Awesome Oceans

I'm Sam. The oceans are my thing. Follow me :) Banner Credit

[elixirkitten-deactivated2021021]

[rkherman]

A Black-eyed Hermit Crab (Pagurus armatus) using the shell of a Lewis’s Moon Snail (Neverita lewisii).

The first image is a phantom view, and the second one is an animated gif, both showing what the hermit crab’s body looks like inside the shell.

(Apparently animated gifs is the cool thing to do, so I thought I’d see how it can enhance scientific illustration.)

[wakatobidiveresort]

As the name suggests, this species looks like the calcareous green algae, Halimeda, with which it normally associates. It is green or green with white patches (like those seen on the dyeing algae). The nose is long, the caudal peduncle is narrow and the tail is not incised but more rectangular in shape. (Photograph: Scott W. Michael)

[awesome-oceans]

The Sea Swallow(Glaucus atlanticus)

Also known as the Blue Sea Slug, the Blue Glaucus, and the Blue Ocean Slug, this is a species of nudibranch (sea slugs.) It will typically grow up to 3cm in length with six “feathered” appendages. This species is pelagic: it lives in the open ocean. It floats upside-down using the ocean’s surface tension and a ventral gas sac. The Swallow utilizes counter shading: it’s dorsal side is silver grey, and it’s ventral side is striped with dark and pale blues. But the most interesting thing about Glaucus is its feeding habits… it is immune to the venomous sting of nematocysts of sea jellies. So, it feeds on the most venomous ones like the Portuguese Man of War (Physalia physalis)  and other surface-dwelling organisms like Janthina janthina. Glaucus, once devouring the most dangerous parts of these organisms, selects the highest-quality stinging cells and stores them in their cnidosacs in the tips of their feather-like fingers.

Learn more about the Glaucus here

[awesome-oceans]

An Underwater Race To Transplant Miami's Rare Corals

A group of scientists is on an urgent mission: It's rushing to save as many corals as it can from Miami's shipping channel before the creatures are destroyed in an underwater excavation project.

I was featured on NPR on Wednesday talking about the Port of Miami dredge project and how I am helping to save the doomed corals! Check it out

[awesome-oceans]

A megalodon tooth stuck in a whale vertebrae. This is the most badass fossil in existence.

[toastoat]

boops boops in a bucket

[awesome-oceans]

I like the the simplified classification: B. boops. stupid robot fish

[thelovelyseas]

Suckerfish attached to the caudal fin of a Whale Shark. by Jason Edwards

[awesome-oceans]

Lol when I first saw this I thought the tail was a great white shark that the whale shark had captured and was dragging along...

[awesome-oceans]

Natural History Redux

I promise this is the most amazing 30 minutes you will spend this month. This is the free 720p version.

The full 1080p version is available for $5 here. I guarantee the HD is worth it, and all proceeds go directly to reef restoration! I am personally working on the supported project, and once again it is 100% worth $5.

Enjoy. 

[awesome-oceans]

Guys, It Was So Cold In Norway Last Weekend That A School Of Fish Froze In Place 

Read More

[awesome-oceans]

Dinosaur-Era Swimming Reptiles Had Black Skin

Ancient skin pigments reveal that turtles and "sea monsters" widely sported dark colors for tens of millions of years, a new study says. 

[awesome-oceans]

Puffers, man, They're all the rage... Puffer fish, when provoked, protect themselves by releasing a nasty toxin that can be deadly. But the dolphins appear to have figured out how to make the fish release it in just the right amount. After chewing on the puffer fish and passing it around between one another, the dolphins appeared to enter into a trance-like state. "[T]hey began acting most peculiarly, hanging around with their noses at the surface as if fascinated by their own reflection," noted zoologist Rob Pilley. "It reminded us of that craze a few years ago when people started licking toads to get a buzz, especially the way they hung there in a daze afterwards. It was the most extraordinary thing to see." The behavior was recorded on camera by the makers of the nature documentary, Dolphins: Spy in the Pod — a series produced for BBC One. Here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rBSatvvKVOo

[rhamphotheca]

What Is Lake Vostok?

by Becky Oskin

Deep, dark, and mysterious, Lake Vostok is one of the deepest subglacial lakes in the world.

Buried under more than 2 miles (3.7 kilometers) of ice near Vostok research station in Antarctica, the lake filled before Antarctica froze 15 million years ago, researchers think. Covered with ice for millennia, cut off from light and contact with the atmosphere, Lake Vostok is one of the most extreme environments on Earth.

The freshwater lake may harbor a unique ecosystem of microbes and other creatures that evolved in isolation for hundreds of thousands of years. These “extremophiles" could mimic life on other moons and planets, such as Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. Only meltwater from the overlying icesheet and drainage from Antarctica’s subglacial waterways have touched the lake since it froze over during the Miocene period. This constant replenishment means the water in the lake may be only as old as the ice that melts to form it, some 700,000 to 800,000 years, according to ice cores. But the true age of the lake water is unknown…

(read more: Live Science)

image by Nicole Ranger-Fuller/National Science Fdn.

[secretofthesea]

Jewel Anemone’s belong to a group of anthozoans and are not true anemones. You can most often find them on underwater cliff faces.

cool fact: they reproduce by splitting in half creating 2 new identical anemones. 

[awesome-oceans]

.... All anemones are anthozoans...

Jewel Anemone: a cold water coral (Corynactis viridis)

Also, they are a type of corallimorph (order corallimorpharia) a kind of evolutionary link between corals and anemones which also includes mushroom corals (discosomatidae) and ricordea (ricordeidae)

[awesome-oceans]

Look out, he's behind you! Eight-ton orca leaps 15ft into the air to finally capture dolphin he wanted for dinner after two-hour chase

The dolphin was originally part of a small group swimming off the Mexican coast but the others managed to get away, leaving it at the mercy of a whole pod of whales.

[astronomy-to-zoology]

Long-rayed Sand-diver (Trichonotus elegans)

Also known as the Threadfin Sand-diver, the long-rayed sand-diver is a species of sanddiver that is native to the Western Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific. Long-rayed sand-divers usually inhabit coastal reef slopes and lagoons and are often seen in large groups. These groups usually form a harem led by one male fish, who uses his elegant fins to court the females.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Chordata-Actinopterygii-Perciformes-Trichonotidae-Trichonotus-elegans

Image(s): Klaus Stiefel

[astronomy-to-zoology]

Urchin Crab (Dorippe frascone)

Also known as the carrier crab, the urchin crab is a species of dorippid crab that is found in the Red Sea and eastern Indian Ocean. Like its common name suggests this crab is famous for the symbiotic relationship it holds with several species of sea urchin. The urchin crab will grasp an urchin (usually A.radiata or D.setosum) with its back two legs and carry it around on its carapace. The urchin’s spines then provide the crab with protection, and the urchin will get access to a quick ride to new feeding grounds and will passively submit to this relationship.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Arthropoda-Crustacea-Malacostraca-Decapoda-Brachyura-Dorippidae-Dorippe-fascone

Image Source(s)