Cord Grass
Scientific name:Spartina
Kingdom: Plantea
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Cord grass grows in salt marshes. They are one of the few flowering plants that can survive in salt water. The salt it can’t use is discharged through its leaves. Cord grass roots go deep into the marsh mud in order to get the nutrients it needs to survive. Cord grass is a hardy plant and can live in a variety of temperatures and salinities. Cord grass reproduce by new plants sprouting from the stems of other cord grass plants. These plants multiply fast. Other organisms use them to hide in.
Scientific name:Spartina
Kingdom: Plantea
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Cord grass grows in salt marshes. They are one of the few flowering plants that can survive in salt water. The salt it can’t use is discharged through its leaves. Cord grass roots go deep into the marsh mud in order to get the nutrients it needs to survive. Cord grass is a hardy plant and can live in a variety of temperatures and salinities. Cord grass reproduce by new plants sprouting from the stems of other cord grass plants. These plants multiply fast. Other organisms use them to hide in.
Blue Crab
Scientific name: Callinectes sapidus
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Blue crabs live in brackish coastal areas and estuaries. They are found in Canada all the way to Uruguay. Blue crabs are omnivores and eat almost anything. Blue crabs are great swimmers. They are very senstitive to enviromental changes. Females can only mate once in their life. After mating, females migrate to high-salinity waters. The female extrudes fertilized eggs into a mass, or "sponge," that remains attached to her abdomen until the larvae emerge. Male Blue crabs typically live one to three years, females live one to two years.
Scientific name: Callinectes sapidus
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Blue crabs live in brackish coastal areas and estuaries. They are found in Canada all the way to Uruguay. Blue crabs are omnivores and eat almost anything. Blue crabs are great swimmers. They are very senstitive to enviromental changes. Females can only mate once in their life. After mating, females migrate to high-salinity waters. The female extrudes fertilized eggs into a mass, or "sponge," that remains attached to her abdomen until the larvae emerge. Male Blue crabs typically live one to three years, females live one to two years.
Atlantic Sting Ray
Scientific Name: Dasyatis Sabina
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
The Atlantic stingray is found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Chesapeake Bay to Campeche, Mexico. They can live in freshwater, but only the stingrays in St.John, Florida are recognized as permanent freshwater stingrays in North America. They prefer shallow coastal waters over estuaries. They eat mostly bivalves, tube anemones, amphipods, crustaceans, and various ocean worms. Their main predators are sharks and alligagtors. Atlantic Sting Rays have annual mating seasons and females have one to four offspring a season. They can live in varying salinities.
Scientific Name: Dasyatis Sabina
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
The Atlantic stingray is found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Chesapeake Bay to Campeche, Mexico. They can live in freshwater, but only the stingrays in St.John, Florida are recognized as permanent freshwater stingrays in North America. They prefer shallow coastal waters over estuaries. They eat mostly bivalves, tube anemones, amphipods, crustaceans, and various ocean worms. Their main predators are sharks and alligagtors. Atlantic Sting Rays have annual mating seasons and females have one to four offspring a season. They can live in varying salinities.
Periwinkle Snail
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Mollusca
Scientific Name: Littorina littorea
The periwinkle snail is an intertidal species. It typically lives on Spartina. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic ocean, but was introduced to the northwestern Atlantic ocean. The periwinkle snail prefers rocky shores, but also lives in estuaries. These snails feed on algea and small invertabates. They reproduce every year by internal fertilization of egg capsules that are released into the water. They can lay ten thousand to a hundred thousand eggs in a capsule. They can live up to five years.
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Mollusca
Scientific Name: Littorina littorea
The periwinkle snail is an intertidal species. It typically lives on Spartina. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic ocean, but was introduced to the northwestern Atlantic ocean. The periwinkle snail prefers rocky shores, but also lives in estuaries. These snails feed on algea and small invertabates. They reproduce every year by internal fertilization of egg capsules that are released into the water. They can lay ten thousand to a hundred thousand eggs in a capsule. They can live up to five years.
Mussel
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Mollusca
Scientific Name: Ptermorphia
Mussels live all over the world. Mussels primarily feed on plankton and other microscopic organisms by filter feeding. They live along the oceans’ edges, in the mid to low intertidal zones. They do not move once settled. Mussels reproduce with a larval stage that drifts in the water for three weeks to six month before settling on a hard surface as a mussel. Mussels are eaten by humans, sea stars,sea birds, and other marine gastropods.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Mollusca
Scientific Name: Ptermorphia
Mussels live all over the world. Mussels primarily feed on plankton and other microscopic organisms by filter feeding. They live along the oceans’ edges, in the mid to low intertidal zones. They do not move once settled. Mussels reproduce with a larval stage that drifts in the water for three weeks to six month before settling on a hard surface as a mussel. Mussels are eaten by humans, sea stars,sea birds, and other marine gastropods.
Gulf Sturgeon Fish
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Scientific Name: Acipensar oxyrinchus desotoi
The Gulf Sturgeon fish is an endangered species that lives from Lake Pontchartrain to Suwannee River in Florida. They are an ancient fish that have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. Adult Sturgeon spawn in freshwater in spring and early summer and then migrate to estuarine enviroment. Therefore, making them anadromous. They are a large fish that range from 6-8 feet in length and have plate like scales. Gulf Sturgeon Fish feed on crustaceans and mollusklks. They can live up to sixty years, but typically live twenty to twenty-five years.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Scientific Name: Acipensar oxyrinchus desotoi
The Gulf Sturgeon fish is an endangered species that lives from Lake Pontchartrain to Suwannee River in Florida. They are an ancient fish that have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. Adult Sturgeon spawn in freshwater in spring and early summer and then migrate to estuarine enviroment. Therefore, making them anadromous. They are a large fish that range from 6-8 feet in length and have plate like scales. Gulf Sturgeon Fish feed on crustaceans and mollusklks. They can live up to sixty years, but typically live twenty to twenty-five years.
Bull Shark
Scientific Name: Carcharhinus leucas
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Bull sharks are hardy and can live in salt water and freshwater. They are known to be aggressive sharks and have attacked humans. Bull sharks can grow up to fifteen feet. Bull Sharks mate late summer to early autumn. Bull sharks are born live and can live for 16 years. They are carnivores and eat almost anything. They prefer murky, shallow water. This poses problems because they prefer to hunt where humans swim.
Scientific Name: Carcharhinus leucas
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Bull sharks are hardy and can live in salt water and freshwater. They are known to be aggressive sharks and have attacked humans. Bull sharks can grow up to fifteen feet. Bull Sharks mate late summer to early autumn. Bull sharks are born live and can live for 16 years. They are carnivores and eat almost anything. They prefer murky, shallow water. This poses problems because they prefer to hunt where humans swim.
Common name and Scientific name: Spongilla alba
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Porifera
Spongilla alba is a sponge found in freshwater. It attaches to any hard surface. Like any other sponge, it feeds by filtering water and catching food particles and plankton. Spongilla can reproduce both sexually and asexually.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Porifera
Spongilla alba is a sponge found in freshwater. It attaches to any hard surface. Like any other sponge, it feeds by filtering water and catching food particles and plankton. Spongilla can reproduce both sexually and asexually.
American Wildcelery
Scientific Name: Vallisneria americana
Kingdom:Plantea
Phylum: Hydrocharitaceae
American Wildceler is a bay grass that grows in Lake Ponchartrain. It can grow up to five feet long and flourishes in brackish water. It provides food for blue crabs and other species. Like other plants to reproduce, male flowers release pollen that fertilize female flowers.
Scientific Name: Vallisneria americana
Kingdom:Plantea
Phylum: Hydrocharitaceae
American Wildceler is a bay grass that grows in Lake Ponchartrain. It can grow up to five feet long and flourishes in brackish water. It provides food for blue crabs and other species. Like other plants to reproduce, male flowers release pollen that fertilize female flowers.
Gulf Sheephead
Scientific Name:Archosargus probatocephalus
Kingodm: Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Sheepheads are found in estuaries and bays. They feed mainly on crustaceans, mollusks, barnicles and any fish smaller than them. They live in the western Atlantic Ocean by the coasts. They grow up to 18 inches and weigh usually around 1-8 pounds. They spawn in spring, but little else is known about their spawning behavior.
Scientific Name:Archosargus probatocephalus
Kingodm: Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Sheepheads are found in estuaries and bays. They feed mainly on crustaceans, mollusks, barnicles and any fish smaller than them. They live in the western Atlantic Ocean by the coasts. They grow up to 18 inches and weigh usually around 1-8 pounds. They spawn in spring, but little else is known about their spawning behavior.
Loggerhead Sea Turtle
Scientific Name: Caretta caretta
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
The loggerhead sea turtle is an endangered turtle that lives in many of the world’s oceans. This turtle prefers temperate or tropical climates. The loggerhead sea turtle’s life span is 47-67 years and it does not reach sexual maturity until it is 17. The loggerhead sea turtle is an omnivore. These turtles court their mates, although not a lot is known about their courting behaviors. Like other sea turtles, loggerheads nest on beaches.
Scientific Name: Caretta caretta
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
The loggerhead sea turtle is an endangered turtle that lives in many of the world’s oceans. This turtle prefers temperate or tropical climates. The loggerhead sea turtle’s life span is 47-67 years and it does not reach sexual maturity until it is 17. The loggerhead sea turtle is an omnivore. These turtles court their mates, although not a lot is known about their courting behaviors. Like other sea turtles, loggerheads nest on beaches.
West Indian Manatee
Scientific Name: Trichechus manatus
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Manatees are rare to find in Lake Ponchartrain, but they occasionaly do enter the lake to feed. Manatees can weigh up to 1,200 pounds. Their gestation period can last up to 14 months and once the calf is born it stays with its mother for two years. Manatees are herbivores and feed on sea grasses. Unfortunately, because of human interaction the manatee is endangered. And they are super cute!
Scientific Name: Trichechus manatus
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Manatees are rare to find in Lake Ponchartrain, but they occasionaly do enter the lake to feed. Manatees can weigh up to 1,200 pounds. Their gestation period can last up to 14 months and once the calf is born it stays with its mother for two years. Manatees are herbivores and feed on sea grasses. Unfortunately, because of human interaction the manatee is endangered. And they are super cute!
Grass Shrimp
Scientific Name: Palaemonetes pugio
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Grass Shrimp are found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. They live in shallow water among water grass beds. They feed on worms, algea, and smaller crustaceans. Their predators are small fish. Grass shrimp spawn in summer when the water is warm. The female carries the eggs in a pouch that is visible, because the shrimp is transparent. They live for about one year.
Scientific Name: Palaemonetes pugio
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Grass Shrimp are found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. They live in shallow water among water grass beds. They feed on worms, algea, and smaller crustaceans. Their predators are small fish. Grass shrimp spawn in summer when the water is warm. The female carries the eggs in a pouch that is visible, because the shrimp is transparent. They live for about one year.
Red Drum Fish
Scientific Name:Sciaenops ocellatus
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Red Drum Fish live along the edges of bays with vegetation such as cord grass. They are commonly found around oyster beds. They can live in freshwater, and have been found in creeks and rivers. They are found on the East Coast of North America and in the Gulf of Mexico. Spawning season starts in mid-August and ends in mid-October.Eggs incubate for twenty-four hours, the larvae is then pushed into bays by the tide. During spawning, males attract females by making a drum-like noise by vibrating a muscle in their swim bladder. They eat crabs, shrimp, sand dollars, mullet ,lizardfish, and flounder.
Scientific Name:Sciaenops ocellatus
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Red Drum Fish live along the edges of bays with vegetation such as cord grass. They are commonly found around oyster beds. They can live in freshwater, and have been found in creeks and rivers. They are found on the East Coast of North America and in the Gulf of Mexico. Spawning season starts in mid-August and ends in mid-October.Eggs incubate for twenty-four hours, the larvae is then pushed into bays by the tide. During spawning, males attract females by making a drum-like noise by vibrating a muscle in their swim bladder. They eat crabs, shrimp, sand dollars, mullet ,lizardfish, and flounder.
Pinfish
Scientific Name:Lagodon rhobiodes
Kingdom:Animalia
Phlyum: Chordata
Pinfish are found in estuaries and brackish water. Pinfish are herbviores that eat algea and grasses. They are a small fish and grow only to 4.5 inches. They typically live in the subtropical shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic. To reproduce the females release their eggs into the water, the males than fertilize them. These fish are at the bottom of the food chain and are prey for many other animals.
Scientific Name:Lagodon rhobiodes
Kingdom:Animalia
Phlyum: Chordata
Pinfish are found in estuaries and brackish water. Pinfish are herbviores that eat algea and grasses. They are a small fish and grow only to 4.5 inches. They typically live in the subtropical shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic. To reproduce the females release their eggs into the water, the males than fertilize them. These fish are at the bottom of the food chain and are prey for many other animals.
Brown Pelican
Scientific Name: Pelecanus occidentalis
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
The Brown Pelican is often seen fishing in Lake Pontchartrain and is found throughout the southern United States. This bird is the state bird of Louisiana. The Brown Pelican’s main diet staple is fish. They nest in colonies often on islands, and males pick out nesting sites in order to attract female pelicans. Both parents take care of the eggs and care for their young for up to ten months.
Scientific Name: Pelecanus occidentalis
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
The Brown Pelican is often seen fishing in Lake Pontchartrain and is found throughout the southern United States. This bird is the state bird of Louisiana. The Brown Pelican’s main diet staple is fish. They nest in colonies often on islands, and males pick out nesting sites in order to attract female pelicans. Both parents take care of the eggs and care for their young for up to ten months.
Osprey
Scientific Name: Pandion haliaetus
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Osprey live in a variety of habitats, but always near a body of water because their favorite prey is fish. Osprey nest near water and mate for life. Ospreys are extremely picky about their nesting sites and in places where there is no suitable nesting sites humans build tall nests for the birds.
Scientific Name: Pandion haliaetus
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Osprey live in a variety of habitats, but always near a body of water because their favorite prey is fish. Osprey nest near water and mate for life. Ospreys are extremely picky about their nesting sites and in places where there is no suitable nesting sites humans build tall nests for the birds.
Spotted Gar
Scientific Name: Lepisosteus oculatus
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Spotted Gar is a freshwater fish that lives in Lake Pontchartrain. It lives only in North America. The spotted gar eat other fish and crustaceans. Spotted gar live typicall 8 to 10 years. However they can live up to 18 years. They lay their eggs on the leaves of plants and spawn only when water temperatures are between 69.8-78.8 degrees farenheit.
Scientific Name: Lepisosteus oculatus
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Spotted Gar is a freshwater fish that lives in Lake Pontchartrain. It lives only in North America. The spotted gar eat other fish and crustaceans. Spotted gar live typicall 8 to 10 years. However they can live up to 18 years. They lay their eggs on the leaves of plants and spawn only when water temperatures are between 69.8-78.8 degrees farenheit.
Tarpon
Scientific Name: Megalops atlanticus
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Tarpon live in almost all water, even in water with little oxygen. They have the special adaptation that allows them to breathe air from the surface. They can grow very large (7 ft and 350Ibs). They are one of the biggest predators in Lake Pontchartrain and eat anything smaller than them and hunt at night. Tarpon breed in isolated areas and females typically lay 12 million eggs at one time!
Scientific Name: Megalops atlanticus
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Tarpon live in almost all water, even in water with little oxygen. They have the special adaptation that allows them to breathe air from the surface. They can grow very large (7 ft and 350Ibs). They are one of the biggest predators in Lake Pontchartrain and eat anything smaller than them and hunt at night. Tarpon breed in isolated areas and females typically lay 12 million eggs at one time!
Gulf Menhaden
Scientific Name: Brevoortia patronus
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Gulf Menhaden is a small fish. They feed by filter feeding. They mainly live in Louisiana and Texas and spawn in Winter. They live up to six years.
Scientific Name: Brevoortia patronus
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Gulf Menhaden is a small fish. They feed by filter feeding. They mainly live in Louisiana and Texas and spawn in Winter. They live up to six years.