Kelp forests offer a superb shelter for marine vertebrates because of the shelter it offers from predators as well as the large amount of other organisms that can be prey for them to eat. Kelp forests are known to host a large variety of Osteichthyes and in certain kelp forest more than 100 different species of rockfish have been recorded, making kelp forests a highly biodiverse ecosystem. Vertebrates of many different variations and size thrive in this environment because there is shelter from bigger open ocean predators while also providing other smaller organisms as a constant food source. Vertebrates play a big role in maintaining the predator prey balance in the kelp forest ecosystem and a kelp forest would be extremely devastated without the presence of this member of the ecosystem.

Osteichthyes

Garibaldi

Hypsypops rubicundus

Habitat: They within the kelp forests along the range of Monterey Bay to southern Baja California.

Species role: Garibaldis feed on sponges, coelenterates, bryozoans, worms, nudibranchs helping to control the populations of these organisms.

Lifecycle: The males create a nest for the females to lay eggs in. Once the nest is finished males need to attract females and they do this by swimming in loops and hitting their teeth together. Females are very choosy when picking a nest. They look for nests with eggs already in them and go there most of the time making it very hard for a male to attract its first female.

Survival Adaptation: Garibaldis are fiercely territorial and and can charge and make a grunting noise when they feel threatened. They are a strong fish and can withstand taking a beating from other Garibaldis.

California Sheephead

Semicossyphus pulcher

Habitat: California Sheephead are found in kelp forests around California to Sea of Cortez, but not common north of Point Conception except when carried north by warm El Niño currents.

Species role: California Sheephead are predators and consume hard-shelled animals, such as sea urchins, molluscs, lobsters, crabs.

Lifecycle: Dominant males lead the females in a circular pattern as they broadcast sperm and eggs, respectively. The females spawn between 36,000 and 296,000 eggs, which hatch into larvae. The young of the year sheephead don't resemble adults; they're a bright reddish orange with large black spots on their dorsal and upper tail fins and a white stripe running the length of their bodies. All sheephead are born female. Most of them change to males following environmental clues.

Survival adaptation: They have protruding canine teeth that can pry hard-shelled animals from rocks and powerful jaws and sharp teeth that crush the prey along with modified throat bones (a throat plate) grind the shells into small pieces.

Chondrichthyes

Habitat: Leopard sharks live within the range from Oregon to Mazatlan, Mexico, including Gulf of California.

Species role: Leopard sharks are predators and help control the population of clams, fish eggs, fat innkeeper worms, crabs, fish.

Lifecycle: Baby sharks are called pups. Unlike most fish, which lay eggs, mother leopard sharks keep their eggs inside their bodies until they hatch. After 10 to 12 months, she gives birth to a couple dozen wriggling shark pups, each about 7 inches long. Keeping the eggs safe inside her is a good way to make sure they all hatch, though it's also a reason why leopard sharks have so few young—at least compared with the thousands of eggs many other fish lay . Female leopard sharks are usually about 10 years old when they have their first litter, but after that they generally mate every year.

Survival adaptation: Since sharks don’t have swim bladders they stay close the the bottom of the sea floor. Because of this they have evolved to have sub-terminal mouths that help them feed on the bottom of the ocean. Their mouths are on the flat underside of their heads, and they open downward.

Horn Shark

Heterodontus francisci

Phylum: Chordata Class: Chondrichthyes Order: Heterodontiformes Family: Heterodontidae

Habitat: Horn Sharks can be found in the coastal areas of the ocean in areas such as kelp forests. Many horn sharks live in the coastal california area which is home to a large amount of different kelp forests that offer opportunities for feeding.

Species Role: Horn Sharks are vertebrate predators that hunt their prey which consists of mostly echinoderms (such as seas urchins) and small fish, at night. However, although they are a predator to most, Horn fish are definitely not an apex predator and definitely have predators such a bigger sharks and humans.

Lifecycle: Horn Sharks sexually reproduce involving a male and female shark, and after fertilization the female horn shark release unique casings containing eggs that serve as a protective environment for the embryo to grow.

Survival Adaptations: Horns are a unique type of shark with many different adaptations that make it a successful nocturnal hunter. Being bottom dwellers, horn fish have adapted to use their muscular pectoral fins to crawl across the floor of kelp forest. Horn fish have a downward opening mouth to eat their prey, but they also have adapted to grow a spine on their dorsal fin to protect them from larger predators that try to consume them.

References

“California Sheephead.” Monterey Bay Aquarium. 2017. https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/fishes/california-sheephead.

“Garibaldi.” Monterey Bay Aquarium. 2017. https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/fishes/garibaldi.

“Horn Shark.” Monterey Bay Aquarium. 2017. https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/fishes/horn-shark.

“Kelp Forests: Cathedrals in the Sea Horn Shark.” Biology of Sharks and Rays. 2003. http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/ecology/kelp-horn_shark.htm.

“Leaopard Sharks.” Monterey Bay Aquarium. 2017. https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/fishes/leopard-shark.

Sanders, Alyssa. “Loxorhynchus crispatus moss crab.” Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. 2013. http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Loxorhynchus_crispatus/.

“WHAT KIND OF FISH LIVE IN A KELP FOREST?” pets. http://animals.mom.me/kind-fish-live-kelp-forest-11630.html.