A cuttlefish closing in on a crab can suddenly transform into something that looks almost unreal. Dark bands appear to flow repeatedly across its pale head and arms while the …
A mantis shrimp does not look like an animal capable of producing one of the fastest strikes in the ocean. Yet some “smasher” species accelerate a hammer-like appendage so rapidly …
An octopus already looks like an animal designed by a very imaginative engineer: eight flexible arms, hundreds of suckers, remarkable camouflage, and a nervous system unlike our own. But some …
An octopus can rest against a pale patch of sand, move toward a reef, and suddenly appear mottled with browns, creams, and dark patches. This extraordinary octopus camouflage is not …
For decades, wildlife books have introduced the sailfish as the fastest swimmer in the sea, often attaching an astonishing figure of about 68 miles per hour to the claim. Modern …
Far below the sunlit surface of the Southern Ocean lives an animal with eyes unlike anything else known in nature. The colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) possesses enormous, forward-facing eyes, and …
Some sharks kill prey by overpowering it. The cookiecutter shark uses a very different strategy: it takes a piece and leaves the victim alive. A typical cookiecutter shark bite is …
A pistol shrimp is only a few centimeters long, yet it can produce an underwater sound powerful enough to compete with some of the loudest biological noises in the sea. …
Few courtship displays are as instantly recognizable as a blue-footed booby lifting one brilliant turquoise foot after another in an exaggerated high-stepping dance. The performance looks comical to human observers, …
Above certain coral reefs, manta rays perform an unusual daily ritual. Instead of feeding or migrating, they slow down, hover over particular coral outcrops, and allow tiny fishes to swim …