Marine Biology

About a kilometer deep beneath the ocean surface, where sunlight disappears and food becomes scarce, lives a giant creature that can wait out starvation and survive more than five years without eating.

It's been accepted that the life cycle of an ancient aquatic relative – an extinct group of crocodile-like predators – echoed that of modern amphibians, complete with a tadpole phase. A new study throws that picture into doubt.

Southern right whales spend time during their long migration resting upside-down alongside their calves. At first glance, you might assume the animal is sick or injured – but scientists have found that this bizarre behavior is actually strategic.

An experiment conducted by a team of researchers from Texas A&M University has revealed a healing sequence in mammalian physiology that rebuilds lost skeletal structure, albeit with less than perfect results.

For nearly 200 years, biologists felt they had seen it all when it came to nudibranch species, with only six types identified around the world. Then, scientists in Taiwan chanced upon another, the size of a grain of rice, that no one knew existed.

A deep-sea mystery that has stumped researchers for the past two-and-a-half years has a solution, with marine scientists finally determining the identity of a bizarre “golden orb” recovered from the Pacific in 2023.

The rules of biology have been torn up by a small fish in the Pacific that steals light-producing molecules it from its food to make it bioluminescent, providing an "invisibility cloak" it needs for protection. It's the only example of kleptoproteinism we know of.

The ability of the shellear fish to climb waterfalls is well established. The behavior has now been documented for the first time, with photos and videos showing just how these adventurous fish defy their legless physiology.

A recently published marine biology study shines a light on yet another damaging effect of the global illegal drug trade. Cocaine dumped in rivers can alter the behavior of fish in those waters, causing them to venture out more than usual.

When a behavioral ecologist gazed towards a group of emperor chichlids in Zambia recently, the fish seemed to be more alert and aggressive. That got him investigating whether they could really tell when they were being stared at.

The warm waters of Mexico and Texas are home to a small fish that has produced nothing but daughters for over 100,000 years. The offspring are the exact genetic copy of their mother, with no father involved. This is the amazing Amazon molly.

In 2023, a great white shark was caught off Spain, leading researchers to analyze historical data. They suggest these rare sightings aren't random anomalies but evidence of a "ghost" population persisting in the Mediterranean over centuries.