Blue Ringed Octopi

“Everything in Australia is trying to kill you, haven’t you heard?” (Rosalind James). Physalia, or Portuguese Man of War, is a salt water species of hydrozoa that thrives in dead zones of tropical and subtropical waters. The animal is often confused with a jellyfish, but it actually is a siphonophore. Blue Bottle, Physalia, is not just a multicellular creatures called zooids. The zooids work together to provide defense, help with feeding, to produce offspring, find a safe habitat, and use all the tools necessary to live a full life. While movement and shape are uncontrollable, they play a vital role in the creature living. The Portuguese Man of War is a beautiful creature that plays in an important role in the ecosystem

Moon Jellyfish are in the “Animalia Kingdom, Phylum Cnidarian, Class Scyphozoan, Order Semaeostomeae, Family Ulmaridae, and Genus Aurelia” ( Myers, 2016 ; Espinosa, ; 2016 ; Parr, 2016 ; Jones, 2026 ; Hammond, 2016 ; Dewey, 2016). The morphological description of Cnidarians are corals, sea anemones, jellyfish and hydroids. These cnidarians form a diverse phylum that contains ~9000 species, which live in aquatic (predominantly marine) environments. The phylum-defining trait of Cnidaria is the stinging cell, the nematocyte an extrusive organelle used for predation, adhesion and defense (Holstein, 1981; Lengfeld et al., 2009; Tardent and Holstein, 1982) (Steele and Technau; 2011). Also, this phylum, Cnidarians, are divided into two groups, “Anthozoa (sea anemones, corals and sea pens), which live as

There are many Cnidarians that live and thrive in our tropical waters. Although most are harmless to humans, there are some that can kill you in a matter of minutes. The Cnidarians defend themselves with their stinging cells called nematocysts. When a predator or threat comes too close and brushes against its tentacles, it injects toxins into the blood stream and often effecting the nervous system. In most cases, if a very dangerous jellyfish is spotted along a stretch of beach, the life guards will close down that beach.

The purpose of this experiment was to observe the light that the Tomopteris emits. They collected Tomopteris from Monterey Bay off the coast of California. They then stimulated the Tomopteris to produce light so that they could observe the light that it produced. The researchers took photos and measured the amount of light that was emitted per Tomopteris. One interesting discovery was a Tomopteris that emits a blue light which is rare since most Tomopteris emit a yellow-orange light. The researchers tried to create explanations as to why this Tomopteris emits blue light. They think that “different protein complements may be responsible for the light in different species”. However, this isn’t their only explanation for this rare blue emitting Tomopteris. The other explanation is that “this could potentially reflect different ecological roles of the two light colors”. Researchers concluded that with further testing the blue-light emitting Tomopteris may be considered a species of their own.

It also wouldn’t be helpful in the dark because unlike the Dumbo octopus, some sea animals can actually see in the dark and they are normally the predators which eat the Dumbo octopuses and other small deep sea creatures.

levels were high, in order to avoid predation by invertebrate predators such as Chaoborus. PAR

The cownose ray (Rhinoptera bonasus) is found in open Atlantic Ocean waters from Western Africa to the Northeastern United States and parts of the Caribbean. Cownose rays are a migratory species on the Atlantic Ocean, that returns to the Chesapeake Bay each summer to mate. These animals prefer warm waters up to depths of 72 feet, where they can find bottom dwelling lobsters, crabs, and small fish for prey. The cownose ray possess adaptations to easily locate, kill, and eat its prey. One such adaptation is the electroreceptors found on the ray’s snout. These creatures cruise for prey over soft mud and sand bottoms, until they sense electrical stimuli from organisms through these electroreceptors. The ray will then stir up mud or sand by fluttering

The 59-year-old author, Sy Montgomery, has written 20 books, each based on a specific research or expedition she has taken part in. Her studies, which she descriptively incorporates into her novels, have warranted her various book awards and acclaims. She plunges herself into the lives and mysteries of Earth’s wildlife in order to gain a further understanding of how particular organisms thrive in their wild, dangerous environments. Although Montgomery was no expert in the field of cephalopods, she quickly learned all she could about the intriguing invertebrates through fellow researcher, experts, aquarists, divers, and colleagues encountered throughout her studies about octopuses. Through diligent research via articles, studies, field

One hundred and fifty million years ago, large aquatic species of reptile such as the Plesiosaur dominated the ocean, and were pre-eminent predators of the sea. The branch of now extinct Plesiosaurs, or ‘near lizards', evolved into variant closely related species specialised to take different niches in the food chain. Such species of Plesiosaur include the phenotypically similar Plesiosauroid and Pliosauroid. The physiological adaptations of the long necked variant, the Plesiosauroid, as it relates to deep sea diving, will be addressed in depth.

The lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus) can be found in warm, temperate waters in mangroves, soft bottom areas and estuaries from Nova Scotia to Venezuela. Lined seahorse can also be found in coral reefs of up to 72 meters deep. However, the lined seahorse adaptations are most suited for grass beds. This creature varies in color from brown to green, but all have a pattern of white lines that follow the neck contour and gives it the name of “lined seahorses”. The coloration and pattern of the lined seahorse allow it to expertly camouflage into the environment. This camouflage is so superior, that few predators are known to prey upon this creature. Another adaptation of the lined seahorse, is its ability to change colors. Seahorses can change

I have learned that often a bright-colored organism indicates that it is poisonous (Belk, Borden-Maier, 2010). However, the poison-color link is not necessarily always present. Warning coloration is called “aposematic coloration” also serves to deter predators.

Aquatic species are full of interesting physiological designs, from gills to adaptive skin, they have learned to adjust to their environment in order to have optimal survival. When it comes to physiological adaptations, camouflage proves impressive. Organisms from many different species utilize camouflage in order to maximize survival: owls, geckos, fish to name a few. However, cephalopod mollusks such as an octopus utilize camouflage as their primary defense against predators. The reliance on mimicry displays how refined and detailed the mechanism to camouflage is, otherwise the success of the species would not be where it is today. By utilizing visual acuity and specialized skin, octopi are able

The small shrimp, Hymenocera picta, is a general predator of all starfish and has been found to prey on A. planci at some locations. Pherecardia striata can only attack damaged A. planci and cause its death. Therefore, P. striata is regarded as a scavenger rather than as a predator. A. planci attracts many other scavengers who are able to tolerate A. planci’s horrible taste for the chance at a food source (Fisher 2011).

According to the blog of Marine Bio-tech, the deep sea is cloaked in perpetual darkness because light cannot penetrate the great amount of water. Therefore, in order to adapt to the dark environment, most of the fish have larger than average tubular eyes with only rod cell. Also, many deep-sea organisms, even bacteria, developed bioluminescence, which is a visible light made by living creatures. Some

An investigation into the effects of varying seawater concentrations on two marine invertebrates’ osmoregulatory abilities; Carcinus maenas and Arenicola marina.