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Invertebrates

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PHOTO Rapa Whelk Rapa whelks, native to Asia, have invaded the Chesapeake Bay and are raising concerns about economic and ecological impacts to the Bay region due to their shellfish diet. Scientists believe...MORE PHOTOS


	PHOTO MORE PHOTOS Invertebrates from the Gulf of Mexico The Smithsonian's Department of Invertebrate Zoology has a collection of over 57...
	BLOG POST MORE STORIES So You Think You're Smarter Than a Cephalopod? The blanket octopus can rip a poisonous tentacle from a Portuguese man-o-war and...
	IMAGE GALLERY MORE GALLERIES Bioluminescent Animals Photo Gallery Bioluminescence is one of the more captivating adaptations that have evolved in...

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					Lettuce Sea Slug May 20, 2013 - 8:57AMThe lettuce sea slug (Elysia crispata) has enlarged fleshy appendages that are folded over one another, with colors ranging from blue to green, with purple and red lining. The green coloring is what gives this mollusk it's common...

Searching for Crustaceans in the Deep Sea

May 16, 2013 - 9:04AM

In this video Smithsonian research zoologist Dr. Martha Nizinski takes...

Colorful Caribbean Crustaceans

May 15, 2013 - 8:12AM

Discovering new species is an exciting quest, right? Well, some parts are—...

SPOTLIGHT


A World Adrift: Life in the Sargassum The open ocean is surprisingly barren to the naked eye. Every now and again you will encounter a school of fish and their...

How Coastal Seagrass Feeds the Deep Feb 11 2013 - 1:53pm It is a well-known fact that for animals living in the deep sea, food can be scarce. The food that is around usually rains down from above as dead animals and organic particles from plankton living near the ocean’s surface. Occasionally, a bonus in the form of a good-sized dead fish, a porpoise, or...	Giant Squid on Baited Camera Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am This is the first photograph of a live giant squid (Architeuthis) in its natural habitat. It was taken in 2004 by two Japanese researchers who had suspended a long line from their research vessel with a camera and bait attached. More about the giant squid can be found in our Giant Squid section.
Bamboo Coral Jun 7 2011 - 12:57pm This 200-year-old bamboo coral colony is growing on the Davidson Seamount off the coast of California. The skeleton of this deep-sea coral has bamboo-like segments. See more pictures of coral in our Deep-sea Corals article.	Tan Sea Urchin Aug 10 2012 - 4:05pm This tan urchin, Conolampas sigsbei, is one of only two known deep-sea urchins that cover their tops with small rocks and shells. Many shallow species cover themselves for reasons that have been determined experimentally. However, none of these explanations make sense for urchins living in the deep...
Quest for the Giant Squid Nov 20 2009 - 5:17pm Watch a Discovery video on Smithsonian squid expert Clyde Roper’s search for giant squid in Kaikoura Canyon off the coast of New Zealand. More about giant squid can be found in our Giant Squid featured story.	Midwater Squid, Abralia veranyi Oct 5 2012 - 10:01am Glowing photophores are visible on a squid (Abralia veranyi) viewed from below at low light levels. We think of light as a way to see in the dark. But many species use it to help them hide. This adaptation is called counterillumination. Seen from below, an animal might stand out as a dark shape...
Gold Coral Jun 7 2011 - 12:24pm Species of deep-sea gold coral, or Gerardia, often have a tree-like shape, as you can see in this specimen. See more pictures of coral in our Deep-sea Corals article.	Horseshoe Crab from Thailand Oct 27 2010 - 5:01pm With seven pairs of legs, nine eyes, a tail with light-sensing organs and shells the shape of flying saucers, horseshoe crabs, like this species from Thailand (Tachypleus tridentatus) look like aliens from the deep. They are not actually related to crabs, but to arachnids (spiders, scorpians and...
Acrobatic Blue Whales Do the Twist While Feeding Jan 8 2013 - 12:06pm I have a vivid childhood memory of sitting under the Blue Whale model hanging in the Natural History Museum in London, eating an ice cream and wondering “How in the world did that whale get so big?” These days we are closer to knowing the answer. Over the past several years, a group of researchers...	Giant Squid Beak and Radula Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am Inside the giant squid's sharp beak is a tongue-like organ called the radula (shown in yellow). Covered with rows of tiny teeth, it rams bite size pieces of food down the squid's throat. The pieces must be small because the giant squid's esophagus passes through the brain on the way to the stomach...
Blue Cod Amongst Sea Pens Jun 22 2012 - 10:13am A blue cod and sea pens, a unique type of cnidarian, speckle the seafloor in New Zealand's Fiordland region.You can see more beautiful underwater photos from Brian Skerry in his image gallery.	Coral Colony Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am Flower-like clusters of polyps make up this coral colony. Their pink color comes from the zooxanthellae living inside. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in our Coral Reefs featured story.
Deep-sea Giant Squid Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am The giant squid is among the largest invertebrates on Earth, but this deep sea creature has rarely been observed by humans -- alive. Over the centuries, many dead giant squid have washed up on the beach and been found by people, inspiring tales of sea monsters such as the Kraken. This...	Diverse Deep-Sea Corals Jul 27 2011 - 10:51am Shown here are several deep-sea coral species: From left to right is an unidentified purple octocoral, a small gold acanthorgorgiid octocoral, and a large colony of pink Corallium secundum.
Squids and Cephalopod Diversity Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am These Pacific cephalopods illustrate the wide diversity among this group of mollusks. You can learn about a relative, the giant squid (Architeuthis dux), in our Giant Squid section.	Giant Isopod Oct 27 2010 - 6:16pm This giant isopod (a crustacean related to shrimps and crabs) was collected from the cold, deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico in 2006. Scientists believe that it is one of about nine species in the genus Bathynomus.