#marine science

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).