Algae is the Latin word for seaweed. It is a autotrophic organism that can either be unicellular or multicellular. The most complex and biggest form of marine organisms are seaweed. All algae have a nucleus wihin its plastides, as well as one or more membranes. Algae bloom in the waterway Researchers have found that Algae
The common name of the order Euphausiacea is Krill. Also known as euphausiids, these are shrimp-like marine crustaceans that are small inverbrates found in every ocean of the world. They are an important part of the food chain as they are near the bottom of it. They feed on phytoplankton and to a lesser extent,
The myxosporean parasite, Myxobolus cerebralis, affects salmonoid fishes such as trout and salmon. This parasite causes a whirling disease in farmed trout and salmon, as well as in wild fish populations. It was first scientifically described from a rainbow trout specimen from Germany over 100 years ago, but this has unfortunately spread around the world
A well loved edible marine bivalve mollusc is the blue mussel. It is found on the North Atlantic coast of Europe and North America. It is usually found in waters that are polar and temperate. An open blue mussel They usually live in intertidal areas where they are attached to rocks and other substrates. They
Comb jellies are a phylum of animal that can be found living in marine waters around the world. Their most distinctive feature is their ‘combs’. They are also the largest animal that swim by means of cilia, with adults ranging from a mere few millimetres to a whopping 1.5 metres in size. A comb jelly
Although we see sponges every day in various uses such as in the form of a loofah or foam, it does not come across to us as what it really is. Sponges are actually an animal, which belongs to the phylum Porifera. Their bodies consist of a jelly-like material called mesohyl which are sandwiched between
The loggerhead sea turtle, simply known as ‘loggerhead’, is a type of oceanic turtle that can be found around the world. This marine reptile belongs to the family Cheloniidae. It is the largest hard-shelled turtle in the world. The loggerhead turtle is the largest hard shelled turtle in the world The loggerhead sea turtle grows
Also known as the Japanese Common Squid, the Japanese Flying Squid is part of the Ommastrephidae family. It lives in the northern Pacific Ocean around Japan, and up to the coast of China, Russia, and across the Bering Straight towards lower Alaska and Canada. Clusters of the Japanese Flying Squid are also found in the
Also known as the Jumbo Squid, Jumbo Flying Squid, or the Diablo Rojo (Red Devil in Spanish), the Humboldt Squid is a large squid that is found in the Humboldt Current, in the east Pacific Ocean. They are found at depths of 660 – 2,300 feet, from California to Tierra del Fuego. However, it has
Squid are famous marine cephalods, and there are 300 species in this order. They have a distinctive head, arms, mantle, and bilateral symmetry. They are famous for having 8 tentacles and being strong swimmers. A bonaire reef squid Their main body mass is enclosed in a mantle, and it has a swimming fin on each
Belonging to the Isididae family is the bamboo coral, which is a well recognised deep sea organism. This is because of the clearly articulated skeleton of this species, and many deep water coral species have been affected by bottom trawling. As a result, these bamboo corals are important in the study of climate change in
Also known as the stony coral, Brain corals are a type of coral that are known for looking like a brain. In other words, they are spheroid in shape, and have a grooved surface which resembles the brain of an animal. They are found in shallow warm-water coral reefs all over the world. They are
Irwin’s Turtle is an Australian turtle species that lives in the Broken-Bowen river system and the lower Burdekin River. It was named after its “co-discoverer”, the late Steve Irwin, who was a famous zoologist and TV personality. In actual fact, Bob Irwin, who is Steve Irwin’s dad, first caught this animal on a fishing line
Also known as a sea fan or a sea whip, a gorgonian is a type of sessile colonial cnidarian which is found particularly in the tropical and sub-tropical oceans throughout the world. They are similar to the sea pen, which is a type of soft coral. A golden gorgonian There are 500 different species of
Nudibranch’s are a type of clade that shed their shell after their larval stage. They are a favourite of scuba divers and underwater photographers due to their beautiful and striking colours. There are 3,000 described species of nudibranchs. They are casually called sea slugs, which by the way, is not a scientific term. However, not
