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Smithsonian Ocean: Our Water, Our World

With striking imagery from her book Smithsonian Ocean: Our Water, Our World,...

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X-Rays of Fish Reveal Diversity

Scientists in the Division of Fishes at the Smithsonian's National Museum of...

slideshow

The Ocean Under the Microscope: Images from Nikon Small World

The ocean is so big that it can be easy to forget the microscopic beauty of the...

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Spaceship Mollusk

No, this is not an alien spaceship from another world—it is a baby file clam...

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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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How Mangroves Deal with Saltwater

Looking at a white mangrove (Avicennia marina) leaf cross-section under the...

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Zooplankton in the Eye of a Needle

Zooplankton are small—but do you know just how small? This drop of water smaller...

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Fireworm Bristles

No, this isn't a bundle of paintbrushes: you're looking at a fireworm...

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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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Lobster Egg

Even when a lobster is still a developing egg, you can see some of its adult...

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Blue Button Tentacle

This tentacle belongs to a blue button (Porpita porpita), an animal that looks like...

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Lacy Crust Bryozoan

This colony of a lacy crust bryozoan (Membranipora membranacea) started off as just...