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Feb 6 2012 - 6:48pm
The elongated body, characteristic long and narrow snout, and small teeth make the slender snipe eel, Nemichthys scolopaceus, easily identifiable in this X-ray image. in the Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History use X-ray images, like the one shown, to study the...
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Nov 15 2012 - 10:58am
The feathery strands at the back of this nudibranch’s (Chromodoris willani) body are no mere adornment: they’re its gills!
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Jul 12 2012 - 11:12am
Many sperm whales stranded on beaches or caught by whalers exhibit telltale circular scars like these. Only one thing could have made them: the strong suckers that line the giant squid’s eight arms and two long feeding tentacles. Older sperm whales have so many scars that they overlap each other....
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Feb 6 2012 - 6:58pm
The robust oval, spine covered body of a long-spined porcupine fish, Diodon holocanthus, is revealed in this X-ray image. Scientists in the Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History use X-ray images, like the one shown, to study the complex...
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Jul 20 2012 - 12:57pm
Dr. Clyde Roper discusses the fascinating anatomy of the giant squid (Architeuthis dux) in this excerpt of "Eyeball to Eyeball," an episode of Errol Morris' First Person television series.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This X-ray shows the mouth on the underside of a white-rimmed stingray (Himantura signifer). The ray feeds without seeing its prey. Its eyes are on the top of its body, while its mouth is on the bottom. This rarely recorded freshwater species is known from about 10 specimens in museum...
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Aug 2 2012 - 4:18pm
This common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) doesn't have a jetpack to help him zoom through the water, but he's got something pretty close: a siphon that shoots water. (It's the little orange/yellow cup in the picture.) Octopuses pull water into their mantle cavities and then squeeze it out through the...
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Oct 15 2012 - 9:30am
This close-up photo shows the tough, serrated ring around the opening of a giant squid sucker. The ring is made of chitin—the same material that’s in your fingernails. Using suction, the sucker tightly grips the squid’s prey. The ring digs into the skin of the giant squid’s only predator—the sperm...
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May 14 2013 - 9:19am
An X-ray image of a Monterey skate (Raja montereyensis) reveals a spine that extends like a tail out from the pelvic fin. The skeletons of skates, rays, chimaeras, and sharks are made of cartilage, rather than bone. Scientists in the Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian's National Museum of...
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Sep 12 2011 - 2:55pm
These are fossil remains of archaeocetes, ancient whales, from the Paracas Formation of Peru's Pisco Basin. Smithsonian paleobiologist Nicholas D.
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Sep 20 2012 - 11:45am
Sperm whales have conical teeth on their long, narrow, lower jaw. The teeth fit neatly into sockets in the upper jaw, which has no teeth. This arrangement is a perfect adaptation for slurping up soft-bodied squids—giant or otherwise. The sperm whale is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN's Red List of...
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Feb 7 2012 - 12:32pm
The clearly pictured spines, rays and snout make identifying this longnose butterflyfish, Forcipiger longirostris, straightforward in this X-ray image. Scientists in the Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History use X-ray images, like the...
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Mar 7 2013 - 10:11am
Comb jellies (such as this Bolinopsis species) are named for their combs: the rows of cilia lining their bodies that propel them through the ocean. Read more about jellyfish and comb jellies.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
The distinctive form of a winghead shark, Eusphyra blochii, is revealed by an X-ray image. The shark's eyes are spread far apart, giving it superb binocular vision.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am
Inside the giant squid's sharp beak is a tongue-like organ called the radula (shown in yellow). Covered with rows of tiny teeth, it rams bite size pieces of food down the squid's throat. The pieces must be small because the giant squid's esophagus passes through the brain on the way to the stomach...
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Dec 31 2012 - 8:49am
A right whale opens its mouth wide, revealing huge plates of baleen hanging from its upper jaw. There are between 200 and 270 baleen plates on each side of a right whale's upper jaw. They work like a giant sieve to catch the whale's food. Strong but flexible, baleen is made of the same substance as...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Like octopods and cuttlefishes, giant squid have eight arms. But they use their two much longer feeding tentacles to seize prey. The tentacles have powerful suckers at the ends. More about the giant squid can be found in our Giant Squid featured story.
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Dec 5 2012 - 11:09am
An X-ray image of grooved razorfish, Centriscus scutatus. Razorfish are encased in thin, transparent bony plates attached to their spines, which you can see in the X-ray.
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Sep 12 2012 - 10:45am
This scanning electron micrograph magnifies the tiny teeth that cover the surface of the giant squid’s tongue-like organ, or radula. Seven rows of sharp teeth help direct tiny pieces of food down the squid’s esophagus (only three are shown here). Because the esophagus passes through the brain...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Giant squid have the largest eye in the animal kingdom. At up to 10 inches in diameter, people often describe it as the size of a dinner plate -- or, in other words, as big as a human head. Here, National Museum of Natural History staffer Katie Velazco goes eye-to-eye with a preserved example from...
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Jan 30 2013 - 10:21am
The Palauan primitive cave eel (Protanguilla palau) has an evolutionary history that dates back some 200 million years. Because of this and the fact that it has retained some primitive features, scientists are recognizing it as a 'living fossil.'
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Hundreds of powerful suckers stud the flattened club at the end of the giant squid’s long feeding tentacle. They help the squid capture and hang on tightly to its prey. They also leave deep scars in the skin around the mouths of sperm whales as the squid fight to escape from the whale’s jaws. More...
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am
A mass of white muscle the size of a softball surrounds the dark brown beak of a giant squid. Learn more about this animal's oversized anatomy in our Giant Squid section.
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Dec 17 2009 - 7:00pm
Scientists in the Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History use X-ray imaging to study the complex bone structure and diversity of fish. This image gallery showcases X-ray images of sharks and their relatives and bony fish; revealing how...
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