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A photo of a squid using bioluminescence to hide in the deep sea.

overview

Bioluminescence

You may have seen the sparkle of fireflies on a summer’s night. The fireflies...

April 2018

A blue-ringed octopus

How Octopuses and Squids Change Color

Squids, octopuses, and cuttlefishes are among the few animals in the world that can...

October 2013

This shrimp is colored to fit in - probably why they are common members of the seaweed community.

slideshow

A World Adrift: Life in the Sargassum Slideshow

Smithsonian Marine Science Network Postdoctoral Fellow, Seabird McKeon, returns...

Fri, 05/18/2012 - 16:43

This day octopus (Octopus cyanea) has shaped itself like seagrass or some coral so hide from predators or stalk prey.

Photo

Camouflaged Octopus Blends In

Octopuses can change the texture and color of their skin to blend in with their...

A veined octopus sits inside a vacant bivalve shell, which it uses as a portable shelter, in the Philippines. This is one of the few examples—if not the only example—of tool use in invertebrates.

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Veined Octopus at Anilao Batangas Pier, Philippines

The veined octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus), also known as the coconut octopus,...

It's a pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti), found in Indonesia's biodiverse Coral Triangle and one of the smallest seahorse species in the world! They can change colors like a chameleon to blend into their environment. This helps to protect them from p

Photo

Can You Spot the Seahorse?

It's a pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti), found in Indonesia's biodiverse...

This halimeda crab’s disguise did not fool researchers in Moorea where it was collected.

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Halimeda Crab

This halimeda crab’s disguise did not fool researchers in Moorea where it was...

Photograph of a transparent comb jelly against a dark sea.

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Bioluminescent Comb Jelly

Like many deep sea creatures, this tiny comb jelly (Bathocyroe fosteri) has a...

The blue lined octopus can be deadly, so it is best to stay away.

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The Dangerous Blue Octopus

The blue-lined octopus may be small, growing to at most 15 cm, but it can be...

The Japanese spider crab may be big but it is not invincible.

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Japanese Spider Crab

The Japanese spider crab is a large catch for any fisherman. With a leg span of 13...

Giant eyes spot prey. Huge claws grab the prey, and a tiny mouth rips it to shreds.

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Phronima

This tiny, shrimplike creature is no more than 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) long, but...

This crab was collected on a NOAA/MAR-ECO cruise to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in 2009.

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Spiny Deepsea King Crab

This crab (Neolithodes sp.) was collected on a NOAA/MAR-ECO cruise to the...