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Sep 14 2012 - 12:33pm
For centuries, the Baltic Sea has provided European flounder (Platichthys flesus) and other fish for millions of people. Since the early 1980s, the nations surrounding the sea have coordinated their efforts to protect its health through the Helsinki Commission.
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Sep 30 2009 - 11:20am
Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are master hunters, using speed, camouflage, and a variety of techniques to capture their prey. See how a different predator - the great white shark - finds its prey in this online photo gallery.
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Apr 1 2013 - 9:36am
The three-spot frogfish (Lophiocharon trisignatus), seen here off the coast of Western Australia, looks like it might just be a rock or a part of the sea floor! Frogfish use various methods of camouflage such as their rough shape, color changes and even inflation to hide from their predators. The...
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Dec 7 2009 - 11:04pm
This crab (Neolithodes sp.) was collected on a NOAA/MAR-ECO cruise to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the summer of 2009. Its red color provides camouflage and protection from predators. Red wavelengths are strongly absorbed by water, so red light does not normally reach the midwater ocean zone. Most...
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Jan 6 2011 - 12:35pm
One of the world’s smallest seahorses, the pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti), is no bigger than your pinky finger. These tiny animals are masters of disguise, using a strategy of blending into their surrounding environment to survive.
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Sep 19 2012 - 10:11am
The Sargassum frogfish Histrio histrio (Antennariidae) is a small but voracious predator - it can ingest animals up to it’s own size! The fins of the frogfish are perfect for creeping around in the algae and stalking unsuspecting prey.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Like many deep sea creatures, this tiny comb jelly (Bathocyroe fosteri) has a transparent body, enabling it to blend into the surrounding waters. This ctenophore is very common around the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. More about the deep ocean can be found in the Deep Ocean Exploration section.
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Jan 22 2013 - 10:53am
This tiny, shrimplike creature is no more than 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) long, but it’s as ferocious as a shark. Its giant eyes spot prey. Huge claws grab the prey, and a tiny mouth rips it to shreds. The prey never sees what’s coming, because Phronima’s transparent body blends into the surrounding...
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Aug 2 2012 - 5:36pm
Octopuses can change the texture and color of their skin to blend in with their surroundings. This day octopus (Octopus cyanea) has shaped itself like seagrass or some coral so hide from predators or stalk prey.
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Feb 12 2013 - 9:58am
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 predators and ambush their prey. Read ten...
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May 21 2012 - 5:22pm
Relatively slow moving, juvenile plane-head filefish Monacanthus hispidus (Monacanthidae) travel along with the algae. They pick off and eat small animals as they move around in the rotating sargassum ball. Adult filefish only grow to be about 11 inches long.
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Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
This halimeda crab’s disguise did not fool researchers in Moorea where it was collected. These crabs cover themselves with the green algae of halimeda for camouflage.
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May 18 2012 - 4:43pm
Smithsonian Marine Science Network Postdoctoral Fellow, Seabird McKeon, returns from the Smithsonian field site in Belize. Together with Dan Barshis of Stanford University, Seabird reports on the seemingly invisible inhabitants of drifting sargassum seaweeds. As with many parts of the ocean, a ball...
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May 21 2012 - 5:39pm
Winner of the ‘best camoflauge’ contest, the nudibranch Scyllaea pelagica (Scyllaeidae) is usually betrayed only by its motion. Along it’s back, the sea slug has growths called papillae that help its masterful disguise. The papillae resemble the sargassum's own hydroids that these sea slugs love to...
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Sep 13 2012 - 10:36am
Another common species of sargassum shrimp, Leander tenuicornis (Palaemonidae), can be spotted by its long transparent claws or "chelae". Very similar shrimp are found in near shore habitats all around the world. Using genetic tests we may determine if they are the same species, or two...
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May 21 2012 - 5:55pm
The sargassum frogfish Histrio histrio (Antennariidae) is a small but voracious predator - it can ingest animals up to it’s own size! The fins of the frogfish are perfect for creeping around in the algae and stalking unsuspecting prey.
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Jan 6 2011 - 12:38pm
Many jellyfish in the class Hydrozoa, such as this hydromedusa Aglantha digitale, are transparent and easily overlooked. Learn more about hydrozoan jellies and other jellyfish, and see more pictures of Arctic animals in the “Under Arctic Ice” photo essay.
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Jul 13 2012 - 9:11am
The veined octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus), also known as the coconut octopus, has a skill beyond other cephalopods: it hides under animal and coconut shell, which it drags along the seafloor for protection. This is one of the few examples -- if not the only example -- of tool use in...
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