Lots of fish are algae grazers, but today while walking along the lava-rock tide pools, I found 3 very different algae grazers, two invertebrates (out of the water, at low tide) and one vertebrate (in the water).
First is the shingle urchin. Although I am familiar with several other species of urchins that occur in shallow water here, this was the first time that I have seen this species. It's spines are flattened and only distributed around the bottom of the urchin, perhaps to discourage predators from prying it off the rock. They are adapted to live in a high-energy intertidal zone. They can take a pounding without being swept off the rocks. Kind of a cool looking urchin. These were 2 to 3 inches in diameter.
Second is the Hawaiian limpet, or opihi. These are quite tasty morsels, and are often eaten fresh off the rocks, but not today. This one was about 2 inches in diameter. Opihi have also evolved to hang on to rocks in high-energy intertidal habitats.
Third, is the Hawaiian green sea turtle, or honu. This turtle was about 20 inches long. It saw me and kind of swam over to check me out. I took a little video of it.
Turtles are tough and can easily crawl over the rough rock to get where they want to go. This photo shows the turtle in the foreground and its access to the ocean at the background.
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