Recently, a team of scientists embarked on a remarkable 45-day research expedition to the Clarion Clipperton Zone, a remote and largely unexplored region between Mexico and Hawaii in the eastern Pacific Ocean. One of them was Thomas Dahlgren, a marine ecologist from the University of Gothenburg and the NORCE research institute. These areas are the […]
Marine Biology
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The Sea Mollusk That’s Half Animal, Half Plant, and Feeds on Sunlight
Elysia chlorotica, commonly known as the green leaf sea slug, is a sea mollusk with unique features that are part animal and part plant. It belongs to the phylum Mollusca (mollusks like clams, oysters, or octopuses) and the class Gastropoda (like snails and sea slugs), but it has the amazing ability to photosynthesize like plants. […]
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Expedition Discovers More than 100 Astonishing New Species in Chile’s Coastal Seamounts
An international team of scientists, led by Dr. Javier Sellanes of Chile’s Universidad Católica del Norte, may have discovered over 100 new species living on the undersea mountains off the coast of Chile. The recent expedition by the Schmidt Ocean Institute allowed researchers to identify several potentially new species, including deep sea corals, glass sponges, […]
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The Secrets of Vocalization and Sounds Emitted by Midshipman Fish Discovered by Researchers
The midbrain of the vocal Plainfin midshipman fish, sometimes called the “singing fish of California”, plays an important role in initiating and patterning the trains of sounds used in vocal communication. It turns out the midbrain of these fish can be a useful model for how mammals and other vertebrates, including humans, control vocal expressions, […]
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Levels of Deoxygenation Similar to Current Ones Played a Key Role in Past Marine Extinctions
A new study warns that the current stability of marine ecosystems is likely more fragile than it appears. Ocean deoxygenation is expected to significantly increase in response to global warming and increased nutrient runoff from continents. Scientists have made a surprising discovery that sheds new light on the role low-oxygen conditions in the oceans, known […]
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Starfish, Once Thought to be Headless, are Actually just Heads, Researchers Report
For centuries, naturalists have wondered what might constitute the head of a starfish. When observing a worm or fish, it’s clear which end is the head and which is the tail. But with their five identical arms – any of which can independently propel the starfish along the seafloor – no one knew how to […]
