This page contains video and images of ocean invertebrates. Click on any image to view a larger version and for additional information.
Vertebrates: Fish / Skates and Eels / Sharks
Invertebrates: Sponges / Jellyfish, sea anemones / Corals / Sea stars, brittle stars, and sea urchins / Molluscs / Crabs and shrimp
Seafloor: Geologic features / Habitat / Bacterial Mats / Hydrates
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Astoria Canyon Sights (QuickTime, 2.6MB) |
Alvinocarid shrimp (QuickTime, 600 K) |
Octopi (QuickTime, 600 K) |
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Beautiful white sponge with purple crinoids on Retriever Seamount. (HR) |
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Sponge encrusted rock collected at the Blake Ridge. |
A "chimney" sponge and a fan-like sponge with associated sediment pile. |
A "chimney" sponge may reveal new symbioses not previously witnessed. (HR) |
Glass sponge, found at a depth of more than 1500 feet. |
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A Clathria sponge. (HR) |
The bright-orange Forcepia sponge. (HR) |
An unexpected finds during the first dive, Acarnus sp. (HR) |
Recovered on the second dive a sponge from the Verongida family. (HR) |
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The sponge Forcepia is the source of the lasonolides. (HR) |
Marine sponges collected during a single ROV dive at the West Flower Garden. Bank (HR) |
A piece of basalt collected at 162 (HR) |
Sponge and anemone |
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Horn-shaped vase sponges |
A bizarre elephant sponge |
Skeleton shrimp. |
Gooseneck barnacles. |
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A hexactinellid sponge that anchors itself in the sediment with elongate spicules |
White cup sponges. |
A very large hexactinellid sponge |
The Venus flower basket sponge. |
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Microscopic spicules from Gorgonacea sp. of sponge. |
Microscopic spicules from a pachastrellid sponge. |
Newly-discovered species of sponge that looks like a Christmas tree. |
A hard sponge |
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Unidentified sponge. |
Deepwater lacy bryozoan. |
Phakellia sp. Deepwater fan sponge. |
Leiodermatium sp., a deepwater sponge. |
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Glass sponge with zooanthids attached. |
Deep sea glass sponges retrieved at 1400 feet. |
A particularly colorful sponge collected at 198 ft. |
A commensal amphipod emerges from a stinking vase sponge. |
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The fire sponge, Tedaria ignis. |
Stacie Crowe holds the stinking sponge Ircinia campana. |
Variety of sponges |
Unidentified sponge |
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Baseball mitt-shaped sponge |
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Purple anemone on a pumice rock along the east crater wall of West Rota volcano. (HR) |
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The rare and highly poisonous berried anemone of the Diaphus Bank. (HR) |
Fields of white anemones along with a occasional orange gorgonians. |
A deep-water anemone. (HR) |
White-plumed anemone on the ocean bottom. (HR) |
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A flytrap anemone. |
An unknown species of jellyfish. |
A jellyfish. (HR) |
Sea anemone. |
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A large grouping of deep ocean sea anemones |
Bioluminescence emitted by a comb jelly |
A small planktonic jellyfish with green-fluorescent tentacles. |
A tiny and very dangerous Portugese Man-O-War jellyfish |
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Porpida porpida has a small disc like body and floats freely in the water column. |
A pelagic pteropod. |
A juvenile Bolinopsis ctenophore. |
Botrynema ellinorae. |
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The hydomedusae Aglantha digitale. |
The ctenophore Mertensia ovum. |
The midwater hydromedusae Atolla tenella. |
The scyphomedusae Chrysaora melanaster. |
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Midwater shrimp, Hymendora glacialis. |
Chrysaora jelly. |
Medusae jellyfish |
Jellyfish |
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Anemone wall |
Deep sea anemone |
Anemone, white coral, and a tanner crab |
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Sea Stars, Brittle Stars, Sea Urchins, Crinoids, and Sea Cucumbers (Phylum Echinodermata) |
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Stalked crinoid on the caldera sea floor at West Rota volcano. (HR) |
Bouquet of Corallium with deep purple Trachythela octocoral, brittle stars, crinoids, and sponges. (HR) |
A close look at Metallogorgia with basket star. (HR) |
An asteroid sea star collected while feeding on coral. (HR) |
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Crinoids, a sea star, and an anemone. |
Miscellaneous invertebrates from Bear seamount. |
A large brisingid sea star collected from Manning Seamount. |
A pencil urchin with tubeworms attached to its spines. (HR) |
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A colorful crinoid is just one of the interesting creatures collected. |
This species of brittlestar (Astroporpa annulata) is related to basket stars and lives clinging to soft corals. |
Bright orange Brittle Star. |
Broken urchin, with its Aristotles Lantern fully exposed but intact. |
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A beautiful pale orange and white sea urchin. |
Observing the locomotion of a brittle star. |
Sea star collected for analysis back at one of the onshore laboratories. |
Sea urchin collected for analysis at the onshore laboratories. |
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Sea urchin, collected during the JSL dive. |
Pillow Star |
A delicate juvenile sea star, Coronaster briareus. (HR) |
A beautiful urchin, Astropyga magnifica. (HR) |
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Brittlestars reflect the broad diversity of organisms. |
A Brittle Star aggregation in the sandy channels at Cordell Bank. |
A sea star |
A red sea star (Virsingia sp.). |
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Coelopleurus floridanus, a beautiful red sea urchin. |
A pencil urchin brought up from one of the trawls. |
Tiny brittlestars. (HR) |
Seabeam map of Northampton Seamount. |
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Summary I A "flying" sea cucumber. |
Microscopic urchin |
Pencil urchin, brittle stars, and Lophelia coral |
Sea star |
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Giant red brittle star |
Brown-striped brittle stars |
Red sea star |
Sea star and whip coral |
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Brittle star |
Rosethorn rockfish and crinoids |
Crinoids and sponges |
Basketstars |
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A featherstar and sponges |
Basketstars |
Sea stars |
Seastar and shells |
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White sponge and reddish crinoids |
Dover sole and pink sea urchins |
Black crinoid |
Sea stars and sea cucumbers |
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White sea cucumber communities |
Sea urchin and 4 types of brittle stars |
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Squids, Octopi, Snails, Clams, and Mussels (Phylum Mollusca) |
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Conical limpets (2cm, 0.75 in) cover the rock surfaces at East Diamante. (HR) |
In places at NW Eifuku, mussels are so dense they obscure the bottom. (HR) |
The vent mussel Bathymodiolus. (HR) |
Galatheid crabs and shrimp graze on bacterial filaments. (HR) |
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April 2 |
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A large purple octopus. |
Three live nautiliniellid worms in the mantle cavity of the clam.. |
Giant mussel. |
Cross-section of a female vesicomyid clam. |
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Muscle in a vesicomyid foot. |
Epithelium of vesicomyid clam gill covered with cilia. |
Epithelium of vesicomyid clam gill covered with cilia. |
Bed of adult and juvenile mussels. |
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Octopus, often collected and shipped to the Smithsonian for analysis. |
This iridescent nudibranch looks like a creature from another planet. |
Spiny oyster and conglomerate. |
Large clams and mussels line the cracks between the pillow lavas. |
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Octopus. (HR) |
A deep sea octopus |
A squid found by the observers aboard the JSL |
An Arrow squid measuring almost two feet long. |
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This octopus was captured in an "Otter trawl. |
Animals found living in sandy sediments near rocky reefs. |
Typical benthic invertebrates include marine worms, tiny crustaceans, clams, and snails. |
A turkey wing mussel (Genus Arca). |
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Octopi |
Squid |
Octopus |
Octopus |
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Chemosynthetic mussel |
Deep sea clam |
Mussel bed |
Mussel with gills exposed |
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Mollusc egg casings |
Clams |
Mussels |
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Some common zooplankton collected near East Diamante volcano. (HR) |
April 5 |
April 2 |
March 30 |
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May 21 |
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A deep sea shrimp out in open water. |
Ice shrimp. |
A parasitic crustacean. (HR) |
A tiny shrimp appears to mimic the translucent color of the glass sponge it inhabits. |
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A mass of amphipods collected with the carrion trap. (HR) |
A close-up view of a tiny shrimp (amphipod). |
Cumaceans, also called lollipop shrimp. |
Isopods of the order of Crustacea. |
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This little gooseneck barnacle only eats crab carapaces. |
The golden crab (Chaceon fenneri) with a black-bellied rose fish. (HR) |
The deep-water galatheid Eumunida picta Longispina are commonly seen on the Lophelia mounds. (HR) |
Nezumia forage along the edge of a basalt outcrop. (HR) |
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Portunid crab |
Squat lobster. |
Porcelain crab. |
The shrimp Tuleariocaris neglecta. (HR) |
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A dorsal view of a small squat lobster, Galathea sp. (HR) |
The three-toothed squat lobster, Munidopsis tridentata. (HR) |
The painted squat lobster is a newly documented species in the Gulf of Mexico. |
A painted squat lobster collected at Viosca Knoll. |
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A close-up view of a painted squat lobster collected at Viosca Knoll. |
Krill and phytoplankton. |
Krills from one of the ships engine filters. |
A molting sea spider. |
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Juvenile crab |
Scarlet king crabs |
Pincher collection |
Spider crab missing limbs. |
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Adult male spider crab eating a female spider crab. |
Gastric mill and teeth. | Crab ganglia. | Couesi eggs. | |||
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| Macroreg eggs. |
Golden crab |
Unidentified crab in front of sponge. |
An unusual species of crab observed for the first time at the Lophelia coral banks. |
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A deep sea anemone and galatheid crabs seen on the Lophelia coral banks |
A member of the calappidae family of crabs. |
Copepod with eggs. |
The amphipod, Gammarus wilkitzkii. |
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Close-up of egg sac. |
Eukrohnia hamata with egg sac. |
Amalgam of amphipods. |
A midwater amphipod species. |
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Gammarus wilkitzkii, a n under-ice amphipod. (HR) |
A hermit crab and invertebrate. |
These crabs are members of the galatheid family, commonly known as squat lobsters. |
A variety of invertebrates |
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Red crab, Chayceon quinquedens |
Crab |
Crab megalops |
Deep-sea mussels and crab |
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Box crab |
Porous mudstone and shrimp |
Shrimp in deep-sea corals |
Alvinocaris shrimp and mussel bed |
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Shrimp |
Shrimp |
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A close-up of the tubeworm Lamelli brachia. (HR) |
A strange spoon worm, an elegant sea pen, a stalked crinoid, and two xenophyophores with brittle stars. (HR) |
Microscopic image of Eunice norvegica worm. (HR) |
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Dorsal (top) view of the anterior (front) end of the new nautiliniellid polychaete. |
Ventral (bottom) view of anterior (front) end of the new nautiliniellid polychaete. |
Simple hooked chaetae in anterior segments. |
Trifurcate chaetae in posterior segments. |
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Trifurcate (3-branched) chaetae on posterior segments. |
Riftia tubeworms, mussels, and scavenging crabs at a hydrothermal vent. |
Live nautiliniellid worm. |
Chaetopterid polychaete removed from parchment-like tube. |
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Scientists discovered this syllid attached to a rock. (HR) |
Pin size tube worms found at the base of the orange sponge. (HR) |
Tubeworms at the Rose Bud site. |
Tube worms collected at an unknown vent site. |
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Tiny tubes built as housing by serpulid tube-worms. |
Polycheate worm. (HR) |
Iceworm |
Tubeworms and soft corals |
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Tube worm colonies |
Closeup of tube worm colonies |
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Unusually large single-celled protazoan organism. |
Xenophyophores |
Foraminifera |
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Foraminiferan shells |
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Crinoid swimming.



























































































































































































































































