Featured Creature

Velvet Worm (onychophoran)

Posted on April 21st, 2017

Who knew scaly skin could be so silky?

Although velvet worms are called worms, they are neither the familiar Annelid nor Flatworm. In fact, they are a phylum of their own (and, no-- Shape of Life doesn’t include that phylum). Their name – Onychophora – means “claw-bearer”. Thought to be a missing link between Arthropods and Annelids, scientists now think that these ancient worms are more closely related to Arthropods.

Goiter Sponge - Heterochone calyx

Posted on March 19th, 2017

A Swell Goiter!

Goiter sponges, like the one here, live in cold, deep waters – 300-4,000 feet—often on seamounts. These sponges average about three feet across but can grow to be nearly 10 feet across. Like most sponges they are filter feeders, pumping in seawater and extracting food particles from the water.

In the Pacific Northwest, goiter sponges and other glass sponges build deep-sea sponge reefs. The sponges’ dense, silica (glass) skeletons remain after a sponge’s death, forming an ideal surface for yet more sponges to grow on. The three-dimensional structure of these reefs is comparable to coral reefs and provides habitat for a diversity of creatures.

Giant Clam (Tridacna gigas)

Posted on December 3rd, 2016

Giant Clams are in a Giant Jam!

Why Protecting Giant Clams is GIANT!

photo of a giant clamGiant clams are the largest bivalves on earth, as well as the largest in the fossil record. They are indeed giants: they can grow to four feet wide and weigh as much as 500 pounds. It’s the clam’s colorful mantle, often an iridescent blue, that’s easy to spot. The clams create that blue color to direct sunlight to the tiny algae – called zooxanthellae – that live within. Just as with corals, the algae produce nutrients for the clams. They also feed on plankton drifting by. Giant clams live on shallow coral reefs in the South Pacific and Indian oceans.

Unfortunately for the all the giant clam species, their meat is considered a delicacy in many places in Asia, and so some populations have disappeared while others are officially listed as Endangered or Vulnerable. Local island people who depend on the clams for food can’t find any. In a sad twist in today’s conservation challenges, the anti-poaching effects on the supply of elephant ivory has led to Chinese boats destroying coral reefs to harvest giant clams. There is a new market for their shells to replace elephant ivory for carving.

The Crazy World of Penis Fencing

Posted on October 20th, 2016


Many species of flatworms live in marine environments. They are simultaneous hermaphrodites, meaning they are both male and female. It's advantageous to be a hermaphrodite since the odds of successful reproduction are doubled. What’s the strategy for reproducing if you’re both male and female? It’s complicated. When a pair of flatworms of the same species meets, each can deliver sperm or receive it for fertilizing eggs internally. There’s a natural conflict since it takes a lot of energy to grow and carry fertilized eggs, so each animal wants to be the male.

Anemone

Posted on September 14th, 2016

Keep Your Friends Close, BUT! … Your Anemones CLOSER!

photo of a clownfish swimming in an anemoneSure, there were lots of reasons for Nemo to bust out of that Dentist office aquarium. In our version of the story, it was mostly because he couldn’t bear to live outside of his anemone.

Nemo is a clownfish, also known as anemonefish because these fish make their homes in anemones. Of over 1,000 anemone species worldwide, only 10 coexists with tropical clownfish. The fish and its anemone are in a symbiotic relationship – this means that the fish benefits from the anemone and vice versa.

Clownfish are the only fish capable of living in an anemone without getting stung by its tentacles. Like their relatives, jellies and corals, anemones have stinging cells on their tentacles. How do the clownfish escape being stung? They have a slimy mucus covering that protects them from the stinging tentacles. Scientists know this because they took clownfish, wiped off the covering, and found that the fish would get stung when they were returned to their home anemone.

Humpback Whale

Posted on June 28th, 2016

photo of a humpback whale breechingHumpback whale: Megaptera novaeangliae    photo credit: Steve Lefkovits, Pacific-Landscapes.com

Humpbacks live in all the major oceans from the equator to sub-polar latitudes.
They are baleen whales: their baleen acts as a sieve straining out water as it traps small fish or plankton. Humpbacks have pleated throat grooves that open and expand, allowing a whale to gulp down huge amounts of food and water. Often the whales feed in groups, herding schools of fish and creating bubble nets that trap the fish, and then opening their huge mouths to engulf their prey.

 

Dungeness Crab

Posted on May 20th, 2016

drawing of a crab

(Metacarcinus magister, formerly Cancer magister)

Learn more about how many people along the West Coast were extremely bummed out about not having their beloved Dungness Crab at season opening in 2015-2016.

Sunflower Star

Posted on March 22nd, 2016

photo of a Sunflower Star

All the Better to Hug You With - Sunflower star: Pycnopodia helianthoides

This big boy is one of the largest sea stars in the world. It can grow up to one meter (39 inches) across and weigh as much as a large family cat. The sunflower star gets its name from its many arms: it can have up to 24. More arms mean more tube feet – up to 15,000. Despite its girth, the sunflower star can move as quickly as one meter (40 inches) in a minute. Abalone don’t stand a chance! Its skeleton is softer and more flexible than other sea stars. It’s a badass predator that feeds on small and large marine creatures.

Unfortunately, the sunflower star has not escaped Sea Star Wasting Syndrome plaguing stars along the west coast.

The disease begins with white lesions and dying tissue and leads to a "melting" of the sea star. Scientists have found evidence...

Barrel Sponge

Posted on February 16th, 2016

photo of a barrel sponge

Giant barrel sponge Xestospongia muta

Giant barrel sponges are common inhabitants of coral reefs, especially in the Caribbean.  Not only are they the largest sponges on the reef, but they also are very long lived – up tp thousands of years.  Like most sponges, they pump water through their bodies to obtain food: plankton, bacteria and nutrients from the seawater.

The Squid With a Green Eye

Posted on October 28th, 2015

photo of a green eyed squidThe strawberry squid, Histeoteuthis heteropsis, aka “the green-eyed squid” is a member of a group called “the cock-eyed” squids, so named because one eye is larger than the other. Scientists think that the smaller eye has evolved to look down, watching for predators from the depths. The bigger eye looks up, trying to detect the shadows of potential prey against the very faint light from above.

But, many animals in this midwater zone make their own light so they disappear in the faint light from above – called counterillumination. In the “survival game” of evolution, the strawberry squid’s much larger eye has evolved a lens with a fluorescent pigment that absorbs blue light. Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Institute think...