On Saturday, Marcia and I went to Mendocino. In Fort Bragg, we went to glass beach, which didn’t have much glass on it. However, when we were walking around the tide pools, I spotted this weird creature:

It felt like a starfish and it responded to touch. When I tipped it on its side, I realized it had a yellow clam-like mouth. I couldn’t get a very good picture because I didn’t want to torture whatever-it-was, but this gives you somewhat of an idea:

It was like a disembodied mouth lying in the rocks. It reminded me of:

“Feed me, Seymore!”

Any idea what that thing was?

Update: So a friend found out for me that it is a gumboot chiton, also known as the “wandering meatloaf.” They are mollusks that live for 40 years and whose main predators are snails, particularly the awesomely named lurid rocksnail.

They are known for being in tide pools, but are nocturnal and usually hide during the day. However, they will come out on foggy days, which is was when I came upon it.

Now we know.