells are a bluish-olive green color, they have nine teeth, 3 pairs of legs, can reach up to 9 inches long, and they have blue claws.
Food Source:
Blue Crabs eat clams, oysters, mussels, smaller crustaceans, dead fish, and smaller soft-shelled blue crabs.
Habitat:
They live in the Nova Scotia to Argentina in the western Atlantic Ocean. Male blue crabs live in fresher waters while females tend to live in saltier waters.
Migration:
Blue crabs migrate north to the Chesapeake Bay every summer.
Niche:
They are opportunistic feeders, or scavengers. They feed on dead stuff that settle in the bottom of the ocean.
Competition/Cooperation:
Irregular weather patterns and pollution affect the loss of underwater grass beds, in which blue crabs use as nurseries and feeding grounds.
Challenges:
Croakers and Red Drums, Great Blue Herons, and sea turtles are some predators of the blue crab. Habitat loss and harvest pressure have caused the blue crab population to decrease.
Symbiotic Relationships:
The symbiotic relationship between a blue crab and a marsh periwinkle is mutualism. The blue crabs eat the marsh periwinkles, so their population will stay steady.
Importance:
Blue crabs are a type of keystone species. Striped Bass rely on blue crabs for food. Blue crab larvae are apart of the plank-tonic communities, and filter feeders such as oysters depend on them as a source of food.
Interesting Facts:
They are chief consumers called "benthos."

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Critter's Common Name:
American Oyster
Scientific Name:
Crassostrea Virginica
Description:
Brownish, white grayish, 3-5 inches in size, 2 rough shells
Food Source:
Plankton, filter feeders (they eat all the bacteria)
Habitat:
The American Oyster lives in the Chesapeake Bay. They can live in fresh or salt water.
Migration:
Yes and no, when they are in the egg and larvae they have 3 weeks as free swimming plankton and then they stay put where ever they fine land
Niche:
American oysters are filter feeders so they filter the water so it stays clean
Competition/Cooperation:
The American Oyster competes with other filter feeders such as snails and menhaden. They eat plankton and other food particles from the water.
Challenges:
They get over harvested in the Chesapeake Bay, The american Oyster get this disease called Dermo that kills them. They are losing their habitat to new urban land.
Symbiotic Relationships:
Mutualism- filter eaters: American oysters are filter feeders which means they get food by pumping water through their gills and trapping nutrients and food.
Importance:
Without the american oyster we would have dirty water plant wise. They were filter feeders and helped keep their ecosystems clean.
Interesting Facts:
1. The american oyster can filter 1.3 gallons of water per hour
2. They live anywhere for 6-20 years
3. Most American Oysters are the same species ( From the Gulf of Mexico to the Chesapeake Bay and then to the coast of Virginia.)

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Common Name: Immortal Jellyfish
Scientific Name: Turritopsis Nutricula/Dohrnii
Description: Immortal Jellyfish are clear, but they have a large bright red stomach in the cross section. Adult Immortal Jellyfish will have around 80-90 tentacles, and the diameter of it will be 4.5 millimeters. A young Immortal Jellyfish have 8 tentacles, and will have a diameter of 1 millimeter.
Habitat: Immortal Jellyfish live in warm, tropical waters around the world, such as the Mediterranean and Caribbean Sea, but they can also be found in the waters of Japan.
Migration: Immortal Jellyfish do not migrate, but are spreading to places they haven’t been before due to overpopulation
Niche: Immortal Jellyfish are second level consumers, or omnivores. They consume plankton, tiny mollusks, larvae and fish eggs, then they are eaten by various predators such as sharks, swordfish, and sea turtles, passing on energy to them.
Food Source: Immortal Jellyfish eat plankton, fish eggs, and small mullosks. Although overall Jellyfish diets also consist of other jellyfish and tiny pollock.
Cooperation/Competition: Jellyfish compete with ducks and small fish for plankton. Certain Jellyfish cooperate with algae to get carbohydrates for energy.
Symbiotic Relationships: Jellyfish have very interesting relationships with other animals. First, small fish make up a commensal relationship with Jellyfish by taking refuge and gaining a sort of safehaven through swimming close to the Jellyfish and it’s tentacles. An example of a mutual relationship is between some types of Jellyfish and a type of algae called Zooxanthellae that’s in their tissue. The algae benefits from being able to photosynthesize and the jellyfish benefits from the algae making carbohydrates out of solar energy and carbon dioxide, which the Jellyfish uses for food. An example of a parasitic relationship involving Jellyfish is tiny jellyfish and jellyfish relatives becoming parasites in animals such as whitefish and trout, which is threatening their population in the Yellowstone River and other places.
Challenges: Immortal Jellyfish face challenges such as disease and predators. Predators that prey on Immortal Jellyfish are some species of salmon, other jellyfish, sharks, swordfish, tuna, and sea turtles. Immortal Jellyfish are more likely to catch different diseases while they are in the medusa stage of their life.
Importance: If there were no Immortal Jellyfish, then predators who prey on them like other jellyfish and tuna who rely on the Immortal Jellyfish will lose a big food source. Their population will decrease because of the Immortal Jellyfish dying out, and eventually other populations will decrease as well.
Other Info:
- Jellyfish are the oldest living multi-organ animals with at least five hundred million years Living in earths oceans, But it is believed that they have been here for over seven hundred million years. Jellyfish will most likely outlive humans by a long shot.
- the Immortal Jellyfish is actually technically immortal. When threatened, the Immortal Jellyfish returns back to the beginning of its life cycle through a process called Transdifferentiation, and then can repeat this as many times as needed, making it impossible to tell the age of an Immortal Jellyfish unless actually recorded in captivity.

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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Hydrozoa
Order: Anthoathecata
Family: Oceaniidae
Genus: Turritopsis
Species: Turritopsis dohrnii (formerly classified as T. nutricula.)
Common Name: The immortal jellyfish

Most of the animals featured on the site are chosen based on their unusual looks. However, this not the case with Turritopsis dohrnii, which seemingly has no notable morphological characteristics.

On the outside, it looks like yet another small, bell-shaped medusa. What's so unique about it is the fact that it exhibits a certain form of immortality, reminiscent of the life of Benjamin Button. T. dohrnii is able to cheat death at the very last minute, instead of dying it simply goes back in time and renews itself to become young again! Theoretically, some say this can go on indefinitely, effectively rendering the species biologically immortal. But how is this achieved and is the species truly immortal? Maybe "immortality" is just a poor choice of words?

The (theoretically) Never Ending Lifecycle of Turritopsis dohrnii
Like most other hydrozoans, a T. dohrnii individual begins its life as a tiny, free-swimming larvae called planula. A planula is a flattened, ciliated and bilaterally symmetric larvae that forms from fertilized eggs. In the case of the immortal jellyfish, the planula then settles down and gives rise to a colony of polyps that are attached to the seafloor.

These polyps then give rise to new T. dohrnii individuals by the method of budding. Budding is a form of asexual reproduction in which a new organism develops from the outgrowths of the polyp. All the jellyfish arising from the planula are genetically identical clones and eventually become sexually mature jellyfish that can reproduce sexually and lay new eggs.

Now, this is where things get interesting. If a T. dohrnii jellyfish is exposed to environmental stress, physical assault, sickness or simply gets too old, it has the capacity to revert back to the polyp stage, forming a new polyp. The polyp can then give rise to new medusas!

All stages of the medusa, from newly budded to fully matured individuals can revert back to the polyp form. During the transformation, the jellyfish first becomes a ball of tissue, the cells de-differentiate and then re-differentiate, and finally transforms into a hydroid, the previous stage of development.

Confused? Hopefully this will help:

Theoretically, this process can go on forever, and this is why some say T. Dohrni individuals effectively rendered biologically immortal. Research in laboratory conditions has revealed that 100% of specimens can revert to the polyp stage. However, out in the wild, life is not that easy and most individuals succumb to predation, disease and other life-threatening hazards, well-before they have the time to revert back to the polyp stage.

Today, Turritopsis dohrnii is the only known species in the animalia kingdom capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage, after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary stage.

"While the "immortal" jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii may be able to turn back its life cycle, it may not escape the inevitable slowing down that comes with age. In other words, while reversing your fate and escaping death for a short while may be a neat trick, it doesn't guarantee immortality."

The medusa form Turritopsis dohrnii is bell-shaped and very small, with a maximum diameter of about 4.5 mm (0.18 in) and is about as tall as it is wide. Adults are about as wide as a human pinky nail.

The jelly in the walls of the bell is uniformly thin, except for some thickening at the apex. The relatively large stomach is bright red and has a cruciform shape in cross section. Young individuals are 1 mm in diameter and have only eight tentacles evenly spaced whereas adult specimens have 80-90 tentacles.

You may also like

Martínez DE (1998). Mortality patterns suggest lack of senescence in hydra. Experimental gerontology, 33 (3), 217-25 PMID: References & Further Reading
- WoRMS (2012). " Turritopsis dorhnii (Weissmann, 1883)". In P. Schuchert. World Hydrozoa database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
- Stefano Piraino, Ferdinando Boero, Brigitte Aeschbach and Volker Schmid (1996). Reversing the Life Cycle: Medusae Transforming into Polyps and Cell Transdifferentiation in Turritopsis nutricula (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa). Biological Bulletin , Vol. 190, No. 3 (Jun., 1996), pp. 302-312
- S Kubota (2011). " Repeating rejuvenation in Turritopsis, an immortal hydrozoan (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa)". Biogeography 13: 101-103. ISSN 1345-0662
- 9615920
- Bavestrello, Giorgio; Christian Sommer and Michele Sarà (1992). "Bi-directional conversion in Turritopsis nutricula (Hydrozoa)". Scientia Marina 56 (2-3): 137-140.
- Ker Than (January 29, 2009). ""Immortal" Jellyfish Swarm World's Oceans". National Geographic News.

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Turritopsis Dohrnii - Is It Really Immortal?

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Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Cnidaria Class: Hydrozoa Order: Anthoathecata Family: Oceaniidae Genus: Turritopsis Species: Turritopsis dohrnii (formerly classified as T. nutricula.) Common Name: The immortal jellyfish Most of the animals featured on the site are chosen based on their unusual looks. However, this not the case with Turritopsis dohrnii, which seemingly has no notable morphological characteristics.

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Common Name: Widgeon Grass
Scientific Name: Ruppia Maritima
Description: Widgeon grass has thread like leaves with rounded tips, a sheathed base, is green,  in the summer it grows pointed black seeds, And has an extensive root system
Food source: As a plant widgeon grass take water, sun, and carbon dioxide to make a type of sugar. That is what it eats.
Habitat: It live in a range of saltines. From slightly brackish to salty waters and fresh water. It lives in shallow areas with a sandy bottom.
Migration: It is a plant, it can not migrate
Niche: The widgeon grass serves as a habitat, nursery, and food source for some fish

Competition/Cooperation: Widgeon grass competes with Algae when algae over populates and covers the surface of the water and blocks the sun light

Challenges: Widgeon grasses  dominate predator is Waterfowl.  It is sensitive to water quality and weather

Symbiotic Relationships: Water Quality
Importance: If we took away widgeon grass which is one of the dominate under water grasses in the Chesapeake bay. Then there would be less oxygen in the water for the under water creatures to breath and some of them would die which in turn would make the carbon dioxide decrease making more plants die and so on.
Interesting facts: It does not only grow under water it also grows in diches

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Critters Common Name: White Perch
Scientific Name: Morone Americana
Description:  The Average size is about 8 - 10 inches and around one pound. They are gray and yellow. They have a dorsal fin, anal fin, caudal fin, adipose fin, and a pelvic fin.
Food Sources: The White Perch is known to eat the eggs of many other species native to the great lakes
Habitat: They can be found in the great lakes, other smaller lakes, and on the Atlantic coast of America.
Migration: Yes, as they grow juveniles migrate down stream to brackish waters.
Niche: White perch generally pray on fish eggs which can be 100% of their diet. Bluefish, Weak fish, and striped bass are their predators.
Competition/Cooperation: They eat the eggs of other fish as well as mud minnows. They compete  with each other for the mud minnows.
Challenges: White perch fish are being over harvested, their predators are the blue fish, weak fish, and the striped bass.
Symbiotic Relationships: We couldn't find any of these relation ships used by the white perch.
Importance: If their were no white perch in the Chesapeake bay then the blue fish, weak fish, and the striped bass wouldn't have their main food source and would start to die off. And many fish would be over populated because they wouldn't eat the fish eggs.
Interesting Facts: They are able to see, smell, and hear. They can also detect vibrations in the water. They can live up to 17 years.

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Critter's Common Name:  American shad

Scientific Name:  Alosa sapidissima
Description: The American shad has a thin metallic body that varies color from greenish to dark blue. The shad has a large dark shoulder spot. Adult shad weigh between 3 pounds (1.4 kg) and 8 pounds (3.6 kg).

Food Source: The American shad eats plankton, crustaceans and other small fish.  As a young fish, it eats zooplankton and other terrestrial insects within its birthplace.
Habitat:  The American Shad lives in the coastal ocean waters, spawning in freshwater rivers and streams. found along Atlantic seaboard from labrador to florida.
Migration:  The American shad stays in its birthplace until adulthood where they stop feeding and migrate upstream to spawn.
Niche:  After hatching young shad feed on zooplankton and insects. In turn larger fish and birds feed on young shad. Adult shad are food source for large fish,birds and bears.
Competition/Cooperation: When migrating, other American shads will compete for the right spot to lay there eggs.
Challenges: Pollution is a big problem in the bay in general and a problem for the shad too. Over fishing and construction of dams that block a migratory  of fish from reaching their spawning grounds.
Symbiotic relationships: As a juvenile, its symbiotic relationship is parasitism.  It feeds on zooplankton and other terrestrial insects without benefiting the prey in return.
Importance: If American Shad would be removed from the Chesapeake Bay, large fish and birds won't have much food because they feed on young shad. But they won't die off because they have other food sources.
Interesting Facts: American shad don't live very long.  They live up to 6 to 10 years. The oldest shad to ever be recorded was a 11 year old.  After laying there eggs, the adults either return to the ocean or die on the spot

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Critter's Common Name: Sandbar Shark
Scientific Name: Carcharhinus Plumbeus
Description: light gray, 6.6-8.2 ft, 3 fins, smooth skin, 10 gills, and has a light white underside
Food Source: bony fish, smaller sharks, rays, crabs, shrimp, cephalopods, and gastropods
Habitat: Western Atlantic, ranges from New England to Brazil, lives in Coastal waters with sandy bottoms
Migration:  Yes. During late fall they migrate in deeper waters. They return to nursing grounds during warmer monthes.
Niche: feeds on prey (smaller sharks, rays, blue crabs, etc.
Competition/Cooperation: Different types of sharks sized the same as sandbar sharks.
Challenges: Humans try to remove their fins and sell them for money this is called shark finning, Also sandbar sharks are highly valued at in fish markets.
Symbiotic Relationships: The symbiotic relationship between the sandbar shark and Remora fish is commensalism. The Remora gets it's food from the shark while the shark gets no benefit.
Importance: Sandbar sharks help maintain the food chain. They indirectly help maintain the sea grass and coral reef habitats. Also, if there were no sandbar sharks the larger sharks that eat them would die off and the things the sandbar sharks eat would over populate
Interesting Facts: Females give birth every other year, males can live up to 15 years while females can live up to 21 years old, considered not dangerous to humans, can grow up to 8 feet tall, most common shark in the Chesapeake Bay

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Critter's Common Name:
Ruddy Duck

Scientific Name:

Oxyura Jamaicensis

Description:
Ruddy Duck males are different in color and size than females. They have chestnut colored bodies, while the females are just a brown color. Males have white cheeks, dark brown caps and tails, and a bright blue beak. Males are larger that females in size, and wingspan.
Food Source:
Ruddy Ducks are omnivores, they eat mostly bay grasses, insects, mollusks, and crustaceans.
Habitat:
They are native to North and South America, living in the Chesapeake Bay in shallow waters. They are also found in freshwater ponds and lakes.
Migration:
Ruddy Ducks migrate within medium to large size flocks at night to their summer feeding grounds. They migrate very close to water level.
Niche:
Ruddy Ducks are second level consumers, they eat midge, larvae, and crustaceans. They also eat plants. They are eaten by raccoons, mink, American Crows, Red- Tailed Hawks, and Great Horned Owls.
Competition/Cooperation:
Ruddy Ducks compete with White-Headed ducks for nesting sites and for food.
Challenges:
Predators like raccoons, mink, American Crows, Black Crowned Night Herons and Ring Billed Gulls eat Ruddy Duck eggs and nestlings. Adults are hunted by Red- Tailed Hawks, Great Horned Owls, red foxes, and mink. They also are hunted legally by North America and Europe.

Symbiotic Relationships:
Ruddy Ducks have a parasitism relationship with parasites, and tapeworms. They are used as a host to them. The parasites and tapeworms benefit while the Ducks are negatively impacted.
Importance:
Ruddy Ducks are omnivores, second level consumers, so if they were to be removed then the carnivores, third level consumers, would have nothing to eat and die off. Also, the herbivores, primary consumers, would have nothing eating them so they would over populate.
Interesting Facts:
-Ruddy Ducks are one of the smallest ducks found in the Chesapeake Bay, but lay some of the largest eggs in the world!
-when alarmed they dive underwater rather than flying away
-Ruddy ducks are excellent swimmers but are very clumsy on land

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Critter's Common Name: Great Blue Heron
Scientific Name: Ardea Herodias
Description: long yellow bill, 1 pair of long legs, white head, 4 feet tall, long S shaped neck, different shades of light blue and dark blue feathers, bluish gray body
Food Source: Eats a lot of fish but will also eat

insects, crustaceans,amphibians and small animals

Habitat: marshes and wetlands,  sometimes found in freshwater lakes and ponds.
Migration: They migrate from Southern Canada to Northern South America during the winter time.
Niche: eaten by larger animals
Competition/Cooperation: They compete with crows,ravens,eagles,raccoons, turkey vultures,when protecting their eggs or food.
Challenges: crows and ravens feed on their eggs, limited nesting areas, bears, vultures, hawks and raccoons hunt them, poor water quality and limited habitats
Symbiotic Relationships: Parasitism when a Great Blue Heron eats a snake. Mutu
Importance: it's predators will have less to eat, it's prey will have less predators
Interesting Facts: They have been known to choke to death.They are able to hunt day and night.They are the largest heron in North America

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Common name: Striped Bass
Scientific name: Rockfish or stripers
Description: On the fishes upper body it has brown spots. The striped bass has 7 fins. Also most of its body is a grayish white.
Food source: They eat alewives, flounder, sea herring, menhaden, sand lance, silver hake, tomcod, smelt, silversides, eels, lobsters, crab, soft clams, small mussels, sea worms, squid, anchovies.
Habitat: The striped bass lives in coastal waters along the north American eastern border. From Florida all the way to Canada.
Migration: They like to be in a temperature of 55 degrees to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, so they do migrate. They have a Spring and Fall migration.
Niche: The striped bass is a key predator in the Chesapeake Bay food web.
Competition/Cooperation: Some organisms that compete/cooperate with striped bass are black crappie, walleye, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, spotted bass, and sauger.
Challenges:
- Over harvesting/fishing in 1983 14.7 million pounds of striped bass was caught the next year only 1.7 million was caught
- Pollution
- water temp. in spawning areas
- Poor water quality
Symbiotic Relationships:
Parasitism: Striped bass eat menhaden. Dolphins eat striped bass. Bull sharks eat striped bass.
Importance: The striped bass is one of the top predators in its food web so without it the secondary consumers would overpopulate and the first level consumers would all die which means the producers would overpopulate due to the lack of primary consumers.
Interesting Facts:
*Striped bass live in the Bay but sprawl in fresh water rivers.
*They mostly feed at half hour before sunrise and at dusk.
*Older and larger rockfish are called "cows"
*Younger and smaller rockfish are called "schoolies or shorts"

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Critter's Common Name: Osprey
Scientific Name: Pandion Haliatus

Description: black beak, 2 eyes, 2 legs, 2 wings, a white under body, black back, black wings.
Food Source: They can find they're food in the pond because fish are 99% of their appetite
Habitat: Ospreys are found world wide, where ever there are rivers, bays, lakes, or seacoasts.
Migration: Yes. their migration routes following broad swaths of the eastern, interior, and western parts of the U.S
Niche: Ospreys inhabit water ways, ocean shores, and large lakes. They are hunting birds.
Competition/Cooperation: They compete with fisherman for their fish. They also compete with seagulls and turtles.
Challenges: Ospreys face the challenge of nest predators like, raccoons, snakes, owls, and eagles. Ospreys also face diseases like, salmonella, Trichomoniasis, mites, lice and Lyme disease.
Symbiotic relationships: Mutualism- both organisms benefit
Commensalism- one organism benefits and the other is not effected
Parasitism- Osprey and fishy have a parasitism relationship the osprey eats the fish and it benefits.

Importance: The population of fish will drastically increase with the removal of Ospreys. This will occur because fish is 99% of the Ospreys diet
Interesting Facts: 1) ospreys search for fish flying on steady wing beats and bowed wings or circling in the sky over shallow water
2) ospreys can be found around bodies of water.

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Critter's Common Name:
Loggerhead Turtle
Scientific Name: Caretta Caretta
Description: Large shell made from carapace. Four flippers
Food source: Carnivors, Mollusks, Horse Shoe, Crabs, Clams, Mussels, Jellyfish, Seaweed, mostly shellfish and other invertebrates.
Habitat: Hatch-lings head toward the sea after birth, young juveniles live on mats of seaweed and older ones are found in coastal areas
Migration: Yes, Loggered Sea Turtle do migrate. They travel up to thousands of miles to migrate.
Niche: Omnivorous feeding mainly on invertebrates. Eggs are fed upon by terrestrial and semi aquatic predators, as are hatch-lings

Competition/Cooperation: It doesn’t have competition for its sources.
Challenges: Predators, status is 'threatened', to some degree, overharvesting as they get stuck in fishing gear
Symbiotic Relationships: Mutualism.
Importance: Eat sea grasses, control jellyfish and sponge population, as well as transport nutrients to other sea creatures
Interesting Facts: They can live up to 50 years or more. They weigh average of 250 lbs.

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Common Name:  Grass Shrimp
Scientific Name: Palamonetes pugio
Description:  Transparent body, squished sides, grows up to about 5 cm in length, 5 walking legs, 5 swimmeretes, 1st pair of legs has claws, and there is a serrated horn that goes out  over their eyes.
Food Source: Worms,algae, tiny Crustaceans, and phytoplankton
Habitat: High Salinity Marshes and near shallow coasts
Migration: The Grass Shrimp stays year long in  marshes and near shallow coasts
Niche: Major food source for fish and crabs, and breaks down decomposing matter for smaller organisms
Competition/Cooperation:
Grass Shrimp compete with each other and are over hunted by Sunfish.
Challenges: The Grass Shrimp is not state or federally listed
Symbiotic: They are also a host for parasites ( Parasitism)
Importance: It is a food source for fish/crabs and it breaks down decomposing matter for smaller organisms.
Interesting Facts: Grass Shrimp indicate human actions and are pollution resistant.

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Critter's Common Name:
Atlantic Menhaden
Scientific Name:
Brevoortia Tyrannus
Description:
Silver, bluish green, bluish brown, black spots, 12in -15in
Food Source:
Filter Feeders - eat phytoplankton and zooplankton
Habitat:
North Atlantic coastal and estuaries. Nova Scotia to North of Florida.
Migration:
Migrate to coastal waters during summer and fall seasons.
Niche:
Filters pollutants (filter feeders)
a vital part of many fish diets
Competition/Cooperation:
Often eaten by striped bass, bluefish, sharks, and other bigger fish/mammals.
Challenges:
Predators - Bluefish, Weakfish, Striped Bass, Sharks, Mackerals, Sea Bird and mammels. Atlantic Medhadon
Symbiotic Relationships:
Parasitism - benefiting off phytoplankton and zooplankton, but killing them in the process (food)
Mutualism - The fish protect seaweed from pollutants and get a home in return.
Importance:
Very important to filter pollutants out of the water and a vital part of the Chesapeake Bay's ecosystem
Interesting Facts:
Closer to the southern part of the Atlantic Coast, Atlantic Menhaden's tend to be smaller than the ones closer to the northern part.