milford wildlife
Milford’s Changing Tide Pools A s a child I would often visit my grandparents who owned a small cottage facing Anchor Beach in the Woodmont borough of Milford. I would explore the tide pools in this rocky coastal habitat zone.
Under almost any rock, my brothers and
Nature, like shifting sands, is
Ribbed mussel
I would find eels. Blue mussels (Mytilus
dynamic; always changing. Depending
edulis) seemed to be everywhere. So were
on your perspective, these changes can be
found under those rocks; however, Asian
common periwinkles (Littorina littorea),
thought of as positive (cardinals expanding
shore crabs are here by the millions under
which we called snails. If we walked the
their range northward, for example) or
those same rocks. At first blush that would
sand bars at low tide, we would be wary
negative (English sparrows and starlings
seem to be a negative, but with Asian shore
of having our toes pinched by calico crabs
coming to the western hemisphere and
crabs we have seen increased numbers of the
(ovalipes ocellatus)—sometimes called
impacting our native bluebirds).
shorter-necked marine goose called Brant. I
lady crabs—with their colorful spotted,
Today our once plentiful blue mussels
suspect the crustacean-eating blackfish are
somewhat purplish carapace, or top shell.
have disappeared from our rocky coastal
Green crabs (Carcinus maenas) abounded as
areas. The ribbed mussels (Modiolus
well but were less feisty than the colorful
demissus), associated more with emerging
need to be renamed uncommon periwinkles
calicos. Blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus)
salt marsh areas amongst the rocky tide
and those colorful toe-nipping calico crabs
would appear in August.
pools, seem to be increasing. Eels are seldom
have disappeared. The green crabs seem to be
being seen in greater numbers as well. Species like the common periwinkles may
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Blue crab
46 Milford Living • Summer
Oystercatcher