“These foragers dig in the sand, hunting shallow sand-dwelling animals like shrimp and crabs. Unlike most rays, blue spotted ribbontail rays will rarely bury themselves completely, though they sometimes will to ambush prey or when they migrate in large groups to shallow, sandy areas.
This is a species that prefers to be left alone and are far more likely to swim away from a fight. The blue spots are meant to tell predators and other animals to stay away. If cornered they can lash out with the poisoned barb on the end of their tails, and that venom can prove fatal to many species, including humans. (Source)
I’m gonna write a post of cool animal facts just to Blaze later. Typical deep sea anglerfish and some others are pretty famous but I’m going to spend maybe even ten whole dollars to make an extra thousand people look at these other fish that I don’t think enough people know about. Sources included for all images, many with additional information wherever possible, but there’s still very little known about many of these animals!
GIGANTACTIS - common name ”whipnose seadevil” - the Schmidt ocean institute recently took this detailed photo from a deep sea ROV of a fish almost never observed live, but it sure does actually look dead. These anglerfish spend most of their time floating upside-down like this with their proboscis-like lure dangling below, and one guess is that they may send the lure down into the tunnels of burrowing worms or crustaceans. In some species, the lure can be over six times the length of the body.
Orcas are some of the most effective predators in the ocean, and each population of them have developed unique hunting techniques that definitely earn them the “killer whale” title.
I was blown away with the response I got from my first batch as well as on my Instagram so here are even more exploration of Biology-infuenced Merfolk, AKA even more of Kara’s neighbors.
Likewise, you can find out more about them on my instagram, as this is not just an exploration of jaw apparatuses, but also merfolk fashion.
Most merfolk clothing are based off of the creatures of the sea and some amphibious critters, from fishes to crocodiles and mammals (like the Elephant seal jacket of the lionfish!)
Woven kelp are another major clothing materials, with clams, pearls and mussels act as jewelry. Sometimes whole critters are used as both fashion and pets! Sharks likewise don’t need braces, so Mrs. Frilled Shark simply thought they were fashionable!
Hey there folks! If you’ve been following my twitter and instagram, for this Mermay, my theme is to basically take inspiration from real life biology, and apply them to their design as merfolk… especially their wicked set of chompers. It got so popular on Insta, I even made backstories for their designs there xD.
You can read up more about their stories on my Insta, but the gist is this:Karais a Great White Shark mermaid, and she does her best to look out for her sister, a Lamprey. She lives in a town full of quirky characters, whose merfolk come from multiple kinds of fish and critters of the sea.
Whether it be the expansion of knowledge on deep-sea coral species or the modern usage of online mapping tools, Black and African American scientists have played a crucial role in propelling marine science to new levels.
Here we recount some of their achievements throughout history as NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries celebrates African American History Month. We highlight three scientists who were pioneers within their fields and paved the way for modern day marine scientists, and introduce three scientists currently conducting research that improves our knowledge and ability to manage resources in marine sanctuaries.
