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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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					Lettuce Sea Slug May 20, 2013 - 8:57AMThe lettuce sea slug (Elysia crispata) has enlarged fleshy appendages that are folded over one another, with colors ranging from blue to green, with purple and red lining. The green coloring is what gives this mollusk it's common...

Searching for Crustaceans in the Deep Sea

May 16, 2013 - 9:04AM

In this video Smithsonian research zoologist Dr. Martha Nizinski takes...

Colorful Caribbean Crustaceans

May 15, 2013 - 8:12AM

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

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...

Corals in the Juan de Fuca Canyon and the Davidson Seamount Jul 22 2011 - 11:13am Discover some amazing corals in this footage that shows and identifies a range of deep-sea coral species from the Juan de Fuca Canyon off the Olympic coast and the Davidson Seamount, an underwater volcano outside the boundary of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in the Pacific Ocean....	Yeti Crab Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am The yeti crab (Kiwa hirsuta), an unusual, hairy crab with no eyes, was discovered in 2005 on a hydrothermal vent near Easter Island. It represents not only a new species but also a new genus—Kiwa, after the mythological Polynesian goddess of shellfish. Learn more about the Census of Marine Life and...
Smithsonian Cephalopod Collection Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am This photo shows just a small part of the cephalopod collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Shown here is Dr. Clyde Roper, a zoologist and squid expert.	Deep-Water Larvacean Jul 27 2012 - 9:35am Found in Arctic waters, this rare deep-water species of larvacean, Oikopleura gorskyi, eats by filtering particles from the seawater it drifts through. Larvaceans build 'houses' around themselves made of protein that helps them filter the water even better. And when the filters in its house...
Armhook Squid Jan 6 2011 - 11:55am Close-up of Boreoatlantic armhook squid, Gonatus fabricii. View the “Under Arctic Ice” photo essay.	Diversity of Deep-Sea Corals Jun 8 2011 - 5:25pm Sample the surprising diversity of deep-sea corals. See some of the ways they differ in color, shape, and size. Explore more in the multimedia feature "Coral Gardens of the Deep Sea."
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 cruises to collect and count as many animals as they can find! Shown here is a sample of zooplankton...	Crustacean Epibionts Nov 8 2011 - 3:48pm In a 2011 study published in the Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, researchers documented a number of different organisms living on olive ridley and green turtles in the Pacific. Of these "epibionts," crustaceans made up more than 40% of those observed. Some are depicted here:...
Millions of Brittlestars Jul 19 2012 - 9:14am A huge colony of brittlestars (likely Ophiacantha rosea) covers the peak of a seamount in the deep ocean. What’s the attraction? Food! Their arms reach out for tiny food particles carried by the swift Antarctic Circumpolar Current.	Squid at Sunset Reef Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands Jan 15 2013 - 10:51am “Upon returning from the reef after a night dive, I swam toward a bright reflection and came eye-to-eye with this beautiful, curious squid," said Charles Viggers, a Nature's Best photographer.
Deep Coral Sighted in Mediterranean Jul 29 2010 - 10:58pm Using a deep-diving ROV, the crew aboard Oceana’s research vessel Ranger were surprised to discover large colonies of deep-sea white coral in the Western Mediterranean Sea in July 2010. Most of the Mediterranean’s deep-sea coral reefs are already gone as a result of destructive fishing techniques...	Sea Cucumber: One Species at a Time Feb 3 2010 - 4:20am What reef animal comes in a rainbow of crazy colors, can throw out its stomach to immobilize predators, then creep away and regrow a brand-new stomach? It’s the sea cucumber, prized as a gastronomic delight by some cultures and beginning to yield some of its secrets to scientists. Follow Podcast of...
Deep Ocean Diversity Dec 8 2009 - 4:08pm See some of the remarkable adaptations that deep-sea animals have evolved. Learn more about their habitat and how marine scientists research it in our Deep Ocean Exploration section.	Caught on Video: Giant Squid Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am In 2006, this female giant squid attacked bait suspended beneath a Japanese research vessel off the coast of Japan in the Ogasawara Islands.
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.	It’s a Jelly Eat Jelly World Jan 12 2011 - 7:13pm A “pink meanie” jellyfish (Drymonema larsoni)—a species found in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean—feeds on a moon jelly (Aurelia). Dr. Keith Bayha from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and Dr.