Marine Life

The single-celled Mesodinium chamaeleon harnesses algae, which lives inside it, for energy.

By Loraine Fick

The first-ever deep-sea exploration of West Java seas netted more than 12,000 marine creatures, including some new species of crabs, prawns and lobsters.

By Oisin Curran

The Dumbo octopus is just one of the amazing creatures filmed by the most recent voyage of the E/V Nautilus.

By Jesslyn Shields

The kindest thing you can say about a sea cucumber's physique is that it looks very much like a large hoagie bun dressed in a lumpy old sweater.

By Jesslyn Shields

Sea lice aren't actually lice — they're jellyfish — but they're no fun when they get in your bathing suit.

By Jesslyn Shields

You can't tell a book by its cover, and you can't tell a squid by its Nosferatu getup.

By Jesslyn Shields

Sea spiders don't do anything by the book, and researchers have just gotten to the bottom of how they breathe.

By Jesslyn Shields

Researchers have successfully used RNA to transfer a memory from one sea snail to another.

By Jesslyn Shields

By incorporating algae into their bodies, these beautiful sea slugs become one of the few animals with the photosynthetic ability of a plant.

By Amanda Onion

Snails can't pick and choose their shells like hermit crabs can. In fact, eviction means death. So how do those hard shells form over snails?

By Mark Mancini

To boil or not to boil ... that is the question.

By John Donovan

Crocodiles are known to eat just about anything. But sharks? A scientific team found evidence that they've chowed down on those predators too.

By Mark Mancini

Don't think you have much in common with a jellyfish? What researchers just discovered may surprise you.

By Laurie L. Dove

Researchers discover site of 15 gloomy octopus, a species that has previously been known for being reclusive.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

The magnificent bryozoan is a colonial organism that lives in warm ponds and lakes usually east of the Mississippi River. So what's it doing in western Canada?

By Jesslyn Shields

How giant squid process visual information has long been a mystery, but a new study finds their visual processing is surprisingly uncomplicated.

By Jesslyn Shields

If you thought this underwater creeper looked heartless, you're actually not that far off.

By Chris Opfer

How squid brains process their external visual skin communication is fascinating, complex, and unlike anything in the vertebrate world.

By Jesslyn Shields

It's not easy being a starfish larva. Fortunately, the tiny creatures have an efficient way to get food and swim away.

By Alia Hoyt

It sounds crazy, but it's happened before, and it'll probably happen again.

By Joe McCormick

Bruce Lee has nothing on these boxer crabs.

By Robert Lamb

New fossil analysis details a microscopic organism from 540 million years ago that just might be a precursor to every vertebrate on the planet.

By Christopher Hassiotis

Mining rare minerals from the breeding ground of these newly discovered creatures could endanger their habitat. But hey, then we get batteries.

By Laurie L. Dove

Turns out that strange sound may be minke whales getting vocal in the deep ocean.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

Scientists have discovered for the first time that animals pollinate flowers in the ocean.

By Alia Hoyt