Animals in The Continental Shelf Specific Organisms
There are two different types of substrates in the continental shelf, one is a sandy more soft bottom while the other is more of a rocky and hard textured. In sandy bottoms there are two types of organisms, Infauna and Epifauna. Infauna are organisms that burrow in the sediment and dominate the motile communities that include Lugworms, Bamboo Worms, Peanut worms, Sea Cucumbers and other types of detritivores. Many Infauna are deposit feeders, meaning that they take a mouthful of sand or mud and separate the dead organisms or matter from the sand particles and spit the unwanted substrate out.
Epifauna are animals that live on top of the sediment and are very rare due to the fact that there is nothing to hold on to except for sand. Epifauna organisms like the Heart Urchin have adapted to living on the sandy bottoms by becoming flat or streamlined so that they can easily glide on the sand and pick up and feed on any type of detritus that they encounter. In rocky substrates there are more organisms that we typically hear about everyday, they include red algae, brown algae, and green algae, small fish, bivalves, gastropods, and many more sessile organisms.