marine life

Five major El Niño events per century could lead to fewer fishes that thrive in cold water and more terrestrial birds in eastern coastal ecosystems.

Collisions with small craft are rare, but there are conditions that can make these encounters more likely.

Laboratory experiments find that Toxoplasma, Cryptosporidium, and Giardia can congregate on microplastic beads and fibers, suggesting they might make their way into and around the world’s oceans by hitching rides on tiny bits of trash.

Edward Ricketts built his laboratory just onshore from the swirling tidepools of Monterey Bay, California, an ideal backdrop against which he developed a new system for studying the ecology of any given habitat.

Avoidance of predation is a driving force behind the daily movements of marine creatures across the food web, a study concludes.

Shared features, such as thick, slimy skin and a throat filled with teeth, suggest that medusafishes are all related.

The Scientist spoke with Chapman University’s Yu Zeng about his lab’s finding that the slime-producing cells of the slippery marine fish vary with the creature’s size, which may be an adaptation to thwart different predators.

Lore has always surrounded argonauts, pelagic octopuses that build shells and travel the seas.

Marine biologists identify smalleye stingrays using the white spots on their backs.

A crab fossil new to scientists lived in the age of dinosaurs in what is now Colombia and the US.

The microscopic marine animal Trichoplax adhaerens may use rapid changes in cell shape to avoid being ripped apart by forces in the ocean.

Simulations of Earth’s climate 252 million years ago reveal that the same symptoms of modern climate change likely account for the time period’s extensive loss of marine life.

University of California, San Diego, graduate student Caleb Christianson explains the development of his eel-inspired robot.

Nutrient-rich water helped marine organisms reinhabit Chicxulub crater relatively quickly after the mass-extinction event.

Each year, bioluminescent microorganisms create striking displays on the beaches of San Diego.

If left unchecked, greenhouse gas emissions will drive ocean temperatures up, affecting wildlife in these regions.

Not only did many corals die in recent years, but some were actually killed by the hotter temperatures themselves, rather than bleaching.

A controversial hypothesis suggests that jellyfish may one day rule the oceans, and Mola mola may tell us if we are approaching a tipping point.

Trained spotters haven’t seen any newborns, suggesting trouble for the animal’s overall survival.