Marine Biology

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.

For the first time, we know more than we ever expected to know about the sex lives of the majestic beluga whale. It's complicated, to say the least, but it also shows just how strategic nature is at keeping an isolated group of animals alive.

The first ever study to document a direct relationship between earthquake activity at the bottom of the ocean and phytoplankton growth at the surface changes the way scientists in the future will model ecosystems.

In 1995, divers first noticed a group of bizarre sandy "crop circles" on the seabed near southwest Japan. But it took decades for scientists to identify the marine artists behind them – and why they were building such geometrically precise structures.