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The Secret Life of Plankton

Imagine if a fish at the market could tell you where it came from; what would it...

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Spin Hagfish Slime into Silk

Believe it or not, this unraveling thread is from hagfish slime. Hagfish are...

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Close-Up of Dover Sole Skin

This close-up of the skin of dover sole (Solea solea) masks its true ability: to...

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Fish Adapt to Icy Water

This shadowy fish, Trematomus bernacchii, is well adapted to the ice-cold...

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Yellowfin Surgeonfish

A school of yellowfin surgeonfish, Acanthurus xanthopterus, feed near dusk off...

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Butterflyfish and Wrasse

A wrought iron butterflyfish, Chaetodon daedalma, being cleaned by a small wrasse...

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Moray Waits for a Meal

A yellow moray eel, Gymnothorax prasinus, inside of a sea sponge in the waters off...

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Mystery from the Deep: The Puzzling Case of the Whalefish

In 1895, two Smithsonian scientists described a new kind of deep sea creature,...

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Smithsonian Fish Collections

There are about 4 million specimens in the fish collection housed at the National...

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Tapetail

This fish’s tail looks like a long streamer. It lives near the ocean’s surface...

Personal Perspectives

Chasing a Basking Shark

It was a hot and sunny day, with barely a whiff of breeze. I boarded a boat in...

Personal Perspectives

Summer in a Sub: DROP Down to Discovery

You never know where following your passions can take you. I came to the...