Media Gallery: Photos Z-A

  • This new species of squid (Magnapinna sp.) was discovered in 1954 in the stomach of a lancetfish.

    Bigfin Squid Specimen
    Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
    In 1954 Smithsonian researchers dissected this squid specimen from the stomach of a lancetfish and added it to the Museum’s squid collection. Almost 50 years later, it helped scientists identify a...
  • Bignose Fish, a mysterious deep sea creature

    Bignose Fish
    Oct 23 2010 - 5:44pm
    This mysterious deep sea creature, which has an unusual bulge on its snout, grows to only about 68 mm (2.7 in) long. It lives deep in the ocean, like the whalefish.
  • Photograph of a transparent comb jelly against a dark sea.

    Bioluminescent Comb Jelly
    Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
    Like many deep sea creatures, this tiny comb jelly (Bathocyroe fosteri) has a transparent body, enabling it to blend into the surrounding waters. This ctenophore is very common around the Mid-...
  • Photograph of the underside of a gelatinous octopus with a bright yellow bioluminescent ring around her mouth.

    Bioluminescent Octopod
    Jun 4 2012 - 10:55am
    The yellow bioluminescent ring on this female octopus (Bolitaena pygmaea) may attract mates. Bioluminescence is an important adaptation that helps many deep sea animals survive in their dark world.
  • A photograph of a bright blue-speckeled dinoflagellate bioluminescing at night.

    Bioluminescing Dinoflagellate
    Sep 9 2011 - 11:27am
    Sunset? Time to glow! A biological clock triggers bioluminescence in the dinoflagellate Pyrocystis fusiformis. At dusk, cells produce the chemicals responsible for its light. Hear from marine...
  • Extreme close-up of great white shark skin denticles.

    Biomimicry Shark Denticles
    May 29 2012 - 11:42am
    Great White Sharks are stealthy hunters and the secret is in their skin. Shark skin is covered by tiny flat V-shaped scales, called dermal denticals, that are more like teeth than fish scales. These...
  • : Black corals often resemble bushes or trees. Their living tissue can be one of several colors. It’s the skeleton that is black.

    Black Corals
    Jun 7 2011 - 12:29pm
    Black corals, like this one growing on the Manning Seamount off the New England coast, often resemble bushes or trees. Contrary to its name, the living tissue of black coral can be one of several...
  • Black Skimmer, Nickerson Beach, Long Island, N.Y., USA

    Black Skimmer, Nickerson Beach, Long Island, N.Y., USA
    Dec 23 2010 - 2:59pm
    “I visited the beach at sunrise after high tide and found this skimmer feeding, providing me with this reflected shot.” -- Nature's Best photographer, James A. Galletto. See more beautiful ocean...
  • Blackbeard the Pirate engraving

    Blackbeard the Pirate
    Jul 28 2010 - 1:05pm
    With headquarters in the Bahamas and North Carolina, Blackbeard and his band terrorized people along the North Atlantic coast and loaded his flagship-the Queen Anne's Revenge-with prizes. Eventually...
  • Blackbeard's head suspended from the end of a bowsprit.

    Blackbeard’s Head
    Jul 7 2010 - 12:37pm
    In November 1718 Blackbeard was finally chased down and killed in a fierce battle off Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina. He received five bullet wounds and 20 sword cuts before dying. Then his head was...
  • Blackbeard’s flag showed a skeleton piercing a heart and toasting the devil.

    Blackbeard’s Pirate Flag
    Jul 6 2010 - 4:53pm
    Blackbeard’s flag showed a skeleton piercing a heart and toasting the devil. Watch a slideshow about legendary pirates of the Golden Age, and learn more about an unusual pirate: William Dampier, who...
  • Blackdevil Fish

    Blackdevil Fish
    Aug 24 2012 - 8:46am
    Blackdevil fish (Melanocetus johnsonii) are quintessential monsters from the deep. The female lurks in the dark, drawing in prey with her glowing lure, while the male attaches to her like a blood-...