The squidworm is measured to be nearly four inches long, quite sizable for a marine worm. It is named for its head that looks like it's covered in squid-like tentacles. This worm has an abundance of various appendages, some of which are even longer than its body. Eight arms are used for breathing, and two long, coiled appendages are used for feeding. Six pairs of sensory organs emerge from its head to provide the squidworm with the ability to taste and smell, and propulsion paddles are present down the length of its body to allow for upright swimming.

Crown-of-thorns starfish received their common name from the needle-sharp spines that cover their arms and body that supposedly resemble the biblical crown of thorns. Their scientific family name – Acanthaster - means almost the same thing. In Latin, Acanth means thorny and aster means star. COTS prefer their food alive – and luckily for them coral doesn't go anywhere fast. The starfish have an exclusive diet of stony coral, preying on the polyps that make up the coral's soft tissues. They project their stomach from their mouths, covering an area almost as big as they are. Their digestive juices liquify the coral beneath and the starfish absorb the meal. They then invert their stomach back inside their body.

Mature Northern Pike have few natural predators, among them Sea Lampreys and humans. Northerns skulking in nearshore shallows also put themselves at risk from bears, dogs or other land-roaming carnivores. But life spans for Northern Pike are not short, and they have been known to live up to 12 years.

Cownose rays get their name from their unique forehead, which resembles the nose of a cow. They are brown to olive-colored on top with no spots, and pale below. Cownose males are about 2½ feet across. Females are 2-3 feet across.The tail is about twice as long as the body. Beach-goers sometimes mistake these rays for sharks. When the rays are swimming near the surface, the tips of the wings sometimes stick out of the water, resembling a shark's dorsal fin.

Mimicry is a common survival strategy in nature. Certain flies have the black and yellow stripes of a bee, which discourages potential predators, but the mimic octopus is the first known species to mimic more than one other species, and the first of its kind to possess the ability of mimicry. It is not known how many animals the mimic octopus can imitate, but it is known that most of the animals that it mimics are poisonous. Some of the more common animals the mimic octopus imitates are the following: lion fish, sea snake, flat fish, and jellyfish.

Seal mothers and pups (as opposed to other pinnipeds) generally stay close together on shore and are not separated while nursing. Harbor seals are an exception, and mothers will leave pups on shore to feed offshore. Seal mothers and pups can stay in contact by sound. Harbor seal pups make distinctive calls that can be heard for up to a kilometer. When in close contact mothers and pups can identify each other by scent, recognizing scent from glands in the skin of their flippers and around their muzzles. If you see a harbor seal pup on shore, observe it from a distance and do not approach—its mother may be offshore. Seal pups are naturally attracted to moving objects that are bigger than they are. This can help a pup stay near its mother, but can also make a pup follow things that it shouldn't (like you).

Scientists believe that sperm whales and giant squid are natural enemies. While no actual battles have ever been observed, sperm whales sometimes carry round scars believed to have come from the suckers of giant squid.

The cusk eel family consists of over two hundred species of bony, marine fish found in tropical and temperate oceans all around the world. They live close to the bottom of the sea, ranging from the shallows to depths of over 6562 feet (2000 meters). The largest known species of this family grows up to about 6.6 feet (2 meters) long, but most species are smaller than 3.3 feet (1 meter). Cusk eels are not related to true eels, and can be distinguished from them by their ventral fins. Ventral fins are a pair of fins in a fish's pelvic girdle that help in controlling movement. True eels don't possess these fins, whereas in cusk eels they have developed into forked, barbel-like organs below the mouth. As with true eels, however, the dorsal, anal and tail fins of cusk eels are formed into a single long fin.

Peacock bass are a fairly sturdy fish, so catch and release survival rates are quite high if the fish are handled correctly. They have sandpaper-like mouths similar to that of a largemouth bass, so they can be handled by the lower jaw, using the same thumb-and-finger grip.

Though the Greeks called them "river horses" and you will almost always see hippos in the water, they can't actually swim or float. They sink their body into water. After this, they drop their body down to the ground surface below the water, then they run along the bottom.