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Coastal animals

Shores, rock pools, coral reefs and shallow seas. Crabs, limpets, starfish and sea anemones live between the tides, with seals, sea otters and puffins on the rocks, and octopuses and clownfish on the reefs.

The open sea further out has its own list.

82 animals, A to Z.

• 🐾AlbatrossLarge seabirds of the Southern Ocean and North Pacific, among the biggest flying birds.
• 🐟AnchovyMore than 140 species of small, silvery-green schooling fish of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; a few live in South American rivers.
• 🦊Arctic foxA small fox of the Arctic tundra with thick fur and a big, fluffy tail.
• 🐾BarnacleAbout 2,100 species of marine crustaceans related to crabs and lobsters.
• 🐟BarracudaAbout 26 species of long, silvery predatory fish with fang-like teeth and an underbite, found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide, near the surface, coral reefs and seagrass.
• 🐾BelugaAn all-white whale of the Arctic and sub-Arctic, the narwhal’s closest relative.
• 🐠ClownfishSmall reef fish of the warm Indo-Pacific that live among sea anemones, sheltered by the stinging tentacles.
• 🐟CodThe Atlantic cod is a large, brown or green spotted fish of the North Atlantic, one of the most widely eaten fish in the world.
• 🦅CondorTwo New World vultures, the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere: the Andean condor of the Andes and the California condor of the western US and Mexico.
• 🐾CoralSea animals that live as colonies of many identical polyps, each a few millimetres across with a ring of stinging tentacles around its mouth.
• 🐾CormorantAbout 40 species of dark, fish-eating water birds, including the shags.
• 🦀CrabArmoured crustaceans with the tail tucked under the body, able to run sideways.
• 🐊CrocodileBig, armoured reptiles that ambush prey at the water’s edge across the tropics, from the 1.5 m dwarf crocodile to the saltwater crocodile, which can pass 6 m.
• 🐾CuttlefishMarine cephalopods with W-shaped pupils, eight arms and two tentacles, and an internal shell, the cuttlebone, that controls buoyancy.
• 🐬DolphinAround 40 species of toothed whale, from the 1.7 m Maui’s dolphin to the orca, the largest at 9.5 m.
• 🦆DuckWaterbirds of the same family as geese and swans, but generally smaller and shorter-necked.
• 🐾DugongA seagrass-eating marine mammal of the Indo-West Pacific, the manatee’s relative and the only living member of its family.
• 🦅EagleLarge birds of prey with huge hooked beaks and powerful talons.
• 🐍EelAbout 1,000 species of long, snake-like fish, mostly marine.
• 🐾EgretWhite or buff herons with long legs that grow fine, milky-white plumes in the breeding season.
• 🦅FalconAbout 40 species of fast birds of prey with thin, tapered wings, found on every continent except Antarctica.
• 🦩FlamingoTall, long-legged filter-feeding wading birds.
• 🦀Ghost crabA pale, box-bodied crab of tropical and subtropical sandy beaches worldwide, with long, thick eyestalks and one claw bigger than the other.
• 🦀Hermit crabAbout 800 species of crustaceans that protect their soft abdomen in empty snail shells.
• 🐾HeronAbout 75 species of long-legged, long-necked wading birds of fresh water and coasts, including the egrets and bitterns.
• 🐟HerringOily forage fish that travel in huge schools through the shallow, temperate waters of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, including the Baltic Sea.
• 🐾Horseshoe crabNot a crab at all but a relative of spiders and scorpions, little changed for about 250 million years.
• 🐋Humpback whaleA baleen whale with very long flippers and knobbly bumps on its head, famous for breaching and for the long, complex songs males sing.
• 🐾JackdawThe western jackdaw, a small, gregarious member of the crow family, black with a grey nape and striking pale eyes.
• 🪼JellyfishSoft, free-swimming sea animals with a bell-shaped body and stinging tentacles.
• 🐾LimpetSea snails with a cone-shaped shell and a strong muscular foot that clamps them to rocks on the shore.
• 🐠LionfishVenomous reef fish of the Indo-Pacific with bold red, brown or black and white stripes and long, fan-like fins tipped with venomous spines.
• 🦞LobsterLarge marine crustaceans with long bodies, muscular tails and big front claws, highly prized as seafood.
• 🐾ManateeThree species of large, slow, fully aquatic plant-eating mammals, sometimes called sea cows, with paddle-shaped tails.
• 🐾Manta rayThree species of huge rays of warm seas, with triangular fins and horn-shaped flaps by the mouth.
• 🐾Mantis shrimpMore than 520 species of predatory sea crustaceans, usually about 10 cm long, that live in burrows on shallow tropical and subtropical seabeds.
• 🐾Moray eelAbout 200 species of eels found worldwide, almost all marine.
• 🐾MudskipperAbout 25 species of amphibious gobies that live on tropical mudflats and in mangroves, spending much of their time out of water.
• 🐾MusselBivalve molluscs of salt and fresh water with long, uneven shells, often dark blue, black or brown.
• 🐾NudibranchAbout 3,000 species of soft-bodied sea slugs that shed their shell after the larval stage, many of them in startling colours.
• 🐙OctopusEight-armed molluscs, about 300 species, with three hearts and copper-based blood.
• 🐋OrcaThe largest member of the dolphin family, black above and white below with white eye patches.
• 🦅OspreyA large, fish-eating bird of prey, brown above and white below, found near water on every continent except Antarctica.
• 🦦OtterSemiaquatic members of the weasel family, with long slim bodies, webbed feet and very dense fur that keeps them warm and buoyant.
• 🐾OysterSaltwater bivalve molluscs with rough, often irregular shells.
• 🐠ParrotfishAbout 95 species of brightly coloured reef fish whose teeth are fused into a parrot-like beak, most diverse in the Indo-Pacific.
• 🐾PelicanEight species of large water birds with a long beak and a huge throat pouch, used to scoop up fish and drain out the water before swallowing.
• 🐧PenguinFlightless seabirds of the Southern Hemisphere with flippers for swimming.
• 🐻‍❄️Polar bearThe largest bear and the largest land carnivore, living on Arctic sea ice and hunting seals.
• 🐾PorpoiseEight species of small, dolphin-like toothed whales, more closely related to narwhals and belugas than to dolphins.
• 🐒Proboscis monkeyA large, reddish-brown monkey found only on Borneo, named for the male’s huge nose, which can be over 10 cm long and hangs below the mouth.
• 🐡PufferfishFish that puff up into a ball when threatened.
• 🐾PuffinThe Atlantic puffin is a small seabird of the auk family with a big red-and-black beak.
• 🐾RavenThe common raven is a big, all-black crow, the heaviest songbird, found across the Northern Hemisphere.
• 🐟SalmonFish that hatch in rivers, go to sea to grow, then return to fresh water to spawn, usually in the stream where they hatched.
• 🐾SawfishVery large rays with a long, flat snout lined with teeth like a saw.
• 🐾ScallopSea bivalves found in every ocean but never in fresh water.
• 🐾Sea anemonePredatory relatives of corals and jellyfish, named after the anemone flower.
• 🦭Sea lionEared seals with external ear flaps, long front flippers and the ability to walk on all fours.
• 🐾Sea otterThe heaviest member of the weasel family, and one of the few mammals that use tools: it cracks shellfish open with rocks.
• 🐾Sea spongeSimple animals fixed to the seabed, with bodies full of pores and channels.
• 🐢Sea turtleSeven species of ocean-going turtles, including the green, loggerhead, hawksbill and leatherback.
• 🐾Sea urchinAbout 950 species of spiny, globe-shaped echinoderms living on the seabed of every ocean.
• 🐾SeadragonThe leafy seadragon, a relative of the seahorse covered in leaf-like lobes of skin that make it look like floating seaweed.
• 🐦SeagullSeabirds, usually grey and white, with strong bills and webbed feet.
• 🐠SeahorseSmall bony fish, 47 species, named for their horse-like head and neck.
• 🦭SealFlippered marine mammals: the true seals, the sea lions and fur seals, and the walrus, 34 species in all.
• 🦈SharkCartilaginous fish with five to seven gill slits on each side and rows of replaceable teeth.
• 🦐ShrimpCrustaceans with long bodies, long antennae and thin legs, which swim forward with paddles under the tail and flick backwards to escape.
• 🐌SnailA gastropod with a coiled shell big enough to pull itself into.
• 🦑SquidFast-swimming molluscs with large eyes, eight arms and two long tentacles.
• 🐾StarfishStar-shaped echinoderms, not fish, with about 1,900 species on the seabed of every ocean.
• 🐾StingrayAbout 220 species of flat, cartilaginous fish with a venomous barbed stinger on the tail.
• 🐾StonefishVenomous reef fish of the coastal Indo-Pacific, grey and mottled so they look like a stone or a lump of coral.
• 🐟SturgeonThe Atlantic sturgeon, a big bottom-feeding fish armoured with five rows of bony plates instead of true scales.
• 🦢SwanThe largest waterfowl, and among the largest flying birds in their range, with six living species.
• 🐢TerrapinTerrapins are turtles of fresh or brackish water with clawed feet rather than flippers.
• 🐢TurtleShelled reptiles, about 360 species, including land-living tortoises, freshwater terrapins and sea turtles.
• 🐾VaquitaThe smallest of all whales, dolphins and porpoises, found only in the far north of the Gulf of California in Mexico.
• 🦭WalrusA huge Arctic pinniped with long ivory tusks, bristly whiskers and a nearly hairless body.
• 🐳WhaleOcean mammals that breathe air and feed their young on milk, including the blue whale, the largest animal that has ever lived.
• 🐠WrasseOver 600 species of often brightly coloured sea fish with thick lips.

How each answer is decided: How we answer. Every animal, in one list: All animals.