Picture copyright belongs to the photographer mentioned by each picture
Please note that we are not marine biologists so please inform
us about our errors ~ thank you.
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Anemone: The anemone 'stings' fish that touch its arms and they are stunned. The arms slowly pull fish and scraps of food into its centre and then ingests it by turning its stomach inside out and enveloping the food. They hold themselves to rock and within crevices by a strong foot. Sea anemones continuously secrete a thin layer of slime over the column behind their arms. Anemones get their colour from the algae within it. Clown fish develop an immunity to the stings and are able to hide within the tentacles untroubled by the stings. They then protect the anemone from predators and the anemone benefits from any scraps of food the clown fish misses. They are able to regenerate if damaged. Order- Actiniaria. Can you identify the types shown below or Unknown?
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 Picture by Caver Colin, Dogsbreath Diver in Jordan |
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Pictures by Tam Boyd on the wreck of the Fairweather 5 in Scotland |
Clown within a purple
anemone. There's a brain coral on the right. |
Plumose anemones by Tam Boyd on the wreck of the Fairweather 5 in Scotland. |
what type is this one? - anemone 2
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or Anemone 3 -
Picture by PagoPago Divers Samoa |
or anemone 4:  Picture by www.prodivebali.com in Bali, Indonesia. |
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Coral: Coral is an animal. Corals are normally divided into hard corals or soft corals. It is their skeletons which make the reef. A single coral is called a polyp of a few millimetres and each produces its own external skeleton. They usually group together and form the coral we see. As they grow their old skeletons build the reef. |
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A field of branching coral in Aqaba, Jordan. Picture by Caver Colin, Dogsbreath diver. |
 Brain coral in the Caymans Picture by Mark Walton Dogsbreath diver. Species: Diploria Each polyp can be 6mm in diameter. |
Plate coral in Oman:
By Big Colin, Dogsbreath Diver |
 Butterfly and coral in Jordan Picture by Caver Colin, Dogsbreath diver. |
Black coral. Picture by Mojo of HellfishDivers in St Kitts |
 in Aqaba, Jordan. Picture by Caver Colin, Dogsbreath diver. |
 Branching coral. Picture by Justin, Dogsbreath diver in the Maldives, Oct 03 |
 Branching coral. Picture by Justin, Dogsbreath diver in the Maldives, Oct 03 |
 Pillar coral. Picture by Dive-jamaica.com |
 Sea fan in the Caymans. Picture Tolgus BS-AC |
 Elkhorn in the Caymans Picture Tolgus BS-AC |
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| Branching coral |
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Almost all pictures are thumbnails - so click them to expand.
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Table coral in the Red Sea 2002, |
Table coral in the Red Sea 2002, |
Picture by Anorak, DBDiver in Egypt, 2002 Brain coral in the Red Sea. |
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Search engines appear to rank web sites higher the more links they have pointing to them, which is why we place links to the sites that permit us to use their pictures. Please add links to us too ~ thank you. |
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The soft coral is growing out of the wall |
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We don't know which type these are:
Picture by www.subwayscuba.com |
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Giant Clam (Fiasua) |
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Picture by Anorak, DBDiver in Egypt, 2002 |
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Crabs:
Fiddler : Hermit : Soldier
: Ghost : Christmas Island Crabs Crabs have 8 legs, but you can only see 6 of them for hermit crabs as two of them are inside, holding the shell on. Some breath through gills, others can breath on land. |
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Fiddler Crabs The male crab has one claw larger than the other which can weigh half as much as the whole body. They filter organic mater out of the sand and mud. They hide from the sun in tunnel 10 times longer than they are. A very small pool of water at the bottom allows them to breath through their gills. They have 360 degrees of vision as their eyes of 9000 separate lenses are on long stalks. They have long sight, so they have to calculate their way back to their burrow. They can survive up to 8 hours on a baking mud flat even breathing through their gills.
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| Hermit crabs will use shells of any creature if the right size. They will travel inland to forests and far from the beach. They are scavengers and have a good sense of smell. | ||
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Which type of Hermit is this? |
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Blackeyed Hermit Crab, |
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Sand Bubblers: They are specialist feeders sucking microscopic life
from between grains of sand. You can see them leaving lots of sand balls on
the surface of the beach. They are able to breath air though thin
patches on their legs.
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The Soldier crab is small but can
breath air. they also have a a small ribbon of hair on its backside which sucks up moisture. Some
march in small groups, but they can merge and cover an entire beach. They
also filter sand and ignore other types of crab. They have lungs, so the
incoming water will drown them and they need to stay out of the sea.
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| Ghost crabs are large, live on the dunes and are able to travel 40 body lengths per second (sideways). They're yellow/orange. They have the best vision than any other crab as they have huge eyes.. They capture and eat other crabs. As their shells are thin they have burrows 1 metre deep to reach water. | ||
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<picture awaited> |
There is also a variety of crab in the Australia desert where temperatures
can reach 50C and may not rain for over a year. Their burrows are deep into
the soil where they stay without food until it rains, however they do drink.
They go to the surface in the cool night where it could be only 4C. They
cool down. Then they return below and dew forms on their shell for them to
drink! (Well I never!). Once it rains, a female releases her baby crabs into
the flood waters. |
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In the middle of the Indian ocean there are 65 million red Christmas Island Crabs in the forest. They eat anything in it like fruit and do not need standing water. They have a kidney to filter out toxic wastes, but they must return to the sea to breed. Around 2 million are killed on the roads! Each female crab holds up to 100,000 eggs in a pouch under her shell which she releases into the sea. <picture awaited> |
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Crayfish Freshwater. Details awaited |
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Cuttlefish Tend to swim at night and spend the daylight hours partially buried under the sand. Able to change colour very quickly. Family Cephalopoda. |
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Feather Duster They have many variations in colour. As you approach them they sense the water movement and snap shut. Once you have gone, or the water movement has returned to normal they rise from their tube and unfold like an umbrella. Their thin feathers catching any passing food. Family Annelida. |
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Jelly Fish Box Jellyfish: Found around Australia. DANGER . Often call cubizoids because they have a square shape or Stingers. They are normally coastal dwellers. They breed in the estuaries and usually live their life on the shoreline. The jellyfish season is from November to April. A sting across the chest or legs can kill you within 2 minutes. They are usually in the top 6-10 feet of the waters surface. It is the most venomous creature in the world- including spiders, snakes etc. Picture of a box jellyfish awaited.Swimmers get stung on their legs then (foolishly) reach down and grab the jellyfish and stand up, dragging the stinging tentacles across their body. |
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Picture by www.scubadokodiak.com in Alaska |
Picture by Mark Walton, Dogsbreath Diver |
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Peacock lobster
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Mollusc: Details and photos awaited. |
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Nudibranc Many search engines rank web sites by the number of other sites linking to it. So please allow us to copy your pictures as we add a link to your site - we don't copy them without permission. And please place a link to us too ~ thank you. |
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Picture by www.scubadokodiak.com in Alaska. |
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The very rare
Alabaster |
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Octopus
The Mimic octopus is found in Indonesia. It swims in open water appearing like a Flounder or a Lion Fish. On the sea bed it mimics a sea snake when attacked, mimicking the black and white stripes. All cephalopods are eaten by fish, sea lions, seals and whales. They like to eat crabs and shrimps. Family Cephalopoda. |
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We would just like to say 'thank you' for providing pictures for our pages. |
 Picture - Tolgus BS-AC , Red Sea. |
 Picture by www.oceanquestdivecenter.com Florida USA |
Picture by Steven McCusker in the North Red Sea, Nov 02 |
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The male blanket octopus is small, just 2 centimetres (3/4 inch) long. Whereas the female can be up to 2 metres/6ft. After mating, the male dies. |
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... and these are by Tam Boyd in the May Isle in the Firth of Forth, Scotland |
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Prawns: Details and photos awaited. Laurenco Marques prawns - enormous and delicious. Harvested in Mozambique. |
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<photos awaited - please> |
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Picture by www.scubadokodiak.com in Alaska
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Torpedo ray. The torpedo ray (electric ray) stuns its prey with an electrical charge strong enough to pose a threat to divers, but they have rarely shocked humans. The Pelagic ray Dasyatis violacea lives and hunts in the waters of the open ocean surfacing during periods of low light or night. Distribution: all warm waters.
Cayman Islands, British West Indies. Hand feed the rays in Stingray City.
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They have a wingspan of 3m and are filter feeders. Found in Indonesia, Indian and Pacific Oceans. |
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Sea Pen |
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Sea Cucumber Family echinoderms. |
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Sea Snakes are very poisonous. A big anaconda snake can drag you from the beach and into the water to drown you. (put your hands together flat, keep your wrists touching and pull your finger tips apart - that is the size of a big mouth and they do not let go for a few hours). |
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Coral
snake's venom destroys the human nervous system within 3 minutes. The
snake can grow to 3 feet/1
metre and is alternately banded black/white along its whole length like a mint
humbug. It digs and burrows in the sand for food.
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Sea Urchin: Family echinoderms. |
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Excellent and copyrighted pictures at: http://earthwindow.com . |
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Shrimps. Since the depletion of Cod stocks shrimps in Newfoundland and the UK have significantly increased in numbers. |
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Sponges There are around 5000 species of sponges and range from a fraction of a centimetre to 2 metres/6' 6" wide and tall. They have simple body structures of two cell layers surrounding a central cavity. The internal canals can be very intricate. Adult sponges are always attached to a solid substrate. All sponges are capable of direct sexual reproduction. Most can produce eggs and sperm in the same body but it tends to be at different times. Fertilised eggs develop into larvae which are expelled from the sponge which eventually fix to a solid surface and grow. It tends to be rocks, but could be a crabs shell. Family Phylum Porifera. |
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Encrusting sponges by www.seawolfdivingschool.com in Montserrat. |
Barrel Sponges:
Picture by Tamworth John in Mexico. The left one is over two foot wide. They are very delicate, so don't climb into one as they take many years to recover from minor damage, and may not recover from major damage. |
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Squid Family Cephalopoda. web cam - www.squidcam.info |
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Family echinoderms. |
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Picture by www.scubadokodiak.com in Alaska. |
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Picture by Mike of www.twinoceans.com in Panama |
Pictures: Anorak, Dogsbreath Diver. Oman. |
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Zooplankton are the animal forms in plankton. These include all life forms that we tend to call jellyfishes, forms similar to worms and the free swimming life found in open water. e.g. Man-of-war jellyfish, Physalia physilis; Pegea confoederata, Chrysaora fuscescens, Cyclosalpa affinis, Corolla spectablis, Salps, Pyrosoma tuberculata, There are excellent pictures at: http://earthwindow.com/zoo.html Copyright © Mike Johnson. All rights reserved. |
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Unknown Please help us identify these: |
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| Inverts/plants 1 |
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We would just like to say 'thank you' for providing pictures for our pages. |
| Anemone 1 |
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Coral 2,3,4 & 5
Pictures by Anorak, DBDiver |
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| 6 & 7, 8, 9, 10 & 11 & 12 Pictures by Anorak, DBDiver |
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