13 Stunning Photos From 10-Year Sea Census

Sea Angel

Photograph courtesy Kevin Raskoff, Monterey Peninsula College

A 2005 Census of Marine Life expedition to the Arctic Ocean captured a so-called sea angel, Clione limacina, at about 1,148 feet (350 meters) underwater. Despite its nickname, this little angel apparently doesn't mind showing a little skin: It's actually a naked snail without a shell, scientists said in December 2009.

Such marine snails—most of them the size of a lentil—are widely eaten by many species, making them the "potato chip" of the oceans, biologist Gretchen Hofmann, of the University of California, said in a 2008 statement.

Clione limacina was also among the hundreds of species found living at both Poles during the Census of Marine Life, startling scientists. (See "Odd, Identical Species Found at Both Poles.")

Published October 4, 2010

Squidworm

Photograph courtesy Laurence Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Squid? Worm? Initially, this new species—with bristle-based "paddles" for swimming and tentacles on its head—so perplexed Census of Marine Life researchers that they threw in the towel and simply called it squidworm.

Found via remotely operated vehicle about 1.7 miles (2.8 kilometers) under the Celebes Sea (see map) in 2007, the four-inch-long (ten-centimeter-long) creature turned out to the first member of a new family in the Polychaeta class of segmented worms.

(See pictures: "New 'Green Bomber' Sea Worms Fire Glowing Blobs.")

Published October 4, 2010

Blue Christmas

Photograph courtesy John Huisman, Murdoch University

At the slightest touch, these "Christmas trees" temporarily disappear down a hole faster than you can say "Grinch." It's a defense mechanism of the Christmas tree worm, most of which resides in a tunnel it carves into live coral.

Photographed off Australia's Lizard Island (map) by a Census of Marine Life expedition, the two blue trees are actually a single worm's "crowns"—each spiral is a series of tentacles used in breathing and in passive feeding on tiny, floating foodstuffs.

Published October 4, 2010

Mr. Blobby

Photograph courtesy Kerryn Parkingson, NORFANZ

Affectionately nicknamed "Mr. Blobby," this fathead sculpin fish was discovered in 2003 in New Zealand during a Census of Marine Life expedition, according to the Australian Museum in Sydney.

Fathead sculpins—named for their large, globe-like heads and floppy skin—live in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans at depths of between about 330 feet (100 meters) and 9,200 feet (2,800 meters).

(Related: "Bizarre Gelatinous Fish Found in Brazil.")

Now preserved in 70 percent ethyl alcohol at the Australian Museum, Mr. Blobby's nose has shrunk—"and he no longer retains his 'cute' look," according to the museum's website.

Published October 4, 2010

Dumbo of the Deep

Photograph courtesy David Shale

Found in 2009, a deep-sea "Dumbo octopus" (pictured) may look like it's all ears—but the protrusions are actually fins that help propel the animal through the darkness a mile (1.6 kilometers) under the sea.

Netted during a Census of Marine Life expedition to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, this Dumbo is among the thousands of census-documented creatures that live without ever knowing sunlight.

Reaching six feet (two meters) in length and weighing 13 pounds (6 kilograms), the jumbo Dumbo species is the largest of the octopus-like creatures of the mollusk genus Grimpoteuthis.

(Related pictures: "New Deep-Sea Species Revealed by Marine Census.")

Published October 4, 2010

"Terrible" Lobster

Photograph courtesy Tin-Yam Chan, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung

This blind lobster, discovered in 2008 during a Census of Marine Life expedition, was given the scientific name Dinochelus ausubeli, which
is derived from the Greek dinos, meaning terrible and fearful; chela, meaning claw; and ausubeli, in honor of Jesse Ausubel, a co-founder of
the Census of Marine Life.

The lobster likely uses its exaggerated claw, or cheliped, to defend against other crustaceans.

Published October 4, 2010

Collective Jellyfish Cousin

Photograph courtesy Laurence Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

This pink siphonophore, Athorybia rosacea, was found during a Census of Marine Life expedition in the Sargasso Sea (see map) in the eastern Atlantic.

Like the Portuguese man-of-war (see picture), the new creature is actually a colonial organism, made up of many animals.

(Also see "'City of Gonads' Jellyfish Discovered.")

Published October 4, 2010

Beautiful but Deadly

Photograph courtesy Ian MacDonald, Florida State University

"Stunningly beautiful but deadly," the Gulf of Mexico's Venus flytrap anemone (pictured) acts much like its terrestrial namesake, stinging its prey with an array of tentacles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (See pictures of more stinging and toxic sea creatures.)

The species' native Gulf—along with the Mediterranean Sea, Chinese waters, the Baltic Sea, and the Caribbean Sea—are the ocean regions most under threat from human activities, according to Census of Marine Life scientists.

For instance, nutrients in sewage and fertilizer washed from the land are degrading these marine habitats by creating oxygen-free "dead zones," the report says.

What's more, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill may worsen these dead zones, as well as wield untold damage to the animals at the bottom of the food chain.

Published October 4, 2010

Fiery Colony

Photograph courtesy Kevin Raskoff, Monterey Peninsula College

Discovered in 2005, this new physonect siphonophore is a colonial animal, made up of many repeated units—such as the nectophores, or swimming bells, on the right half above, which provide propulsion for the colony.

Many specimens of Marrus orthocanna were observed between 980 feet (300 meters) and 4,900 feet (1,500 meters) deep during a 2009 Census of Marine Life expedition.

Reaching 10 feet (3.1 meters) in length, some siphonophores are among the largest animals in the deep sea, experts say.

Published October 4, 2010

Baby Slipper Lobster

Photograph courtesy Peter Parks, SeaPics.com, from the book Citizens of the Sea

This baby slipper lobster, found during a Census of Marine Life expedition, is completely transparent, though as the creature grows, a thick shell will cover it.

The lobster's bizarre eyes may confuse predators while it floats among plankton, or tiny animals, according to the new National Geographic Society book Citizens of the Sea: Wondrous Creatures From the Census of Marine Life. (The Society owns National Geographic News.)

(See "Lobsters to Be Supersized by Climate Change?")

Published October 4, 2010

Poisonous Sea Slug

Photograph by Darlyne A. Murawski, National Geographic, from the book Citizens of the Sea

The poisonous sea slug Phyllidia ocellata, which lives on coral reefs, was found during a Census of Marine Life expedition. Its vibrant coloration warns predators that this slug is off the menu, according to the National Geographic Society book Citizens of the Sea: Wondrous Creatures From the Census of Marine Life.

(See more sea slug pictures: "Fiery Sea Slug Discovered, Lays Lacy Egg Case.")

Published October 4, 2010

Night Watch

Photograph courtesy Gary Cranitch, Queensland Museum

Researcher Niel Bruce of the Museum of Tropical Queensland studies marine specimens in a lighted aquarium off Australia's Lizard Island (see map) in an undated picture.

The massive Census of Marine Life inventory "was urgently needed for two reasons," final census report author Mark Costello said in a statement.

"First, dwindling expertise in taxonomy impairs society's ability to discover and describe new species. And secondly, marine species have suffered major declines—in some cases 90 percent losses—due to human activities and may be heading for extinction, as happened to many species on land."

Published October 4, 2010