Twelve baby starfish

Photo: Dr. Richard Kirby Royal Society University Research Fellow

Edited by: Jeniffer Espedido 

These are juvenile Luidia ciliaris. This species is found in the benthic environments of the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas up to a depth of about 400 meters. Usually identified by its orange-brown color and 7 radiating arms. The short arms of these baby starfishes will grow to be really long ones, making these not-so little critters grow to almost 40 centimeters across.

To learn more about this starfish or if you have other information you want to add about them, visit SeaLifeBase or become a collaborator and email us at sealifebase@fin.ph.

Inspired by: 12 Planktons of Christmas by Michele Collet

Written by:

Nine Atlantic puffins

Who here have watched Happy Feet 2? Raise your feet! Do you know the character named Mighty Sven? He told everyone that he's the God-like penguin because he's the only one that can fly but in reality, he's actually a puffin.

Photo by José Azel

Fratercula arctica is the only species found in the Atlantic and thus commonly called Atlantic puffin. Their coloring is similar to that of a penguin but don't be fooled because their beak give them away. The bright orange bill only blooms in color during mating season, it is gray during the rest of the year. They live most of their lives at sea, and go in land during breeding season, in rocky cliff tops. At sea, they practice plunge diving by using their wings to stroke across and flapping their webbed feet. They feed on Benthosema glaciale and Mallotus villosus, both are small bony fishes.

To learn more about Atlantic puffins or if you have other information you want to add about them, visit SeaLifeBase or become a collaborator and email us at sealifebase@fin.ph.

Written by:

Four nudibranchs

Photos by: Deng Palomares and Nicolas Bailly
Edited by: Jeniffer Espedido

Nudibranchs are colorful and soft-bodied marine mollusks belonging to the order Nudibranchia. It is found at different depths of the ocean but are common in warm shallow waters. There are around 3,000 species of nudibranchs worldwide and still counting as new species are discovered. They come in different colors, from dull to bright colors.

Biological information for each nudibranch in the picture may be viewed in our website (from left to right: Chromodoris willani, Phyllidiella pustulosa, Glossodoris atromarginata, Chromodoris annae). 

Inspired by: 12 Planktons of Christmas by Michele Collet
Written by:

Two sea angels

Photo by: Alexander Semenov
Edited by: Jeniffer Espedido

Clione limacina belongs to the family of sea angels (Clionidae). They are free-swimming non-shelled marine gastropods. They use their wing-like parapodia to swim across the water column [1]. Their slow movement can be described as that of an angel flapping its wings, thus the term "sea angel". These col water hermaphrodites feed on sea butterflies, specifically Limacina helicina and Limacina retroversa, the latter being more favored. The sea angel everts its six adhesive buccal cones towards its prey, inserts its chitinous hooks into the prey’s body then engulfs it wholly [2].

This species was featured in an article entitled “The 12 Plankton of Christmas” by Michele Collet back in 2010.

To learn more about the behavior of sea angels or if you have other information you want to add about them, visit SeaLifeBase or become a collaborator and email us at sealifebase@fin.ph.

_________________________________

[1] Satterlie, R.A., and A.N. Spencer. 1985. Swimming in the pteropod mollusk, Clione limacine: II. Physiology. J. Exp. Biol. 116:205-222.

[2] Conover, R.J., and C.M. Lalli. 1972. Feeding and growth in Clione limacina (Philipps), a pteropod mollusc. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 9:279-302.

Written by:

A Christmas Island red crab

Photo by: WaterFrame, Alamy

Ever wondered where Christmas Island got its name? It's because of this crab! Millions of this endemic red crabs (Gecarcoidea natalis) migrate from burrows of forest to the shores of Christmas Island to spawn every October. During migration, these crabs are a tourist attraction for naturalists and photographers alike. Their migration is so extensive that they are visible from the air. Thus, coining the name of the island.

Photo taken from Travel Troll

We are currently gathering information for this crab. If you have information you want to add about them, become a collaborator and email us at sealifebase@fin.ph.

Inspired by 12 plankton of Christmas by Michele Collet

Written by: