Comments on: Marine Biology at its Best!

By: Ms Baker

Ms Baker — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:43:00 +0000

Hi Hannah. Thanks for stopping by our website. My first name is Stacy. Good luck on your science project!

By: Hannahboo

Hannahboo — Sat, 21 May 2011 01:41:00 +0000

Miss Baker, Whats your first name? I used this website as a resource for my science project. And im doing my citations. Thanks so much!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 03:32:00 +0000

Wow, great post Mike. I was able to relate to your post because i am HIGHLY interested in aquatic life. To answer your question of “What is the advantage of Having a Big Head?” Well, for that a big head is a huge intimidation factor. Usually when a fish goes in for an attack it looks for vulnerability. But, when you have a massive head, you look like a ferocious animal, and not an animal that another fish would like to encounter. In this video, if you look at the beginning when Mola Mola is coming through all the fish swim as fast as they can away. Also, in the back round you see sharks. The Mola Mola is the heaviest bony fish. They would have a lot of meat, but the sharks, are intimidated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7ZQwlwbrQo

By: Zach

Zach — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:17:08 +0000

Great post Mike! I researched Jack’s question, and I found a very unusual type of species. A type of cephalopod, called the nautilus, is an unusual type of creature. It lies in the octopus and squid family, but immediately, there are no resemblances. But, the nautilus in fact has a beak like the squid and octopus, and can also squirt ink. But in contrast, the nautilus lies on a different type of behavior.
The nautilus lives on the slope of coral reefs, which at night, go to for food. The nautilus moves by moving backwards, shell first. The means of propulsion is the hyponome, which pushes out water and makes the creature move forward. Its tentacles can detect predator movement and the location of prey. It then uses its beak to crack open shells, and then swallow what is inside the shell. The nautilus is an unusual creature, but its relation to octopuses and squids relied over time, in which both cephalopods lost their shells over an extended period of time.

Links: Nautilus Facts: http://sea.sheddaquarium.org/sea/fact_sheets.asp?id=94

Video of Nautilus (BBC): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMFqV4SJLWg

By: Al Ulrich

Al Ulrich — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:07:05 +0000

Very cool post, glad I stumbled upon the site here. I had no idea that a female mola mola produces 300 million eggs. Do their larvae have an extended pelagic phase?

By: Vasiliki

Vasiliki — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:00:52 +0000

In my opinion, the movements of jellyfish are relaxing. Their jellylike skin opens and lets water in. Then, the jellyfish closes the skin while pushing all the water out. Compared to ocean waves their tentacles aren’t so strong. If they get washed up on the shore they cannot get back in the water. Eventually only the skin of the jellyfish would still be there, the inside would evaporate.

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215242/jellyfish.htm

By: Michael L.

Michael L. — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:42:09 +0000

Michael, this is a great post and I like the way you described Marine Biology at the way fish using their ‘photoreception’ in order to sense out their food. Which is the way that we see because we use photoreception except ours is just more advanced. What I found very interesting was that fish have taste buds and they dislike certain types of food. Fishes also have very bad sense of their surroundings because they can only see up to about 15 feet which limits their range of finding food. I received my information from: http://spikesworld.spike-jamie.com/science/ecology/c242-19-fish-food.html, http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/young_naturalists/fishsense/index.html .

By: Alec Freudenstein

Alec Freudenstein — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:04:16 +0000

Jack, I have found some very strange sea creatures.

For example, the “Yeti Crab” caught my attention while doing some research. Stories Yeti or the abominable snowman describe the creature as being very hairy, like a bear. Well, the Yeti Crab has very hairy claws like the mythical Yeti, which is why researchers gave it this name. These hairy claws are not just for show, they are actually farming spaces for microbes. The Yeti Crab was first discovered south of Easter Island in the South Pacific in 2005. This fascinating creature was lives in hydrothermal vents at about 7,200 feet below sea level along the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge.

The information from my previous post was found on:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/11/23/tentacled-transparent-sea-cucumbers-oh-my/

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0309_060309_yeti_crab.html

Also, pictures of these amazing creatures can be found on:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/avi_abrams/354637046/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26042632@N03/4128212843/

Also, a transparent cucumber was seen creeping on its many tentacles while sweeping detritus-rich into it’s mouth. It was seen in a 2007 voyage 1.7 miles below sea in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:37:16 +0000

Great job Mike! I actually thought this post was extremely interesting and fun to read because I love learning about new species and different types of animals, especially marine life.
I answered to Jack’s question to see if anyone can find anymore interesting marine species, and I did, on Giant Jellyfish, which relates to this topic. The Nomura, the world’s largest jellyfish, ruins a day’s catch because it kills all the fish when they are tangled up in the net. Here is a website explaining how climate change is making jellyfish like the Nomura to migrate to more tropical waters and how it is ruining the fishing industry off the coast of Japan: http://www.physorg.com/news177516168.html
This is a link to a You Tube video explaining how jellyfish are ruining fishing in Japan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTNweu1qcsM
Here is a link to another You Tube video showing the wonderful Nomura jellyfish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqfCm58SB6Y
The Nomura jellyfish can way up to 440 pounds, and up to 6.5 feet in diameter! The combination of over fishing and high levels of nutrients in the water has been linked to jellyfish (like the Nomura) blooms. Here is another link telling about these wonderful creatures: http://dsc.discovery. com/news/slideshows/monster-jellyfish.html

By: Jong

Jong — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:46:19 +0000

Excellent post Matt. To answer Jack’s question, I researched for other marine specimens. I came across with a peculiar fish named the Barreleye Fish. This fish seems to have eyes inside its transparent head. It’s eyes are essential for its survival because they are able spot both predators and preys due to its ability to look horizontally and vertically. The barreleye fish feeds itself from jellyfish which is why it is so important that the eyes are protected from the constant shocks it receives while eating it.
What advantages are there when one can see a predator from underneath?? Are there any disadvantages??
Sources:
http://www.mbari.org/news/news_releases/2009/barreleye/barreleye.html
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zoygy-8PTtU