Rocky shores are the most interesting in terms of the variety of creatures suitable to keep for more than one year. The Flatfish quickly grow too large, and the small sandy coloured Gobies have a short natural lifespan of less than 18 months. In Sussex, where the chalk cliffs have eroded over the centuries, the sea has channelled deep gullies in the soft rock, and broken large pieces of chalk into smaller fragments, providing numerous hiding places. This is a barren and unproductive month. The regular sessile inhabitants, the mollu-scs, mussels and winkles, are often covered in silt.
Chitons are more noticeable on the underside of rocks.
Even the Beadlet Anemones , Actinia equina , will have dwindled in size because of food shortages. Most fish and crabs will be found in the warmer offshore waters. The commonest and most widespread chiton found on British rocky shores is Lepidochitonacinerea . On many shores it is the only species to be found. Nudibranchs, the orange and white Onchidoris bilamellata , and the white or black Acanihodoris pilosa , will migrate inshore and lay white coils of spawn on the underside of I small rocks near the low water mark.