Pterocladia capillacea . Common inverte- 

 brates include red sea urchins 

 ( Strongylocentrotus franciscanus ) , keyhole 

 limpets ( Megathura crenulata ) , "and spiny 

 lobster ( Panulirus interruptus ) . 

 Conspicuous fishes include the opaleye, 

 garibaldi, blacksmith, and topsmelt. 



Macrocystis pyrifera occurs from 

 ^8-20 m. The understory beneath its 

 surface canopy is relatively reduced, 

 with patches of Cystoseira neglecta , 

 Sargassum muticum , Dictyota f label lulata , 

 Pachydictyo n coriaceum and various species 

 of the red alga Gel idium , particularly 

 where the surface canopy is thin or 

 absent. Much of the bottom is covered by 

 encrusting coralline algae. Invertebrates 

 include those in shallow water plus the 

 additional sea urchin Centrostephanus 

 coronatus , Octopus bimaculatus , sea stars 

 ( Pisaster spp. ) , and the whelk Kelletia 

 kel letii . The grazing gastropod Norrisia 

 norrisi is common on Macrocystis . Fishes 

 such as the senorita, kelp perch, and 

 blacksmith are common in mid-water and the 

 Macrocystis surface canopy, while 

 California sheephead, rock wrasse, 

 senorita, various surfperch, and gobies 

 are abundant on and just above the bottom. 



In deeper water outside the giant 

 kelp canopy, the understory is again 

 dominated by the kelp Eisenia arborea , as 

 well as Agarum fimbriatum and Laminaria 

 farlowii . The browns Zonaria farlowii and 

 Dictyopteris undulata , encrusting and 

 articulated corallines, and the red algal 

 epiphyte Acrosorium uncinatum are present 

 around and beneath the understory kelp 

 canopy. The common benthic invertebrates 

 in the deep area are sea urchins 

 ( Centrostephanus coronatus ) , sea stars 

 ( Henricia leviuscula , Linckia columbiae , 

 Pisaster giganteus j, snails ( NorrisTa 

 norrisi , Tegula aureotincta ) , and various 

 bryozoans. Black-eyed gobies are abundant 

 on the bottom, while halfmoon, garibaldi, 

 California sheephead, and senorita are 

 common just above the bottom and in mid- 

 water. 



3.3.2.4 Del Mar . Rosenthal et al. 

 (1974) made extensive observations of the 

 organisms in a small kelp stand off Del 

 Mar (Figure 8) approximately 25 km north 

 of San Diego. This study, done between 

 1967 and 1973, is the most thorough, long- 



term natural history study published on a 

 kelp forest. Community composition is 

 summarized below, and temporal patterns 

 will be discussed in Section 3.4. 



Like many mainland southern 

 California giant kelp forests, the stand 

 at Del Mar is isolated by a surrounding 

 sand bottom. Plants in the stand occur on 

 a mixed sandstone and siltstone bottom, 

 with large areas of sand and silt among 

 the rock. The depth of this low relief 

 area is between 14 and 20 m. As in the 

 other areas described above, the 

 understory vegetation beneath the Macro - 

 cystis pyrifera was relatively sparse, 

 with only occasional individuals of 

 Pterygophora cal ifornica and 

 Laminaria farlowi i , and a few foliose 

 brown ( Desmarestia 1 igulata var. 

 ligulata ) and Feci [ Rhodymenia pacifica ) 

 algae. Most of the bottom was covered 

 with encrusting corallines (Figure 10). 



Ninety-eight species of epibenthic 

 invertebrates were identified by Rosenthal 

 et al . (1974) in the kelp forest, the most 

 common larger species being the tube 

 polychaete Diopatra ornata , the solitary 

 tunicate Styela montereyensis , the 

 gorgonian Muricea cal ifornica , the whelk 

 Kelletia kel letii , and the rock boring 

 clam Parapholas cal ifornica . Pisaster 

 giganteus was the most conspicuous sea 

 star. Both red and purple sea urchins 

 were present, though not abundant, and 

 were largely restricted to rock mounds and 

 boulders as they are at Campus Point 

 (described above). 



Thirty-eight species of fishes were 

 observed, and included most of those 

 common on reefs and in kelp forests in 

 southern California (see Chapter 4, 

 Section 4.5). 



3.3.2.5 Point Loma . The Point Loma 

 kelp forest is located along the western 

 shore of Point Loma between the entrance 

 of Mission Bay and San Diego Bay (Figure 

 8). This kelp forest was % 11 km long and 

 1 km wide in 1977 (Bernstein and Jung 

 1979), but has varied greatly in extent 

 since the early 1900' s (North 1969, Dayton 

 et al. 1984). It was extensively surveyed 

 by Turner et al. (1968) to detect possible 

 effects of the San Diego sewer outfall. 

 Given such a large area, one might expect 



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