Today's Catch
Mar 14, 2013
Credit:Eduardo Zattara, Smithsonian Institution
The over 1,000 species of ribbon worms ( Nemertea ) are mostly found in marine environments (like the Hubrechtia found in a mud flat, in the photo). These worms have both a mouth and an anus (unlike flatworms, which use the same opening for both ingesting and removing their food). Some species are centimeters long, like the ones that Smithsonian scientists searched for in Florida , while others,...Read more
Mar 13, 2013
Credit:Brian Skerry, National Geographic
Red Pigfish ( Bodianus unimaculatus ) and Blue Mao-Mao ( Scorpis violacea ) school at the edge of a cavern in New Zealand's Poor Knights Islands. Read photographer Brian Skerry's story behind this photo on the Ocean Portal blog.Read more
Mar 12, 2013
Credit:© Alexander Semenov Link
Stinging cells (nematocysts) line the tentacles of this moon jelly ( Aurelia aurita ). Upon contact with prey or a predator, a venom-laden harpoon shoots out to stun or kill. Read more about jellyfish anatomy in our jellyfish and comb jellies overview page .Read more
Mar 11, 2013
Credit:
Fish swim around the wreck of the HMT Bedfordshire , an Arctic fishing trawler that was converted into an anti-submarine warship during World War II. Originally part of Great Britain's Royal Navy, it was sent to assist the United States Navy in 1941. In Spring 1942, the HMT Bedfordshire was hit by a torpedo sent from a U-boat and sunk off the coast of North Carolina, killing all 37 crewmembers...Read more
Mar 8, 2013
Credit:Erwin Poliakoff
These beautiful mandarinfish ( Synchiropus splendidus ) are covered in bright blue, red, yellow and orange waves. What they lack, however, are traditional fish scales. They live in western Pacific tropical coral reef ecosystems and instead of your typical fish scales they are covered in a smelly, thick mucus coating. It's possible that this mucus, which not only smells—but tastes—bad, is used as...Read more
Mar 7, 2013
Credit:© Alexander Semenov Link
Comb jellies (such as this Bolinopsis species) are named for their combs: the rows of cilia lining their bodies that propel them through the ocean. Read more about jellyfish and comb jellies .Read more
Mar 6, 2013
Credit:From Verrill, A.E., 1882, Report on the Cephalopods of the Northeastern Coast of America
This 1874 photo of a squid draped over a bathtub was the first ever taken of a giant squid. It belonged to the Reverend Moses Harvey of Newfoundland. More about the giant squid can be found in the Giant Squid section .Read more
Mar 5, 2013
Credit:Tobias Friedrich/Nature's Best Photography
Gobies make up the largest family ( Gobiidae ) of fishes in the world, with over 2,000 species. In this large family you can also find the smallest fish. The gobies in this photo are about one inch long (2.5 cm), and most in the family are less than four inches. Because of their small size gobies must work to evade their many predators, often through burrowing or special mutualistic relationships...Read more
Mar 4, 2013
Credit:L. Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (www.cmarz.org)
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 living in the colony) cannot survive on their own. This specimen was photographed by the Census of Marine Zooplankton , a project of the Census of Marine Life , in the Sargasso Sea in April 2006. A Rosacea...Read more
Mar 1, 2013
Credit:Flickr User wildestanimal
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 2,200 pounds. Seals also are suited to spend more time in the water than sea lions, which can "walk" on shore with their large flippers and spend time in large social groups. Another give-away is that...Read more
