Go to sea for science!

LET’S PUT OCEAN SURFACE LIFE ON THE MAP!📍Dense life on the ocean surface like this has been reported by naturalists for centuries, yet we still know SO LITTLE about these surface ecosystems…and we need YOUR HELP! [thread] 📸: Scott Horton

Look at this adorable little buoy barnacle!!! I love when they’re bright blue like this, sometimes they’re pretty translucent since their diet determines how pigmented they are 💙 Thanks to Sarah-Mae Nelson for finding this beauty! Also peep the GO-SEA ruler 👀

The common name gurnard comes from the fact that they can produce sounds with their swim bladders 😱 their other common name, sea robbin, comes from the way that they swim. They fan their fins in and out, resembling bird wings! (2/2) #gurnard #searobin #lepidotrigla #fish

GET A LOAD OF THOSE FINS!!! This is a juvenile gurnard in the genus Lepidotrigla which develop pectoral fins that resemble butterfly wings when they’re adults 🦋 this fish has beautiful and unique fins during every life stage! (1/2)

@alililino yup!

Countershading is a camouflage technique that helps blue sea dragon nudibranchs (Family Glaucidae) blend in. They have a darker side to blend into the blue waves when viewed from above and a lighter side to blend into the bright sky when viewed from underwater!

@parallel235 @RebeccaRHelm It does! That’s part of why they’re so unique

@goseascience @RebeccaRHelm Confusing labelling. Ventral is the belly and dorsal is the back. Does this animal swim on its back?

Countershading is also used by whales, dolphins, and sharks but sea dragons have their own spin on things. Usually the lighter part of the animal is the ventral or underside, but in the case of sea dragons, that’s actually their dorsal or back side!

Video credit to the wonderful @RebeccaRHelm 🤩

Sargassum fish (Histrio histrio) blend in so well that it can be hard to see them! Their scientific name “histrio” literally means actor in Latin, in regards to their amazing camouflage and how they fool their prey into basically swimming right into their mouths 🤯

Had to make some more of these Portuguese man o’ war color palettes 😍 they’re just too beautiful. Which is your favorite? All photos taken by @rebeccarhelm #marinebiology #marinebio #portuguesemanowar #physalia #colorpalette #bluebottle

BARNACLE BONANZA!!! Check out this beached pallet that’s absolutely covered in gooseneck barnacles 😱 I’m sure this pallet was an awesome home for all of these guys! This barnacle jackpot was found by project member sarah-mae on @inaturalist in California.

For this #TinyTuesday we’ve got the aptly named dwarf violet snail (Janthina exigua). This beautiful specimen found by glinks on @inaturalist has some eggs, which are the reddish sacs attached to the bubble raft. #beachcombing #marinebiology #janthina #janthinaexigua

Look at those growth rings 😍 much like trees, you can tell the age of a by-the-wind sailor from the number of rings it has! Thanks to our project member elizabethbettenhausen on @inaturalist for capturing this amazing photo #marinebiology #beachcombing #velella #bythewindsailor

@josephjdlee chitin!

@goseascience wait what what is this made of

Have you ever seen something like this on the beach? This is what blue buttons (Porpita porpita) look like once they’ve been beached for a while! They get a papery consistency and are super easy to overlook. The distinctive feature to look for is the radiating lines

@inaturalist user amy_d found a whole bunch of these beached blue buttons! Personally, I think they’re still super pretty! #marinebio #marinebiology #porpita #bluebutton #beachcombing #citizenscience #ocean #porpitaporpita

@jestkelly @RebeccaRHelm @inaturalist Oh cool!! Thank you :)

@goseascience @RebeccaRHelm @inaturalist Beautiful images and diversity. Here there are at least two species. Last image is a loliginid, but the middle one looks like an ommastrephid (a family from a different order, Oegopsida). They have uniquely fused tentacles as babies (see the central, cup-shaped appendage).

ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING finds! I feel like these should be called disco ball squid 🪩 but they’re actually called pencil squids (Family Loliginidae). These beauties were found in the amazing Canary Islands by @inaturalist user dennisthediver #teuthology #blackwater #pencilsquid

Check out this incredibly photogenic master of disguise, a handsome Sargassumfish (Histrio histrio) found by @inaturalist user jessicakehrli. When these fish are in their natural habitat of floating Sargassum seaweed, you can barely see them!