ATLANTIC LONGARM OCTOPUS – IUCN Conservation Status: LEAST CONCERN The longarm octopus can change their color and texture! Can you find the octopus? The eyeball is in the center of the photograph. Once you find the eye, the rest of the octopus appears. As the name suggests, the longarm octopus are known for their long arms. Their arms can […]
LONG-SNOUTED SEAHORSE – IUCN Conservation Status: DATA DEFFICIENT This long-snouted seahorse may be pregnant! It’s odd to think of seahorses as “fish”, but these ornate creatures are indeed a species of fish. However, unlike a lot of fish, seahorses are not good swimmers. They do have fins and are able to swim, however they rely on the […]
An interesting fact is that lined flatworms can reproduce two ways This interesting marine invertebrate is called a lined flatworm. Although you will also see these called tiger flatworms or Crozier’s flatworm (Pseudoceros crozieri). Although it may look big in this photo, this creature is only one inch long! They are known to live in […]
SLENDER FILEFISH – IUCN Conservation Status: LEAST CONCERN Blackwater photography is unique because everything you are shooting will typically be within an arm’s reach. I believe this blackwater photo to be of a juvenile filefish. It is only about one to two inches long! This photo was taken during a blackwater night dive off the […]
BOULDER STAR CORAL – IUCN Conservation Status: LEAST CONCERN Bloodworms get their color from the hemoglobin it its body fluid This vibrant red worm gets its color from the hemoglobin in its body fluid. The bloodworm’s mouth is exposed, and if you look close you can even see the four antennae. These bottom dwelling worms […]
BALD CYPRESS – IUCN Conservation Status: LEAST CONCERN The photo she was admiring was taken right behind [Clyde Butcher’s] gallery. Have you ever heard of the photographer Clyde Butcher? He is an American photography icon. Butcher, who was born in 1942, is known for his black and white photography, specifically from the wetlands of Florida. […]
ALLIGATOR GAR – IUCN Conservation Status: LEAST CONCERN Alligator gars are “living fossils” What am I looking at? This strange shaped fish is named after what it looks like, an alligator. It is in fact a fish. However, this fish can breathe both air and water! In addition, this type of fish is actually able […]
Cotton Stainer – IUCN Conservation Status: INSUFFICIENT DATA Cotton stainers are about one centimeter long as adults This bug is called a “cotton stainer”, but my friend Tyler and I called these “red driveway bugs”. These wild colored bugs could be found daily in our yard and across our driveway. At the time, I lived […]
Scrawled Cowfish – IUCN Conservation Status: LEAST CONCERN Notice the horns on the scrawled cowfish Scrawled Cowfish What catches your eye when you see this photo of a scrawled cowfish? For me it was two-fold: one, the mesmerizing blue and yellow pattern that covered the cowfish’s body, and two, the little horns that protrude from […]
IUCN Conservation Status: LEAST CONCERN Striated frogfish can change colors! This is a black-phase striated frogfish. Let’s breakdown what we are looking at. This is a fish that lives in salt water. It is not a frog. It is pea-sized. That is my fingertip in the bottom left corner, for scale. These fish can take […]