A remote-operated vehicle spotted the elusive giant phantom jellyfish in the midnight zone, an area of the ocean about 3,200 feet below the surface, in one of just nine of the team's encounters with the species since it was discovered in 1899. Footage and photos from the expedition unveil the crimson animal's bulbous body and its four billowing, blanket-like arms (these function as mouths) that have the capability to stretch 33 feet out into the water and uncannily resemble a hat and scarf flying in the wind. Because sightings are so uncommon, researchers suspect that the huge jellyfish eats plankton and small fishes, although they haven't been able to study it enough to know for sure.
In 2010, geneticists at the University of Colorado, Boulder compared DNA samples from eight hammerhead species in an attempt to map out the family's evolutionary history. The molecular evidence suggested that the hammerheads started to diversify around 20 million years ago. The fossil record tells us sharks have existed for at least 420 million years—so if the University of Colorado team is correct, hammerheads are relative newcomers on the world stage. What did the earliest hammerheads look like? According to the researchers, these were probably large-bodied animals. They also argued that today's modestly-sized bonnethead and winghead sharks independently evolved from big ancestors.
Payara Fish (Hydrolycus scomberoides), also known as Vampire Tetra, is a predatory species of dogtooth tetra that can be found swimming in the tropical waters of the Amazon Basin as they actively hunt for their next meal. Payara fish are born with gaps in their upper jaw to accommodate their razor-sharp fangs. These fangs are very sharp and they are designed to kill their prey. These sword-like fangs can reach up to six inches long. The long silver body of a Payara fish is very powerful. They go after schools of fish, latching onto their prey with a sudden strike. Payara fish were first discovered in 1918 by Georges Cuvier, a French naturalist and zoologist. The scientific name Hydrolycus scomberoides originated from the Greek words: "hydro" meaning water, "lykos" meaning wolf, and "scombros" meaning tuna. The Payara Fish are easy to spot amongst the other genus – the side of their tail and pectoral fins feature a dark spot and a large, bony face that sneakily conceals their gills. Payara fish belong to the Dogtooth Characins family.
Oarfish are part of many Japanese folklore stories. Smaller than the giant oarfish, the Regalecus russelii (slender oarfish) is said to be messenger from the Sea God's Palace. When these fishes have washed ashore, they are of no use except for research because people have tried eating them, and they taste like gelatinous goo. Giant oarfish meat has a gelatin-like consistency, which makes it not suitable for eating. In history, when a giant oarfish washed ashore, it was considered as a prediction for an earthquake.
Sea monkeys are actually a type of brine shrimp, which is a tiny animal that lives in saltwater. About 60 years ago, an inventor named Harold von Braunhut created sea monkeys. He was fascinated by brine shrimp because they could undergo cryptobiosis, When conditions are good, female brine shrimp release live babies into the water. But when conditions are bad, such as lack of food or water, the female brine shrimp release eggs that have a covering around them called a cyst. These cysts protect the baby brine shrimp inside. The babies will stay inside the cysts until the conditions improve. They can stay in the cysts for a long, long time and can still hatch later on when there is enough water and food to keep them alive. Because brine shrimp can do this, von Braunhut realized that he could put brine shrimp eggs into packages and sell them in stores. The brine shrimp eggs in the package would be in a state of cryptobiosis in their cysts until someone bought them, put them into water, and began to feed them. He thought kids would be fascinated by the creatures, but brine shrimp wasn't a very attractive name. Because they have long tails like monkeys, he decided to name them sea monkeys.
Leaf slug's have one key plant-like characteristic: They can perform the process of photosynthesis, which is the process by which plants can use sunlight to create energy from carbon dioxide and water. How do they do this? Their primary diet is sea algae. When they consume it, they suck the chloroplasts out of the algae in a process called kleptoplasty. This process then enables them to photosynthesize. This is why leaf slugs glow, In other words, they are bioluminescent.
Like all cephalopods, cuttlefish have three hearts. Two of its three hearts are used to pump blood to the cuttlefish's large gills, and the third is used to circulate oxygenated blood to the rest of its body. The circulatory system of cuttlefish is closed, unlike other mollusks, but consistent with other cephalopods and vertebrates. The blood pumped through the cuttlefish's heart is blue-green in color because, like its cephalopod relatives, it contains a copper-based protein, hemocyanin.
Water lilies reproduce both by way of seeds and by the spreading of their tenacious roots, or rhizomes. Though lily pads spread relatively slowly, they can eventually take over entire shorelines and are considered invasive in some areas. Water lilies and their surface lily pads can blanket areas of water as deep as six feet. A single rhizome can reproduce and grow to cover an area 15 feet in diameter in as little as 15 years. When spread to non-native habitats, water lilies can shade the water and make it too cold for native species of fish and plants. Water lilies may also compete with native plants for nutrients.
How do barnacles stick to the undersides of vessels, to other sea life, to each other, and to pretty much anything they come in contact with? They secrete a fast-curing cement that is among the most powerful natural glues known, with a tensile strength of 5,000 pounds per square inch and an adhesive strength of 22-60 pounds per square inch. The glue is so strong that researchers are trying to figure out how it can be used commercially.
Sometimes a peacock gudgeon is referred to as a peacock goby but they are not true gobies. Unlike the fishes of the goby family, peacock gudgeons do not have fused pectoral fins. The typical fused pectoral fins are the trademark of a true goby. So the name peacock goby stands as incorrect and the fish are called peacock gudgeons that belong to the family of Eleotridae. The peacock gudgeons have a blurry black spot at the start of their tail fins. This is visible in every fish irrespective of the sexual dimorphism in males and females. This looks very similar to the black spot present at the same position in peacocks. For this reason, this fish gets the moniker peacock in its name. Also, they have somewhat bluish scales like a peacocks' blue body, accentuating the semblance between the two.