Today's Catch
Aug 8, 2012
Credit:Filip Nuyttens, World Register of Marine Species
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. Read about the role ships play in spreading invasive species .Read more
Aug 6, 2012
Credit:Dr. Julian Finn, Museum Victoria
Deep-sea species like this dragonfish ( Bathophilus indicus ) live in cold, dark waters and may go weeks or months between meals. When food is found, the fish uses its impressive teeth—including some on its tongue—to get a tight grip on its prey.Read more
Aug 3, 2012
Credit:R. Hopcroft, UAF, Hidden Ocean 2005 NOAA.
This copepod Calanus hyperboreus (up to 7mm in length) lives in the Arctic , usually within 500 meters of the surface. To survive the cold Arctic winters, Calanus hyperboreus builds up dense fat (lipid) supplies on its body, which makes it a preferred food of both ctenophores and bowhead whales.Read more
Aug 2, 2012
Credit:© 2004 Smithsonian Institution
The longsnout seahorse ( Hippocampus reidi ) can be found near seagrasses, corals, sargassum and mangroves . These seahorses usually are between three to seven inches tall and could be threatened habitat destruction, bycatch and the collection and trading of the species.Read more
Aug 1, 2012
Credit:K. Raskoff, Monterey Peninsula College, Arctic Exploration 2002, NOAA
Light refracts off the comb-rows of the Mertensia ovum , a ctenophore , producing stripes of rainbow colors . The jelly eats copepods and small crustaceans that become stuck to its sticky tentacles. View the “Under Arctic Ice” photo essay to learn more.Read more
Jul 30, 2012
Credit:Joseph Poupin, Institut de Recherche de l'Ecole Naval
Male fiddler crabs, like this one collected on Moorea, wave their enlarged claw as way of signaling to other crabs, especially during mating season. Learn more about the Island of Moorea in the Pacific Ocean, including its biodiversity and the scientific effort to catalog all the life found on its land and in its waters.Read more
Jul 27, 2012
Credit:R. Hopcroft, UAF, Hidden Ocean 2005, NOAA
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 get clogged, the plankter sheds its house and builds a new one. The larvacean in this picture, however,...Read more
Jul 26, 2012
Credit:NOAA
A Turtle Excluder Device (TED) enables a loggerhead turtle ( Caretta caretta ) to escape from a fishing net. Technological advancements like this are helping to prevent deaths of unintended marine bycatch. Loggerhead turtles are considered to be threatened and endangered (depending on the specific population) and the their greatest threat is unintended catch in fishing gear. The United States...Read more
Jul 25, 2012
Credit:Ross Robertson
A candy basslet ( Liopropoma carmabi ) was just one of the specimens Smithsonian scientists collected from the deep reefs of Curaçao , in the southern Caribbean. To study biodiversity far below the water's surface, the researchers use a five-person submersible. Learn more about the scientists research on the Ocean Portal's Summer in Sub Blog .Read more
Jul 23, 2012
Credit:© Brian Skerry, www.brianskerry.com
Two California market squids, Loligo opalescens , mate in the waters off of California's Channel Islands. While spawning, the males' arms blush red as he embraces the female; a warning to other competing males to back-off.Read more