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Ocean Portal by The Smithsonian Institution

Invertebrates

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PHOTO Rapa Whelk Rapa whelks, native to Asia, have invaded the Chesapeake Bay and are raising concerns about economic and ecological impacts to the Bay region due to their shellfish diet. Scientists believe...MORE PHOTOS


	PHOTO MORE PHOTOS Invertebrates from the Gulf of Mexico The Smithsonian's Department of Invertebrate Zoology has a collection of over 57...
	BLOG POST MORE STORIES So You Think You're Smarter Than a Cephalopod? The blanket octopus can rip a poisonous tentacle from a Portuguese man-o-war and...
	IMAGE GALLERY MORE GALLERIES Bioluminescent Animals Photo Gallery Bioluminescence is one of the more captivating adaptations that have evolved in...

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					Searching for Crustaceans in the Deep Sea May 16, 2013 - 9:04AMIn this video Smithsonian research zoologist Dr. Martha Nizinski takes viewers with her as she searches for crustaceans in the deep sea. She's particularly interested in finding squat lobsters, which despite their name, are...

Colorful Caribbean Crustaceans

May 15, 2013 - 8:12AM

Discovering new species is an exciting quest, right? Well, some parts are—...

Zombie Worms Eating Whale Bone

May 13, 2013 - 9:23AM

Zombie worms (Osedax roseus) eat away at the bones of a dead whale that has...

SPOTLIGHT


A World Adrift: Life in the Sargassum The open ocean is surprisingly barren to the naked eye. Every now and again you will encounter a school of fish and their...

Battle with a Sperm Whale Oct 11 2012 - 9:46am An adult giant squid struggles for survival in an encounter with a sperm whale - its only known predator. The whale will probably overpower and eat the squid. More about the giant squid can be found in our Giant Squid section.	Solitary Deep-water Corals Oct 5 2012 - 3:42pm These corals from the Smithsonian collections are Stephanocyathus (A.) spiniger, a solitary, deep-water stony coral species. Around 74% of all deep-water corals are solitary, living as individual organisms instead of forming large colonies like most shallow-water corals. This one has six long...
European Green Crab (Carcinus maenas) Aug 8 2012 - 12:06pm The European green crab (Carcinus maenas) has spread far beyond its native continent, to waters off North and South America, Asia and Australia. It's a voracious eater and poses a nuisance to shellfish farmers. Invasive species have various means of reaching new habitats.	Dazzling New Sea Urchin Species Oct 26 2012 - 10:58am Simon Coppard, a post-doctoral research fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and an Encyclopedia of Life Rubenstein Fellow specializing in echinoids often uncovers new species during his research.
Sea Stars and Urchins off Antarctica Sep 28 2012 - 3:03pm Sea stars (Odontaster validus) and sea urchins (Sterechinus neumayeri) spread over an algae-covered seafloor off the coast of Antarctica.	Armhook Squid Jan 6 2011 - 11:55am Close-up of Boreoatlantic armhook squid, Gonatus fabricii. View the “Under Arctic Ice” photo essay.
The Search for an Elusive Ribbon Worm Mar 12 2013 - 2:40pm With 1,400 named species of ribbon worms inhabiting every ecosystem on earth, seeking one out should be an easy proposition. But I quickly learned that it can be quite daunting when you’re looking for certain teeny-tiny mud-loving worms. I recently accompanied Dr. Jon Norenburg and postdoctoral...	Whale Lice Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am This close-up photo of a right whale's head shows dozens of hitchhikers—tiny crustaceans known as whale lice, or cyamid amphipods. They live on the rough patches of skin (known as callosities) on North Atlantic right whales, eating algae that settles there and only causing minor skin damage....
Feather Star Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am As it clings to a red sea fan, a feather star (Cenometra bella) gently waves its slender arms—filtering bits of food from the water. Also known as sea lilies, feather stars are related to sea stars. Learn more about life on coral reefs in the Coral Reefs section.	Jellyfish and Comb Jellies Feb 28 2013 - 3:37pm Jellyfish and comb jellies are gelatinous animals that drift through the ocean's water column around the world. They are both beautiful—the jellyfish with their pulsating bells and long, trailing tentacles, and the comb jellies with their paddling combs generating rainbow-like colors. Yet though...
A Striped Deep Sea Worm Apr 4 2013 - 12:38pm In Antarctica's Southern Ocean swims a beautiful polychaete (bristly worm) called Tomopteris carpenteri, which is adorned with alternating red and transparent bands. The largest species in its genus, it it found throughout the water column, including the deep sea, where this photo was taken by...	Bizarre and Beautiful Coral Reef Animals Dec 4 2009 - 3:05pm Coral reefs support an amazing array of life forms many of them beautiful, some of them downright bizarre. Dive in and take a look through this photo gallery.
Antarctic Salps Dec 13 2012 - 10:17am Climate and sea changes in the Southern Ocean create conditions that favor the growth of salps over krill, the latter of which are a vital food source for seals, whales, and penguins. Salps are filter-feeding tunicates that float through the water column, sometimes forming long salp chains,...	Deep-Sea Coral Bands Jun 7 2011 - 11:30am This specimen of the deep-sea coral Desmophyllum dianthus shows the visible bands that help marine scientists learn how ocean conditions changed over time. By looking at the thickness of each band, scientists can estimate how much the corals grew during a given time period. This information sheds...
Searching for Life -- Epibionts -- On Sea Turtles Nov 8 2011 - 4:34pm Amanda Feuerstein with a nesting olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea). Feuerstein is a co-author of a study that surveyed algae, crustaceans, mollusks, and other epibionts that live on olive ridley and green sea turtles in the Pacific Ocean. You can read about the study on the Ocean Portal blog.	Newly Discovered Deep-Sea Corals Jun 9 2011 - 9:30am It's a new age of discovery for scientists studying deep-sea corals.