About 350 species of fish are known to occur in the Bay. Some fish species are year-round residents of the Chesapeake; others move into the Bay from the ocean or freshwater tributaries during varying times of the year.
Dozens of species of crabs and shellfish live in the Bay's waters, wetlands and shorelines. Some, like oysters and blue crabs, are well-known; others, such as amphipods and isopods, are not quite as familiar to most of us.
The birds that inhabit the Chesapeake Bay's woodland and shoreline habitats constitute some of the region’s most beautiful and vulnerable species. Bay birds include ospreys, bald eagles, herons, gulls and waterfowl.
More than 16 species of underwater bay grasses — also called submerged aquatic vegetation or SAV — are found in the Bay and its tributaries. Bay grasses are an excellent measure of the Bay's overall health.
The lower food web includes the benthic (plants and animals that live at the bottom of the Bay) and the planktonic (free-floating, often microscopic plants and animals that live in the water column) communities.
Mammals are warm-blooded vertebrates that give birth to and nurse their young, have highly evolved skeletal structures and are covered with hair either during maturity or at some stage of their embryonic development.
Reptiles and amphibians are cold-blooded vertebrates. Reptiles have scales, while amphibians are scale-less. Common reptiles and amphibians include turtles, snakes, frogs, toads and salamanders.