Illustrated guide to the plants and animals of the shore

The following guide has been designed to help those readers who are unable initially to assign an organism to its correct phylum or class. The guide is divided into nine groups, each recognized by the general characters given, for example, encrusting, worm-like, etc. Each of these groups is broken down into sub-divisions which are described and illustrated, and for each sub-division a page reference is given where further information can be found. In a few cases the guide will indicate that an organism belongs to one of two or more sub-divisions, and for each a page reference is given. To design a guide covering a broad range of plants and animals for use by readers with widely differing background knowledge is difficult as its success will to some extent be affected by subjective assessment of the characters listed. Representative sketches of each group of organisms have been included as a further aid to identification.