#marine biology studyblr

If I asked you to guess the name of this ray, you would probably guess correctly - this is a bullseye ray! That said, the name is misleading since these fellows are actually skates, not rays. Besides the large eyespot on its back, this species stands out for its use of electricity for defense and predation. The electric organs are described as being large, kidney shaped organs on either side of the head that can be seen through the skin, so I’d assume this individual doesn’t just have puffy cheeks!

PC elasmodiver.com

Ocean alien - this mesmerizing creature is glaucus atlanticus, or the “blue dragon” nudibranch. Rather than crawl along the seafloor like other sea slugs however, these little dragons really do soar across the seas - those winglike appendages create surface tension that allows them to adhere to the underside of the water’s surface, with currents and wind patterns carrying them across large distances. Despite this grand way of living, g. atlanticus only reaches up to a few centimeters long!

This photo has stuck with me for years. Balance in all things. @annieguttridge on Instagram

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…a sea slug! The spanish dancer nudibranch brings a new level of excitement to diving with slugs. Where most nudis amble slowly over their environment, the spanish dancer can actively swim by twisting its body and pumping water with its large, flowing “skirt.” The fluffy tuft on its back end are actually gills, and give the nudibranch its name - nudi meaning naked, and branch meaning gills! Found at @reefdivers on Instagram.

You’ve heard of a hammerhead shark, but have you ever heard of a winghead shark? Little is known about this eccentric-looking species and why they’ve evolved such an exaggerated hammer-head, called a cephalofoil, though the current popular theory is that the larger surface area is simply better at detecting prey buried beneath the sand. The youngster in this image was captured for tagging and released. This species is endemic to northern Australia and is classified as Near Threatened.

Photo credit: Dr. Tristan Guttridge

Reach for the sky! Thresher sharks have been reported for their flying leaps out of the water, but that behavior is rarely captured. It’s also a treat to see the shark’s iridescence so clearly beneath the sunlight. I hope that remora enjoyed its unscheduled flight! Found via @ah360views on Instagram.

This is a juvenile mola mola, or ocean sunfish, the largest species of bony fish. It comes to most people’s surprise that such a large adult animal produces such small and vulnerable offspring (when first hatched they are a mere 2mm), but they also produce around 300 million eggs, their fecundity surpassing all other vertebrates on earth! This particular youngster was spit up by another fish that was caught, and had already passed away. (Credit to @derin.goya.fishing on Instagram)

A baby octopus with the most perfect, tiny heart mark over the beak! This was captured by Paul Caiger (@PaulCaiger on Instagram), posted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI).

I’ve been fishing all my life but I’m still so bad at holding them for pictures Caught this nice rainbow trout and sent him on his way. Rainbow trout were introduced to my state in the 1800’s and have greatly reduced the population of our native Cutthroats.