You\n know it\u2019s true: spring is a sexy time of year. Reproduction is \nhappening all around us in the Great Northwest, whether it be via the \nemergence of wildflowers on hilltop meadows, the release of \nallergy-inducing pollen in the valley, or, on the coast, aquatic \nspawning events. One such spawning event we deem worthy of an excursion \nto the local shoreline. Fans of tide pooling\u2014pay special attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gumboot chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri<\/em>)\n are the largest chitons in the world, reaching just over a foot in \nlength, while most others range from palm to fingernail-sized. Oval in \nshape, their tops are brick red and leathery, while their bottoms, or \nfoot, are bright yellow. This foot acts something like a suction cup, \nkeeping the gumboot attached to where they make their dwelling in the \nrocky intertidal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike their smaller \nbrethren chiton, gumboots are more easily dislodged. When knocked off \nthe rocks by rough waves, they curl up into a football-like shape, \nperhaps a technique to protect themselves from getting thrashed around \nwhen the tide is high, or from drying out when the water recedes in a \nstorm\u2019s aftermath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gumboots would rather not\n to move too far\u2014in one experiment, adults only moved about 65 feet in 2\n years. Considering they can live to be over 20, they may only cover a \nlittle over a tenth of a mile in their lifespan. But there\u2019s no need to \ngo far when a tide pool provides all the scrumptious algae these \nhomebodies could ever desire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spawning season occurs \nMarch through May, and gumboots on the Oregon Coast have already been \nspotted getting down and dirty. During the spawn, the chitons are found \nin more dense numbers. They are broadcast spawners with females \nreleasing strings of bajillions of little eggs, queuing males to emit \nclouds of milky white sperm into the shallow tide pools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the Central Coast, the\n tide pools at Otter Rock are hard to beat when wanting to check out the\n gumboots. As a designated marine garden, no harvest is legal here \n(though gumboot chiton are edible), making for a more intact system to \nexplore. In addition to restraining yourself from taking critters home \nwith you, tide pool etiquette asks that you walk on bare rock as much as\n possible, touch gently, and never pry. After all, you wouldn\u2019t want \nsomeone disrupting you while procreating, would you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n By Ari Blatt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You know it\u2019s true: spring is a sexy time of year. Reproduction is happening all around us in the Great Northwest, whether it be via the emergence of wildflowers on hilltop meadows, the release of allergy-inducing pollen in the valley, or, on the coast, aquatic spawning events. One such spawning event we deem worthy of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45,62],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schultzwebdesign.se\/CA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schultzwebdesign.se\/CA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schultzwebdesign.se\/CA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schultzwebdesign.se\/CA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schultzwebdesign.se\/CA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1958"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/schultzwebdesign.se\/CA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1960,"href":"https:\/\/schultzwebdesign.se\/CA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958\/revisions\/1960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schultzwebdesign.se\/CA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schultzwebdesign.se\/CA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schultzwebdesign.se\/CA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schultzwebdesign.se\/CA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}