mermaid purse
Elasmobranch egg case
A mermaid purse is the egg case of a shark, skate, or ray—a leathery pouch, often dark brown or black, with tendrils at the corners that anchor it to seaweed or rocks.
Beachcombers find them washed ashore after the embryo has hatched: We collected mermaid purses along the tide line.
- egg caseProtective embryo capsule
- egg sacProtective silk-wrapped clutch
- sharkCartilaginous marine predator
- skateGliding boot or flatfish
- rayNarrow light emission
seaweed · beach · sandy beach · tide line · leathery · black · spiral · tendrils · embryo · ocean · ocean floor · shore · beachcombing · cartilaginous · sea creature · nursery · protective · washed up
- beachcombingseashell, shells, driftwood, sea glass, sand dollar
- egg casesspider egg sac, egg sac
- spawningspawning, spawning season, spawning ground, spawning grounds, fish spawning
mermaid, purse, maid, maiden, maidenly, maidenhood, purses, pursed, pursing