Media Gallery: Photos Oldest

  • This crab has a parasitic barnacle rooted in its reproductive system.

    Parasitic Barnacle on a Crab
    Feb 11 2013 - 10:17am
    This swimming crab (Liocarcinus holsatus) has a parasitic barnacle rooted in its reproductive system. This invasion cuts off all reproduction for an infected crab and can even cause a male crab to...
  • <p>It's a pygmy seahorse (<em><strong><a href="http://eol.org/pages/994189/overview">Hippocampus bargibanti</a></strong></em>), found in Indonesia's biodiverse <strong><a href="/blog/making-science-sing-longest-time-coral-triangle-edition">Coral Triangle</a></strong> and one of the smallest seahorse species in the world! They can change colors like a chameleon to blend into their environment. This helps to protect them from predators and ambush their prey.</p>

    Can You Spot the Seahorse?
    Feb 12 2013 - 9:58am
    It's a pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti), found in Indonesia's biodiverse Coral Triangle and one of the smallest seahorse species in the world! They can change colors like a chameleon to blend...
  • One-third of Australia's territorial waters is protected as a marine preserve, includes an underwater canyon as large as the U.S. Grand Canyon, seagrass meadows, and the biodiverse reefs of the Coral Sea, including the one shown here.

    Australia's 1.2 Million Mile Marine Reserve
    Feb 13 2013 - 10:55am
    In November 2012, Australia began protecting a huge swath of its ocean from overfishing and oil exploration, creating the largest network of marine reserves in the world at a grand total of 1.2...
  • <p>This pair of sea butterflies (<em>Limacina helicina</em>) flutter not far from the ocean's surface in the Arctic.</p>

    A Pair of Sea Butterflies
    Feb 15 2013 - 10:56am
    This pair of sea butterflies (Limacina helicina) flutter not far from the ocean's surface in the Arctic. Sea butterflies are a type of sea snail, but instead of dragging themselves around the...
  • A close-up photo of Killer Algae, Caulerpa taxifolia, a seaweed that has proven to be a successful invasive species.

    Killer Algae (Caulerpa taxifolia)
    Feb 20 2013 - 10:16am
    A strain of this green seaweed, native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, escaped public and private aquariums in California, Japan, Australia, and Monaco. It has spread widely in the Mediterranean,...
  • “Golden sweepers form schools in reef crevices and caves and among coral heads. The technique I employed to make this image was a long exposure and rear curtain synchronization combined with a circular rotation of the camera during the shot. Buyat Bay, a threatened area, is home to one of the highest numbers of coral and fish species in the world.” -- Nature's Best Photographer, Jeff Yonover

    Golden Sweepers, Pulau Tulang, Buyat Bay, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
    Feb 21 2013 - 10:45am
    These beautiful pink and yellow shimmering fish (Parapriacanthus ransonneti) live in large groups among corals and in caves where they feed on zooplankton at night.
  • A whale shark swims with a diver off the coast of East Africa.

    Whale Shark Off Coast of East Africa
    Feb 25 2013 - 10:33am
    When you think of African animals, what do you think of? Probably the “Big Five:” lions, elephants, leopards, buffalo and rhinos. But Africa also has an incredible amount of marine diversity in the...
  • Fossils of teeth from Giant Megatooth Shark

    Megalodon Teeth
    Feb 26 2013 - 10:35am
    Two fossilized teeth from a megalodon (Carcharodon megalodon) dating back more than 20 million years.
  • A polar bear and its cub in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.

    Polar Bear Mother and Cub
    Feb 27 2013 - 10:23am
    The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is found in the Arctic and classified as a vulnerable species by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This marine mammal can swim more than 30 miles when sea ice...
  • These zooplankton collected on a research cruise include a jellyfish, a lanternfish, a snipe eel, two large orange shrimp, a fuzzy pyrosome (which is bioluminescent), and several smaller animals.

    Counting the Ocean's Diversity
    Feb 28 2013 - 10:18am
    How many animals swim in the sea? It's not easy to count them all. To get a feel for the ocean's diversity, scientists, such as those involved in the Census of Marine Life, sail out on research...
  • Two sea lions interact amongst schools of small fish.

    Seal or Sea Lion?
    Mar 1 2013 - 10:28am
    Seals and sea lions have many similarities, and are in the same family of Pinnipeds, but they lead very different lives. Seals are smaller than sea lions; male Stellar sea lions can grow to be up to...
  • <p>This colony of <em>Rosacea</em> may look like a single jellyfish, but it is actually a large group of smaller siphonophores clustered and living together.</p>

    Jellyfish, or Siphonophore Colony?
    Mar 4 2013 - 10:11am
    This colony of Rosacea may look like a single jellyfish, but it is actually a large group of smaller siphonophores clustered and living together. In fact, the zooids (individual siphonophores...