Saltwater touch-tanks let you examine marine animals

As summer approaches and the thermometer begins inching upward, many Davis residents long for a refreshing escape to the coast. This weekend you can save yourself a few hours in the car and let the ocean come to you. On Saturday, (May 10) Explorit Science Center will host a special Family Exploration, “Hands-on Invertebrates,” presented by the UC Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology. The program runs from 1-4 p.m. and is free with paid admission to Explorit.

“Hands-on Invertebrates” will introduce visitors to some of the amazing creatures that populate California’s 840 mile long coastline. Participants will be able to dip their hands into a saltwater touch-tank and use their fingers to explore the bumpy skin of a sea star or the smooth shell of a turban snail. UC Davis marine biologists will be on hand to answer questions and share their knowledge about the unique lifestyles of these animals.

To preview the program, and inspire your next visit to the beach, here are some amazing “fun-facts” about some of the spineless wonders that call the California coast home:

• Starfish aren’t “fish” at all. Sea stars, often called starfish, are actually “echinoderms” which means spiny skin. This group also includes urchins, sand dollars and the bizarre sea cucumbers. And, don’t let Spongebob’s dopey friend Patrick fool you, real sea stars are the tigers of the tidepools. The arms of these powerful predators are lined with thousands of suction-cup “tubefeet” that are used to wrench open clams and mussels. Once the shell is open, sea stars expel their stomach from their mouth and digest their prey inside its own shell!

• Chitons have metal tongues. An unfamiliar but not uncommon animal group, chitons are mollusks like clams and snails. They have shells made of several interlocking plates that cover them like armor. Chitons are herbivores and graze on algae. Their “radula,” or tongue, is lined with microscopic crystals of the metallic mineral magnetite. This iron-studded tool works like a miniature file to scrape tough algae from the rocks. While most chitons are small, one “giant” California species can grow up to a foot long.

• Hermit crabs like company. Despite their solitary name, hermit crabs in the wild are almost always found living with hundreds of other hermit crabs nearby. That doesn’t mean they always get along, however. Hermit crabs will fight viciously over the empty shells; the winner will abandon its own borrowed shell and take up residence in the new one. Hermit crabs will also fight over scraps of food, which for these un-picky eaters can include everything from seaweed to rotten fish.

________________

Explorit Science Center has two exhibitions running: “Go with the Flow… From Delta to Sea,” sponsored by the Monsanto Fund and the Teichert Foundation; and “Move It! Science in Action,” sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, the Hance Family and Northrop Grumman. Admission is $4 general, free for age 3 and under. The museum is open from 2-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 11 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Explorit is at 2801 Second Street, Davis.