(DK) Super Shark Encyclopedia - and Other Creatures of The Deep PDF
(DK) Super Shark Encyclopedia - and Other Creatures of The Deep PDF
CONTENTS
AMAZING ANIMAL
ANATOMY 8 ATHLETES 64
Discover what makes ocean Meet the best swimmers,
animals ideally suited for their jumpers, flyers, surfers, and
environment—fins, tusks, teeth, spinners the ocean has to
tentacles, colorful camouflage, offer, along with some other
spines, stings, and very big uniquely talented animals.
mouths. From the tiny pink Box with crabs, thrash around
pygmy seahorse to the mighty with a thresher shark, cross
whale shark, sea creatures come swords with a speedy sailfish,
in all shapes and sizes. and get in a spin with dolphins.
DK LONDON DK INDIA
Senior Art Editor Senior Editors Project Art Editors Project Editor
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Project Art Editor Editor Designers Managing Editor
Duncan Turner Kaiya Shang Managing Art Editors Managing Editor
Ranjita Bhattacharji, Divya PR, Kingshuk Ghoshal
Michelle Baxter, Michael Duffy Angeles Gavira
Creative Technical Support US Editor Anjali Sanchar Pre-production Manager
Tom Morse Jill Hamilton Deputy Art Director Associate Publishing Director
Managing Art Editor Balwant Singh
Pre-production Producer Editorial Consultant Karen Self Liz Wheeler
Govind Mittal Production Manager
Adam Stoneham Kim Dennis-Bryan Art Director Publishing Director
DTP Designers Pankaj Sharma
Senior Producer Philip Ormerod Jonathan Metcalf
Dheeraj Singh, Syed MD Farhan
Mary Slater
LIFE SUPERNATURAL EXPLORING
STORIES 90 SENSES 162 THE DEEP 188
Living in the sea is challenging, Some sea creatures have secret The deep sea is the only place
so an animal needs to find the superpowers. Hammerheads and on Earth that remains largely
best way to survive. For krill sawsharks pick up electrical signals, unexplored. Travel from the
or sardines, there’s safety in while mantis shrimp can detect warm shallows of a coral reef
numbers against hungry fish. light that other animals cannot to the cold, dark bottom of the
More extreme strategies involve see. Sandtigers gang up on other ocean in a submersible to see
parrotfish covering themselves in fish and sevengill sharks sneak up what lies below the waves.
slime and sea cucumbers squirting on their victims, but torpedo rays
their insides at attackers. have a really nasty shock in store.
GLOSSARY 204
INDEX 206
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 208
CORAL REEFS
Coral reefs grow along shallow
coastlines, where bright sunshine Sharks living near
the surface are
and tropical warmth provide
active hunters
exactly the right conditions for with good vision
thousands of different types of
ocean animals, including reef
sharks, to live and grow.
OPEN OCEAN
The wide expanses of the open sea are home
to vast amounts of tiny plankton that live in its
upper waters. Plankton are the start of a food Sharks in deeper waters save
chain that ends with much larger animals, such as their energy for making
the giant ocean sunfish and meat-eating sharks. sudden grabs at unwary prey
6
Seabirds rely on the ocean
ON THE SEASHORE
as a source of food Where the ocean meets the land, marine life has to cope
with the movement of the tides. Some animals stay put at
low tide and wait for the water to return. Others have to
swim out with the tide. The crash of waves on the seashore
can be extremely powerful, and animals such as marine
iguanas and crabs need to be able to grip the rocks or hide
in crevices to avoid being washed away.
Sailfish and dolphins
may leap out of the
water when chasing fish
COASTAL WATERS
Deep-water nutrients rise to
the surface along coastlines,
providing vital nourishment
to ocean life. There is so
much food that schooling
fish collect there, making
them a tempting target for
sharks. Many people around
the world use these schooling
fish as a source of food.
Some fish bury
themselves in
mud and sand
to ambush prey
DEEP SEA
The deepest parts of the ocean
are dark, cold, and under high
pressure. The animals that live
there, such as this deep-sea
octopus, scavenge on dead
Hydrothermal vents are
INTRODUCTION
material falling from above,
places where hot water
erupts from the ocean
or wait in the dark to ambush
floor, and are home to another animal.
many unique species
Water world
From the bright, choppy surface to the eerily dark
bottom of the ocean, animals have adapted to live with
the local conditions. Every layer has its own community
of ocean animals, even in places where food is scarce. 7
1
AMAZING
ANATOMY
Animals that live in the ocean are
supremely adapted to their wet,
watery world. Fins and flippers,
spikes and stingers, terrifying
teeth, and your own set of
headlights are just some of the
things you need to survive in the
sea. After all, you never know
what’s lurking in the depths.
PLANKTON
MASSIVE MOUTH
This shark basks near the brightly
lit surface, where the water is
rich in nutrients. Unlike other
PLUNDERER
plankton feeders, it cannot gulp
water but needs the constant
stream created as it swims along.
BASKING SHARK
When you’re the size of a fishing boat, it takes
a lot of food to fill you. Having a big mouth helps.
The basking shark cruises along with its mouth wide
open like a funnel. As water flows over its gills, their
bristles rake out anything from little shrimp to fish
eggs—all of which is swallowed.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE Males 13–16 ft (4–5 m) long; females
26–33 ft (8–10 m) long
lb
2,200 lb/1,000 kg
(max. liver weight)
3,000 6,000 9,000
50
YEARS
kg 1,500 3,000 4,500 L I F E S PA N
8,800 lb/4,000 kg (max.
body weight)
WATER FILTERED The basking shark’s
tons 1,000
1,000
2,000
2,000
3,000
3,000
giant oily liver makes it
very buoyant in water,
which helps it stay near
the surface and travel
“Its open
mouth is so
tonnes
approx. 2,200 tons/ long distances with
2,000 tonnes (per hour) minimal effort.
MIGRATION DISTANCE
12
SHIFTY EYES
LEFTEYE
FLOUNDERS
It takes time to turn into a flatfish like a flounder.
There is nothing especially unusual about baby
flounders: they swim in the open sea with one eye on
each side of their head just like most other fish. But as
weeks of growth go by, one eye shifts upward and over
the head—until it joins the other one on the opposite
side. In lefteye flounders both eyes end up on the
left side of the fish. The flounder then settles on the
seabed on its eyeless right side and lives the rest of its
life with both eyes facing up into the water.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 21⁄2–35 in (6–90 cm) long
13
POP-OUT JAWS
GIANT MORAY EEL
The moray eel waits patiently in the darkness of its rocky lair until a fish passes
by. Then it strikes in an instant, but in a way that is not like any other reef-dwelling
animal. First, its sharp-toothed mouth grabs the prey. Then, a second set of jaws Long spine gives the
body of a moray eel
shoots forward from the back of its throat to pull the fish into its food pipe. snakelike flexibility
Double-jawed ambush
Moray eels can’t chase prey far, so they
AT A GLANCE rely on their two sets of snapping jaws
to make sure a struggling fish never
escapes their grasp.
• SIZE Up to 9¾ ft (3 m)
14
1
STATS AND FACTS
13
Protracting
muscle contracts
TIME TO SWALLOW PREY 1.25 sec to pull throat
0.3 sec (front jaws (prey reaches jaws forward
YEARS grab prey) food pipe)
ET
H
TE
90
UMBER OF
LIFE
S PA N sec 0.5 1 1.5 Second set of jaws
0.75 sec (throat ready at back of throat
jaws grab prey)
The moray eel is not WEIGHT
a fast swimmer but it 66 lbs/30 kg (max. weight) 2
N
AL
makes up for this with lb 20 40 60 80 U
its swift double-jawed US Throat jaws
bite, completed in kg 10 20 30 40 shoot forwards
just over a second. to grab prey
3
Upper retracting muscle
pulls second set of jaws Front set of jaws Upper retracting
back into throat takes the first bite muscle contracts
to pull second set
of jaws back
Fish is unable
to escape from
powerful jaws
AT A GLANCE
Paddlelike
pectoral fins
CRUNCHING TEETH
The small mouth has small jagged
• HABITAT Coastal waters, especially among
rocks or thick seaweed
16
STATS AND FACTS
LENGTH OF FIN SPINES
Like many sharks
in 1 2 3
of the shallows, the
horn shark is built
more for clambering cm 2 4 6 8
over the bottom 1¼–2¼ in (3–6 cm)
than for chasing
SWIMMING DEPTH
prey around in
open water.
ft 10 20 30 40
m 3 6 9 12
6½–36 ft (2–11 m)
SWIMMING SPEED
TAKEN TO G
ME RA mph 1 2
TI
B
PR
⁄10
km/h 1 2 3 4
EY
2¼ mph (3.6 km/h)
WA R
LKI NG PREDATO
The two paired fins at the front of the
SEC
body are used for swimming, but in very
shallow water they work like stumpy
legs to crawl over rocks.
Dorsal fin
EGG CASES
Most types of sharks
give birth to live young, but
AMAZING ANATOMY
the horn shark lays eggs in a soft
leathery “purse.” For extra protection,
Tail
the mother picks up the case with her
notch
mouth and wedges it into a rocky
crevice—where its corkscrew shape
helps keep it securely in place.
Over a few days it hardens to form California horn shark
a protective casing. This prevents Different species of horn sharks
predators from getting to the egg are found around the world and
case. It will take at least six months most have a distinctive pattern of dark
for the young sharks to hatch. markings on a lighter background. The
California horn shark’s skin is spotted. 17
DEVIL OF THE DEEP
DEEP-SEA ANGLERFISH
Waving movements of
the dorsal fin help the
The deep sea is so vast and dark that meat eaters sometimes anglerfish swim along
struggle to find prey. The anglerfish has its own way to draw them
out of the gloom—it carries a glowing lantern. Other fish can’t resist
inspecting the light. When an especially inquisitive one comes
close, the anglerfish grabs at it with its massive jaws. Its long,
stabbing teeth ensure that the unsuspecting fish doesn’t get away.
AT A GLANCE
Lure sits at
the top of LURING THEM IN
a long spine
A fleshy “lantern” dangles from
a stalk on the anglerfish’s head.
It contains a thick soup of
bacteria that enter the lantern
from the surrounding seawater.
These bacteria use chemicals
produced by the fish to glow.
AMAZING ANATOMY
making it invisible to prey
Luminous lady
Stomach
This big-mouthed anglerfish is female. Males
expands to are much smaller and do not carry lanterns.
hold large prey Like many other deep-sea fish, anglerfish have
black skin to blend in with the background.
19
20
AMAZING ANATOMY
UNICORN OF
TUSKS TOGETHER
Like many other whales and
dolphins, narwhals socialize
with one another and live in
THE SEA
groups called pods. Sometimes
several hundred narwhals from
different pods will gather
together to form huge herds.
NARWHAL
The freezing waters of the Arctic are home to the
ocean’s one-tusked wonder: the narwhal. Its tusk is really
a canine tooth that grows through its upper lip. The only
other tooth—a second canine—is small and useless for
chewing. Instead, this white whale sucks up small animal
prey from the bottom of the sea. No one knows for
sure why the narwhal has a tusk, but tusks are longer
in males—suggesting that they might use them for
impressing the females. Sometimes narwhals have been
spotted using their tusks in jousting contests.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 13–20 ft (4–6 m) long
(not including tusk) • LOCATION Arctic Ocean, mainly
from Canada, Greenland, and
western Russia
• HABITAT Cold, deep ocean waters
around pack ice
• DIET Fish, squid, and shrimp
ft 5 10
M
X.
O
TI
A
m 1 2 3
DIV
E DURA 8¾ ft (2.7 m)
20
21
STINGING BATTLESHIP
PORTUGUESE MAN O’ WAR
The sting of a Portuguese man o’ war is so painful Sail on the float
catches the wind
that the shock alone can kill. Although it looks like a to help it move
over the ocean
single jellyfish, it is actually a floating colony of many
animals that make up the writhing mass of tentacles
hanging under the balloonlike float. Some of these Gland produces
gas for inflating
produce eggs, some carry stings and grab prey. the float
Others are tipped with tiny mouths for
eating their victim.
Gastrozooid contains
fragments of partly
digested food
Gonozooids hang
like tiny grapes
Muscular walls help and produce
dactylozooid move eggs or sperm
to grab prey
Gastrozooids
tipped with tiny
mouths (yellow)
DEADLY COILS eat prey
The tentacles are made up of
muscular dark-blue coils and long
fingerlike members of the colony.
They carry thousands of stingers for
paralyzing prey. Then they pull the
victim up to waiting hungry mouths.
Dactylozooids grab prey
and are entwined with
AT A GLANCE stinging tentacles
“Each harpoon
Tentacles have fires with the
beadlike clumps
of stingers
pressure
Stingers remain
dangerous even if of a bullet”
tentacle is broken off
120
PER DAY
23
AMAZING ANATOMY
24
AMAZING ANATOMY
TASSELED
HIDDEN FROM PREY
A motionless wobbegong is
perfectly disguised on the sea
floor. It uses its side fins to
AMBUSHER
clamber over rocks and has
been seen breaking the surface
in shallow waters.
WOBBEGONG
Looking more like a piece of shaggy seaweed than a
shark, the wobbegong has the perfect way to snatch
a meal. It relies on its disguise and waits for prey to come
close before making a grab. Its wormlike tassels might
even lure a fish in. The flattened body of this shark is
not much good for building up speed in a chase, but
when it comes to attacking, the wobbegong is no
laggard. It can snap its jaws in the blink of an eye, and
sharp needlelike teeth ensure that even the most
slippery prey is trapped.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 3¼–12 ft (1–3.6 m) long
1
/50
82% 6% other
bony fish sharks
SEC
25
SHELL SHEDDER
BLUE SWIMMING CRAB
Big crabs are heavy on land because of their cumbersome hard shell, Back legs
but they are buoyant in the ocean—and this crab even has paddles to are used for
swimming
get around in midwater. Hard shells offer good protection, but are too
stiff to expand—so crabs must discard their old shell and make a new,
bigger one so that they can grow.
AT A GLANCE
“Only one
in a million
baby crabs
survives to
• SIZE 6½–10½ in (17–27 cm) shell diameter
become an adult”
• HABITAT Estuaries and bays with muddy
or sandy bottoms, going upstream into rivers
6
STATS AND FACTS
WIDTH OF SHELL
3½ in/9 cm (males)
MAX
GG
N
TIME 20 months to
complete all molts
LIFET
S IN A IM Muscles in each leg
LT E segment work in pairs:
O
months 10 20 30 40 50
UP TO other extends it
20
up to 48 months average lifespan
26
Last segments of
swimming legs are
flat like paddles
Armored athlete
The blue swimming crab has especially
large and powerful muscles at the rear
of its body to help work the flat-tipped
back legs. These paddle furiously when A CHANGE OF SHELL
the crab swims. A new shell—thin and papery
at first—grows underneath the
Strong muscles at the old one. The old shell cracks open
base of the leg power and the crab crawls out so its new
it through the water
shell can expand and harden.
Mouth
Eyes stand
out on stalks
AMAZING ANATOMY
Ridged pincers have
a strong grip and are
used in defense
Three pairs
of pointed
walking legs
MOBILE NURSERY
For two weeks, a female crab carries a
spongelike bundle of eggs underneath
Bundle of over a million
her. The eggs contain developing eggs carried beneath female,
babies. As they eat the yolk, the who can produce two
sponge turns from orange to black. batches of eggs in a season
27
AMAZING ANATOMY
A TINY MOUTH
The mouth of a seahorse is
like the end of a tiny trumpet.
Instead of chewing, it sucks
microscopic animals out of the
plankton. Even these minuscule
creatures are a big meal for
a pygmy seahorse.
28
CAMOUFLAGE
IN MINIATURE
PYGMY SEAHORSE
Being a slowpoke is a problem on a reef filled with
speedy predators, especially when you are small enough
to fit in everyone’s mouth. Seahorses are among the
slowest of small fish, but fortunately they are also experts
at camouflage. These tiny pygmy seahorses—smaller than
your little finger—are colored pink, white, and red to
blend in with the coral. Their coiling tails hold fast to
a coral branch, just in case a sudden current sweeps
through the reef and threatens to wash them into
dangerous open water.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE ½–1 in (1.4–2.7 cm) long (from tip of tail to tip
of snout)
m 30 60 90 120
UP TO
34
36–295 ft (11–90 m)
29
SEAWATER
UNDERCOVER SHARK
Swell sharks hide among rocks
and seaweed, where they can
ambush small prey or hide from
SWALLOWER
predators. They can even do
their expanding trick when
removed from the sea by
swallowing air instead of water.
SWELL SHARK
The striped pattern on this little shark helps it blend
into the dense thickets of brown seaweed in its habitat.
This usually helps hide it from the prying eyes of larger
sharks, but if danger threatens it has another trick for
defending itself. The shark can make its body bigger by
gulping water into its stomach. It will even grab its tail
with its mouth to make a U-bend with its body, making
it more difficult for a predator to pull it out from rocky
crevices and overhangs.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 2½–3½ ft (0.8–1.1 m) long
• LOCATION Eastern Pacific Ocean
off the coasts of California, Mexico,
• HABITAT Usually in shallow waters
covered in a bed of kelp or other
and central Chile
types of seaweed
• DIET Fish, shrimp, crabs, and snails
Swollen body
3
STATS AND FACTS
TIME TO SWELL
TIMES
N
I
CR Z
sec 10 20 30 40 EASE IN SI
10–30 sec (est.)
DEPTH
16–130 ft/5–40 m (usual)
NING SEA
ft 500 1,000 1,500 AW SO
SP
R
N
E
SP
4.8
EGG
MILLION
30
“The swell
shark makes
a doglike
bark when
releasing air”
AMAZING ANATOMY
31
SPIKY PREDATOR
LIONFISH
Venomous spines
A lionfish has good reason to be confident as it swaggers used in self-defense
around the ocean reef. Pencil-long spines stick out from its body
in all directions, many spiked with venom. The lionfish is a
top predator that will eat almost anything that fits into its big
mouth. And if that weren’t enough, its stomach can expand
massively to squeeze in as much prey as possible.
VENOMOUS SPINES
Each spine has two grooves
to carry venom. In a human, the
pain from a jab can last for days. The
victim gets sticky with sweat and could
end up with a paralyzed limb.
Stinging invader
The bright striped markings of a
lionfish warn of danger. Lionfish
are popular aquarium pets, but if
released into the ocean they can
devastate local wildlife.
AT A GLANCE
32
STATS AND FACTS
2 SPINES 1 on each side
12–13 on back
EAR
LL
3 under tail FU
MILLION EN
RY
H
PE
PANSION W
GG
30
E
S PR ED
ODUC
TIMES
“80 lionfish
EX
17 spines, but the red in 2 4 6
CH
lionfish (seen here)
has an extra one on
its back.
cm 3 6 9 12 15
A
STO
M
on a mile of reef
1
⁄16–5 in (0.2–13 cm)
eat 900 lb
(400 kg) of prey
each year”
GIANT MOUTH
The mouth of a lionfish is
so broad that it looks like
a shovel on the front of its
head. A hornlike tentacle
above each eye helps
lure prey in.
Long spines on
pectoral fins are
not venomous
AMAZING ANATOMY
PERFECT PREDATORS
With a huge, ferocious appetite, lionfish rule
the reef. A lionfish blows jets of water to distract
and confuse its prey. It can also stay motionless
in the water waiting to snatch its prey in one
gulp. In some species, fish work together by
flaring their fins to “herd” a tasty school, and
even take turns to strike. Lionfish breed quickly
too—producing 30,000 eggs in each batch.
33
WHITE-BLOODED WONDER
CROCODILE ICEFISH
It takes a special kind of fish to survive the deep Antarctic Ocean, where AT A GLANCE
temperatures are only just above freezing. The crocodile icefish not only
has built-in antifreeze, but is the only backboned animal with colorless
blood. All other backboned animals need red blood cells to carry
oxygen, but cold polar waters contain so much oxygen
that the icefish does not need them.
Long snout
• LOCATION Coastlines of Antarctica and
southern South America
is full of sharp
teeth that help
in grabbing prey
• DIET Other fish, shrimp, and crabs
Bleached baby
This baby icefish looks as though its body
is made from glass. In cold water, it can be
hard for a fish to pump blood with lots of
Only the food-filled
red cells around its body because it gets too
digestive system
thick, but the icefish has no red cells at all. shows color
The whiteness of its bones, muscles, and
organs shows through its transparent skin.
4-8
2,300–4,920 ft
(700–1,500 m)
YEARS
of a similar size”
34
WINGS OF THE SEA
ANGEL SHARK
Angel “wings” might make for graceful swimming, but these sharks are bad-
tempered “angels.” During the day, angel sharks settle on the bottom, perfectly
camouflaged, and strike with lightning speed using needlelike teeth. If you
accidentally tread on one, you’ll see why it has the nickname of “sand devil.”
Five gill slits on
the upper surface
of the body
AT A GLANCE Small eyes on top
of flattened head
AMAZING ANATOMY
to grab its victim. the body, making them look
mph 1 2 3
more like a ray than a shark.
km/h 1 2 3 4 5
2½ mph (4 km/h)
Lower lobe of tail
STRIKE DISTANCE fin is bigger than
upper lobe, unlike
in 2 4 6 ST R I K E P RE most other sharks
The first of two
TO Y small dorsal fins
E
is at the rear
TIM
cm 10 20
1
⁄10
6 in (15 cm) of the body
SEC
35
HOT-BLOODED KILLER
GREAT WHITE SHARK
The great white shark is the most infamous killer of them all, and a hungry
great white is a speedy hunter. It has a particular taste for warm-blooded meat
and often targets mammals, such as seals or dolphins. It matches their speed
because it has special strips of muscle that generate its own body heat, while
a clever system of blood vessels keeps the heat trapped inside.
KILLING BLADES
AT A GLANCE The great white shark has large,
sharp, triangular teeth. The narrower
bottom teeth are for gripping prey, while
the upper saw-edged teeth slice through flesh.
Sensitive snout
detects electrical
activity given
• LOCATION Worldwide
70
As well as living prey, great whites have also
been seen scavenging whale carcasses.
YEARS
36
“It can detect Dorsal fin helps stop
the shark from rolling
when it swims
a drop of
blood in water
up to 3 miles
Big jaw muscles
give the great white
(5 km) away”
one of the strongest
bites of any shark
37
38
JUMPING JAWS
A fat seal makes a filling meal for a hungry
great white shark, which is why they patrol
the waters around seal colonies. The shark
charges upward from below the seal so fast
that it often launches into the air as it grabs
its victim between its fearsome jaws. The seal
is left badly wounded; a bite to the head and
neck kills it quickly. The shark then drags the
body below the surface to eat.
“Great white
sharks can jump
up to 10 ft (3 m)
out of the water”
39
“A giant clam
BIG-LIPPED releases up to
MOLLUSK 6 billion eggs
GIANT CLAM during its lifetime”
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE Up to 4 ft (1.2 m) long
E S T
A giant clam’s eggs
BIGGMOLLUSK
mm 0.1 0.2 hatch into larvae that
12 hours (to hatch) spend about a week
floating in the water
hours 8 12 16 before settling on
ED
the bottom.
SHELL
LIFESPAN
100 years (maximum) D AT ON
A SE CE
LE
RE
S
E GG
500
70 years (average)
MILLION
40
FOOD SOURCES
Giant clams get some food
from plankton. The rest is
made by microscopic algae
living in their flesh that use the
Sun’s energy to make food—just
like plants do—which they
share with the clams.
AMAZING ANATOMY
41
PRICKLY CHARACTER
PUFFERFISH
Pufferfish get their name because they puff up like a balloon when
threatened by danger. They do this by swallowing seawater. It is usually
enough to put most predators off, but this kind of pufferfish has
something extra just to make sure. Its skin is covered in spines that
stick out when it is fully inflated, so not even the hungriest meat
eater will be able to swallow it.
Fish gulps
Stomach in water
NORMAL INFLATED
ALL PUFFED UP
The pufferfish performs its inflation trick by
swallowing plenty of seawater. Its stomach
walls are folded so they can expand outward
“The flesh
as the stomach fills with water. The fish’s skin
is extra elastic, too. and organs
of the pufferfish
AT A GLANCE
contain a lethal
• SIZE 6–20 in (15–50 cm) long
TO I N F L A
ft 20 40 60 80 100 120 ME TE
Spines lie flat along body TI
when not inflated
10
m 10 20 30 40
6½–115 ft (2–35 m)
42 SEC
Spines stick out
when inflated
Spotted pattern on a
yellow background is
typical of porcupinefish
Spiky defender
This spiny-skinned pufferfish is
sometimes called the porcupinefish.
It is one of the biggest pufferfish, but still
relies on its puffing defence. Its spines lie
flat when the fish is swimming normally,
but stick out when it puffs up.
AMAZING ANATOMY
A SAF
E HAVEN
Baby pufferfish rely on staying hidden
Stomach inflates to fill from big predators. Their dark patches
most of fish’s body space can help disguise them among fronds
with seawater of seaweed—but this one has opted
for a cup-shaped barrel sponge. 43
POP-UP
PREDATOR
BITING REEF WORM
Worms often fall prey to hungry fish, but this one
breaks all the rules. It can grow to the length of a car but
most of its body is hidden under the sand and only its
murderous head pokes out. Should any fish swim too
close, the worm attacks, slicing madly with jagged jaws
that can cut a small body clean in half. It even has a
knock-out poison to stop larger prey from getting away.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 31⁄4–9¾ ft (1–3 m)
T
crevices, and in mud or sand
• C E S
IER
LOCATION Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean
in 1 2
MA
TS
EN
XI
cm 2 4 6 M
UM GM
2 in/5 cm (average)
B OD Y S E
5
0.2 0.4
farther to grab its prey. The
bite of the sharp, jagged jaws
is so powerful that it can draw
blood from a human finger.
44
“The biting
reef worm has
five pairs of
fast-action
jaws”
45
“This aggressive
shark often
follows ships
in its hunt
for food”
46
FABULOUS FINS
LONG-FINNED BULLY
The oceanic whitetip is a solitary
shark, but often gathers at
feeding frenzies, where it bullies
OCEANIC WHITETIP
the other sharks to get a better
share of the food. It will also
follow pods of dolphins and pilot
whales to scavenge their catch.
SHARK
The oceanic whitetip shark likes to cruise just
beneath the surface of warm tropical oceans, with
its long, paddlelike fins spread outward. Despite its
sedate lifestyle, it hunts some of the fastest oceanic fish,
including tuna and mackerel. It swims along with its
mouth wide open until prey comes close enough for
it to make a grab with its jaws.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 9¾–13 ft (3–4 m) long
22
kg 50 100 150 200
368 lb (167 kg)
YEARS
47
SHARPSHOOTER
CONE SNAIL AT A GLANCE
Snail senses prey
by tasting the water
through a tube
A slow snail has to have a secret weapon to catch a fish, and the cone
snail is the most dangerous snail of all. Like its vegetarian cousins, it has a
single creeping foot, which makes it too slow to chase prey. Instead, when
a fish comes close, it sends out a fleshy snout that is tipped with a venomous
dart for harpooning its victim. The poison makes the fish go limp so the
snail can swallow it whole.
• SIZE 3⁄8–9 in (1–22 cm) shell length
“Cone snails •
•
LOCATION Warm and tropical oceans
make up to
20 new STATS AND FACTS
CAPTURE TIME
1-2
Dreadful dart
A cone snail waits for
harpoons 0.25 sec (to
harpoon prey)
10 sec (to
engulf prey) HOURS
TI
M
EY
prey to come close ET
at a time”
R
sec 5 10 15 O D I G E ST P
before firing a poison 2 sec (for prey to 12.25 sec
dart. It will shoot at a become paralyzed) (total time)
careless human hand SPEED OF FIRING HARPOON
too, sometimes with
fatal results. NS IN VEN
ft/s 1.5 3 ISO OM
PO
Shiny, cone-
OF
m/s 0.5 1
shaped shell has
NO.
2 ft/s (0.6 m/s)
200
a colorful pattern
Long, tubular
mouthparts fire
a poison dart
into prey
48
OCEAN VAMPIRE
SEA LAMPREY AT A GLANCE
Horny teeth
• HABITAT Seas and oceans as blood-sucking
adults; migrate inland to rivers and streams
around rim to breed
Jawless maw
of mouth “Tongue” also
carries sharp teeth A lamprey attacks anything big enough
to take its weight. Its teeth hook onto
• LOCATION Northern Atlantic Ocean,
Mediterranean Sea, North America, and Europe
the side of a fish. Then the mouth rasps
away until it draws blood, swallowing • DIET Sucks blood of other fish and sometimes
blood of whales or dolphins; larvae filter feed
the odd scale along the way. on tiny plankton
A
N
XI A
km 250 500 750 1,000 MU SP
12–525 miles/20–850 km
M LIFE
(from sea to spawning grounds)
100
49
SPOTTED STINGER
RIBBON-TAILED STINGRAY
In a tropical fish, blue spots can be used to attract attention, but this AT A GLANCE
ray uses them to disguise itself. When the ribbon-tailed stingray settles
on the bottom of a reef, the spots make it tricky to see its outline in the
dappled sunlight. It waits patiently for something tasty to crawl by so Tail used for
it can smother the prey with its pancake-shaped body and eat it. self-defense
EYE HORNS
The eyes are prominent,
sticking up from the ray’s
• SIZE 27½–35 in (70–90 cm)
flat body. This allows the ray • HABITAT Sandy patches and caves
on coral reefs
to keep watch over the
sands for danger or food. • LOCATION Red Sea, Indian, and west
Pacific Oceans
Winged wanderer
The stingray spends much
of its time on the bottom,
but it is also a graceful
swimmer. Like other
rays, its side fins are
massively expanded
to form “wings,”
which it can flap
to “fly” through
the water.
50
STATS AND FACTS Mouth
Gill slits
MAXIMUM WIDTH
The ray uses its tail
in 4 8 12 16
to whip a predator,
and sometimes the
cm 10 20 30 40
venomous spine’s tip
12 in (30 cm) breaks off in the
victim’s skin.
SPINE LENGTH
O F YO U
BER NG
in 1 2 3 4 M
U
.N
7
MAX
cm 2.5 5 7.5 10
2–2¾ in (5–7 cm)
UNDERSIDE
The ray’s mouth is on its underside—
perfect for grabbing food from the
sand. Seawater taken in through
the mouth leaves through gill slits
underneath the body.
STINGING SPINES
The ray has one or two
jagged spines along its
tail that cause the sting.
These are sharp enough
to inject a painful venom. Broad “wings” are
hugely expanded
pectoral fins
Usually two
venomous
spines
AMAZING ANATOMY
51
WALKING
WONDER
RED-LIPPED BATFISH
No one knows for sure why the red-lipped batfish wears
so much face paint, but there is no mistaking how it gets its
dinner. The batfish has a stubby fishing pole hidden under
the “horn” on its forehead. When this pokes out, its tip
releases a perfume into the water to entice prey. Although
it is capable of swimming, this fish spends much of its time
“walking” on the sea floor with stiffened leglike fins.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 5½–8 in (14–20 cm) long
SNOUT LENGTH
in 1
⁄8 1
⁄4 3
⁄8 1
⁄2 5
⁄8 3
⁄4
cm 0.5 1 1.5 2
3
⁄8 in (1 cm)
52
AMAZING ANATOMY
CLOWN FACE
Thick red lips, a bristly beard,
and a horn make a very bizarre
underwater portrait, but this
might help attract a mate. The
red-lipped batfish is too slow
to chase its food so it waits for
prey to come close.
53
DEADLY SUPERSTAR
STARFISH
Starfish look harmless but they hide a secret—they are slow-moving Greedy guts
The starfish’s mouth lies under
hunters. Motionless mussels are perfect for them. A starfish pulls the shells its body. When feeding, it pushes
apart with its arms and inserts its stomach to digest the victim alive. The its stomach out onto its prey and
produces chemicals that start to
starfish is not even bothered if it loses an arm through injury: it can simply digest the prey’s body. The starfish
grow a new one. then sucks up the juices.
AT A GLANCE
Reproductive
organs produce
eggs or sperm
E G RO W A
in ½ 1 1½ 2 OR
ET RM
M
1
TI
cm 1 2 3 4 5
¾–1½ in (2–4 cm) Tube foot
CROSS SECTION ALONG ARM
YEAR
54
Tube feet are used
Each arm contains a complete set Rows of tube feet for touching objects
of reproductive organs, digestive cover the underside and walking
glands, and a network of fluid-filled of each foot
canals that move the tube feet
Stomach is a double-chambered
sac in the middle of the animal
that opens through the mouth
on the lower surface and the
anus on the upper surface
Madreporite is a tiny
funnel that filters
seawater into the body
WA
LKING TUBE FEET
The underside of a starfish is covered in
hundreds of tiny tube feet that work like
miniature suckers. They help the animal crawl
along and also provide a strong grip
for pulling open mussels.
Water-filled tube
encircles the central
stomach and branches Eyespots on the
through each arm upper surface
of each arm
Tiny water-filled sacs squeeze detect light
water into the tube feet to
make them move
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE Bell: 1–61⁄2 ft (0.3–2 m) in diameter;
tentacles: up to 121 ft (37 m) long
1,440
1,000 kg (jellyfish) bell varies in color, from
blood-red to orange or yellow.
56
G E S T
BIG FISH
JELLY
“A swarm
of jellyfish AMAZING ANATOMY
can contain
thousands
of individuals”
57
MONSTER MOUTH
WHALE SHARK AT A GLANCE
The huge whale shark is really a gentle giant. It feeds on small fish and
other animals floating in the plankton. Although it has a massive mouth,
its throat is no wider than a man’s arm. This prevents it from swallowing
anything too big and ensures that the water sucked into its mouth passes
out through its enormous gills instead. Anything edible is trapped by
a special filter—so only food ends up going into its stomach.
• SIZE 52–66 ft (16–20 m)
OVER
STATS AND FACTS • LOCATION Warm and tropical oceans around
the world
300 •
WEIGHT DIET Plankton (including krill—tiny,
shrimplike animals), small fish,
tons 10 20 30 40 and squid
LIT
TER SIZE tonnes 10 20 30 40
38 tons (34 tonnes)
PER MIN
PS UT in 10 20 30
UL
G
E
cm 20 40 60 80
UP TO 16–23 in (40–60 cm)
28
Supersized shark
There are billions of tiny organisms living
among the plankton, but it takes many
mouthfuls to fill up this fish—even with
a mouth 5 ft (1.5 m) wide. The whale shark
consumes 2.2–3.3 tons (2–3 tonnes)
of plankton a day. Second only to
a whale in size, this is not only
the largest shark but is also
the biggest fish.
Whale sharks have around 4,000
Small eye
small teeth, but they no longer
on either
have any useful function
side of mouth
58
CAPTIVE SUPPER
Even with its capacity to filter gallons
of seawater, a whale shark is not above
grabbing an easy meal. A net full of
fresh fish makes a tempting target and
the shark sucks so hard that it pulls
small fish straight through the holes.
First dorsal fin
much larger than
second dorsal fin
Large upper
lobe of tail fin
powers shark
Rough skin as it swims
is thicker than
that of any
other animal
BIGG
Gill arches
support pink
FISH EST
gills inside
GIANT GILLS
Most sharks have five gill slits—and those
of the whale shark are enormous. After the
plankton is strained out of the seawater,
the water flows out through the slits
and the gills inside pick up oxygen.
Water leaves
through gills
Filter pads
remove plankton
AMAZING ANATOMY
Water and plankton
enter through the mouth
Plankton
funneled
Giant pectoral fins
FILTER FEEDER down
are used for steering Before reaching the gills, each throat
mouthful of water is passed over
filter pads. These pads work like
a sieve to strain out the plankton. 59
SCHOOL SUCKER
Most of the ocean’s filter-feeders get food
by swimming forward with their mouth
open, but the whale shark can strain food
from seawater simply by gulping. When the
shark opens its jaws wide, water rushes into
its mouth at very high speed—pulling any
small animals with it. In this way, hungry
whale sharks can target entire schools of
tiny fish, gobbling them down even when
they’re close to the surface.
60
61
AMAZING ANATOMY
T E ETH
T
LONGES
T I V E
RELA D SIZE
O H E A
T
62
FISHY FANGS
SLOANE’S
VIPERFISH
The terrifying teeth of the deep-sea viperfish are
so long that they stick out when its mouth is closed.
Food is scarce in the deepest ocean waters, so a predator
needs clever tactics to get its meal. The viperfish has a
flashing light at the end of a long spine on its back. This
attracts the attention of other fish, and when they come
close, the viperfish lunges with its fang-filled jaws. The
bones behind its head are even specially strengthened
to take the shock of the attack. It may take many days
to make a kill, but the viperfish is patient and can go
for a long time without eating anything at all.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 8–14 in (20–35 cm) long
26
ET
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 7–20 in (18–50 cm) long
• LOCATION Worldwide; most
abundant in the tropics
• HABITAT Surface waters of
the open ocean
• DIET Plankton and small fish
Wings extend
when gliding in air
mph 15 30 45
45 SEC
LO
km/h 30 60 90 NG HT
EST FLIG
40 mph (64 km/h) 43 mph (70 km/h)
while swimming in flight
HEIGHT REACHED
M TA I L B E
ft 5 10 15 20 25 MU AT
XI
A
S
M
70
m 2 4 6 8
20 ft (6 m) above water level
PER SEC
66
SUPER GLIDER
The long pectoral fins of
a flying fish are high on the
sides of the body and work
just like the wings of a plane.
It cannot flap its fins and so
relies on gliding.
“Flying fish
sometimes
land on
boat decks”
ANIMAL ATHLETES
67
JUMPING
SHARK
BLACKTIP SHARK
This lively shark preys on big schools of fish. It charges
through them from below with such great speed that it
jumps out of the water. Groups of blacktip sharks gather
together to hunt and their excitement can build up into a
feeding frenzy. As they attack, they twirl around in the water
like a corkscrew, which continues into an acrobatic spin.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 4¼–6½ ft (1.3–2 m) long
11
DEPTH
ft 40 80
PU
m 15 30 PS ER
PER LITT
33 ft/10 m (starting
depth before jump)
JUMP HEIGHT Some sharks jump from
the water when they
ft 2 4 overshoot prey, but
others do it to clear
m 0.5 1 1.5 their body of parasites
1½–3¼ ft/0.5–1 m and other animals that
(approx.) might cling to their skin.
JUMP SPEED
F R O M WA
mph 5 10 15 NS T ER
PI
S
3
X.
km/h 10 20 30
MA
68
ANIMAL ATHLETES
OCEANS OF FOOD
Fish sometimes gather in
schools to make it difficult for
predators to focus on a single
target, but that doesn’t deter
blacktip sharks. Instead, they
dive speedily through the
schools, snapping as they go.
69
SPEEDIEST SWIMMER
SAILFISH
Nothing in the ocean can match the speed of a
sailfish. As it darts around the water, its body flashes “Its body can Long pointed bill used
blue or yellow, which helps confuse its prey of smaller to jab and slash at
schooling fish and squid. When it gets especially schools of fish
HE LS
RDIN
G SCHOO
Sailfish usually keep their sails flat against
the body when they are in mid-chase, but
they can pull them up as a way of scaring
schools of fish into tighter bunches,
before attacking with their sharp bills.
Long, tapering pelvic fins lie in
grooves along the body when
the fish is swimming fast,
making it more streamlined
AT A GLANCE
Silver
underbelly
Bluish upper body
and vertical stripes darken SIZE 73⁄4–111⁄2 ft (2.4–3.5 m)
when sailfish attacks prey •
HABITAT Warm surface waters of the
• open ocean
LOCATION Worldwide
Dorsal fin Tail quivers more •
forms a sail than 10 times a DIET Smaller fish and squid
when excited second during an
•
attack on prey
FAST SWIMMING
93% of night spent near surface UP TO
RAISING THE SAIL E S T
The sail is a dorsal fin that is supported by T
stiff rays, which can be raised by muscles FAS 30
controlled by the nervous system. At top
Sickle-shaped
speed the sailfish swims with its sail down,
S H lobes of tail fin
but at other times it will raise its sail to
signal aggression, fear, or excitement.
FI
71
ANIMAL ATHLETES
ANIMAL ATHLETES
SUCKER FISH
This nurse shark carries a
hitchhiking remora. This is
a smaller fish that has a head-
sucker so it can attach to the
shark and enjoy a free ride. It
might also get any scraps of
food the shark drops.
72
FASTEST MOUTH
“Nurse sharks can NURSE SHARK
suck a conch The gummy-looking mouth of a nurse shark doesn’t
snail right out look very threatening, but this fish relies on suction
rather than biting. It inflates its throat so much—and
of its shell” opens its mouth so quickly—that any little fish or crab
in its path is sucked inside before it has a chance to get
away. The loud sucking noise it makes sounds like a
nursing baby, and may have given this shark its name.
Its teeth are small but sharply pointed, so it can chomp
through anything that reaches its jaws. Nurse sharks
patrol shallow coastlines mainly at night. By day they
like the safety of each other’s company and spend their
time resting together in dark caves, where they are
often found piled one on top of another.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 7¼–14 ft (2.25–4.3 m)
28 MOUTH WIDTH
in 4 6 8
ER
MA
X.
TT
YO LI cm 10 15 20 25
UNG PER
5–9½ in
(13–24 cm)
TIME TAKEN TO GRAB PREY
AKEN TO OP
ET EN
IM
T
sec 1 2 3
⁄10 ⁄10 ⁄10
OU
1
⁄10–1⁄5 sec
1
⁄300
TH
SEC
73
74
HUNGRY VACUUM
A nurse shark is not as ferocious as many
biting sharks, but it has the right equipment
to be a champion sucker. It has a small
mouth that faces forward rather than
downward. When it spots something, it
lowers its head toward the prey. Then, in
the blink of an eye, it drops its bottom jaw
and purses its strong lips to form a round
tube. With a sudden, sharp gulp, the prey
is sucked up into the mouth.
75
LIVING POM-POMS
Many other crabs have chunky
pincers, but the boxer crab has
slender fingerlike pincers for
holding its precious anemones.
Should it lose one anemone, it
will carefully tear the other in
two to make a replacement.
ANIMAL ATHLETES
76
PUT ’EM UP!
BOXER CRAB
Here is a crab that is no bigger than your thumbnail,
but what it lacks in size it makes up for in nerve. It clasps
a miniature stinging anemone in each pincer and holds
them out like a pair of pom-poms or boxing gloves.
Should any predator come too close, the boxer crab
waves the anemones about, and the stings help keep
the danger away. But carrying anemones also has its
problems. The crab cannot use its pincers to break up
food. Instead it nibbles on plankton that sticks to the
anemone’s tentacles. When two boxer crabs meet, each
makes a show of waving their pom-poms in a pretend
fight, but they rarely make physical contact.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 3⁄8–1 in (1–2.5 cm) shell width
in ¼ ½ ¾ 1
E
O
B
XI TI
NG
to brush food
SWIPE cm 1 2 3
3
⁄8–¾ in (1–2 cm)
DIAMETER OF POM-POM
off rocks” M
AX.
TIME F
IG
H
in 1
⁄16 1
⁄8 3
⁄16 1
⁄4
1
TI
NG
MINUTE
77
A SHOCKING TAIL
The thresher shark hunts fish
and hits them with its long tail.
Some are killed by a direct hit,
but others are left stunned by
the shock of the whip.
“The force of
the tail whip
is so great that it
ANIMAL ATHLETES
78
LASHING OUT
THRESHER SHARK
LONGE No other shark hunts quite like the thresher shark. Its tail
TAIL C
O ST
MPARE
is as long as its entire body, and is used like a whip to stun
prey. Thresher sharks chase around in the open ocean
TO BOD D and, like their bigger cousin the great white shark, they
Y SIZE can stay active because their blood is warmer than the
surroundings. Once they find a school of fish, they circle
it to bunch their prey closer together. Then they smack
their tails so fast that the shock alone leaves prey floating
and ready to eat.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 12½–25 ft (3.8–7.6 m) long
• LOCATION Worldwide
L I F E S PA N mph 30 60 90
50
km/h 50 100 150
31–80 mph
(50–130 km/h)
YEARS
79
80
ANIMAL ATHLETES
WHIRLING
WONDER
SPINNER DOLPHIN
Dolphins and whales are famous for their playful
acrobatics in the ocean. The spinner dolphin is one of
the most agile and gets its name from its twisting leaps.
It shoots up through the water like a corkscrew, so that
when it breaks clear of the surface, it spins in the air.
Some dolphins are so eager that they do this many
times in succession.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 414⁄ –7½ ft (1.3–2.3 m) long
• LOCATION Throughout
the tropical parts of the
• HABITAT Warm ocean waters,
usually near coastlines but
world’s oceans
Long, Slender
thin body
beak
SEC ft 3 6 9 12
IM
T
AI
R
ES m 2 4
PENT IN
9¾ ft (3 m)
7
kg 20 40 60 80 100
off. They make spinning leaps
LEA
130–174 lb
headfirst from the water and (60–79 kg)
P
SPEED
body help it cut cleanly through
the water. Its big, half-moon-
shaped tail provides the power
for rapid bursts of speed.
SHORTFIN MAKO
Meet the champion swimmer of the shark world.
The shortfin mako is the fastest shark over long distances
and is perfectly capable of catching fast-swimming prey,
such as tuna and swordfish. When it’s in mid-chase it can
make sharp turns in the water, too. All this frantic activity
generates a lot of heat in its muscles. Much of this heat is
trapped within the body, so the shark is effectively warm-
blooded. The shortfin mako lives in the open ocean, but
it migrates to tropical waters during the winter months
to help keep its body warm.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 10½–13 ft (3.2–4 m)
• LOCATION Worldwide near
coastlines
• HABITAT Warm and tropical
coastal ocean waters, mainly
• DIET Mainly fish and squid, but
deep water sometimes sea turtles and dolphins
mph
0.8–1.7 mph (1.3–2.8 km/h) cruising speed
15 30 45
32 YEARS
M N
km/h 25 50 75 AX
. L I F E S PA
46 mph (74 km/h) in max. burst
2
M
L
TI
DAYS
82
FAS
T
ANIMAL ATHLETES
SHA EST
RK
83
84
ANIMAL ATHLETES
“The horns on FANTASTIC
the ray’s head are FLYER
fins that funnel MOBULA RAY
food towards When a school of mobula rays puts on a show it is one
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 3–21 ft (0.9 –6.5 m) length including
tail; 17 ft (5.2 m) disk width
• LOCATION Worldwide
UP TO
STATS AND FACTS
3
LEAPING HEIGHT
ft 5 10
SO
IR
M A
ER
S A U LT S I N m 1 2 3 4
3¼–9¾ ft (1–3 m)
MORE THAN
spectacle. A group of rays 6,560 ft (2,000 m)
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 7¾–9½ ft (2.4 m–2.9 m) long
A QUICK LANDING
Gentoo penguins swim so
fast they shoot straight out
of the water before coming
in to land. Speed is not only
important for catching prey
but also for avoiding predators,
such as leopard seals.
88
“Gentoo penguins can DAPPER DIVER
travel 16 miles
GENTOO PENGUIN
(26 km) from land
during their fishing Short legs, big feet, and an upright body make penguins
look comical on land. Even when they are in a hurry,
expeditions” a waddle or belly-slide is the best they can do. But in the
water they turn into graceful swimmers and gentoo
penguins are the fastest of the lot. They dive into the
ocean hundreds of times every day, launching themselves
from slippery packs of floating ice and slicing cleanly
through the waves. Once underwater, their streamlined
bodies and flipperlike wings help them reach speeds
of up to 22 mph (36 km/h) to catch fish and other
prey—faster than most other kinds of diving birds.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 30–32 in (76–81 cm)
body length
UPTO
STATS AND FACTS
24
DIVE DEPTH less than 177 ft/54 m
(when catching krill)
FAST
ft 200 400 600
DI
PENG EST
VE R
S PER HOU m 50 100 150 200
177–446 ft/54–136 m
(when catching fish)
ERW UIN
TIME SPENT
UND DI
UR
V E D AT I O
N
10 hours (at sea) 14 hours (on land)
AT
ER
86
hours 24
3 hours (in dives)
SEC
89
3
LIFE
STORIES
Life in the ocean is tough—it can
be cold, dark, and hard to find
anything to eat or anywhere to
hide. To improve its chances
of survival, an animal needs to
develop a special skill or way of
living that makes the most of
its environment and protects
it from predators.
PORTABLE NURSERY
Male jawfishes have a bigger
mouth than females because
only males brood the eggs.
There must be enough room
inside their mouth to let water
flow around the eggs and give
them enough oxygen.
92
MALE
MOUTHBROODER
JAWFISH
It looks like a tight squeeze but what better place for
baby jawfishes to hide from danger than in their dad’s
mouth? He scoops up a hundred or so of his partner’s
eggs in his mouth and cares for them as they develop.
Once hatched, he will spit them into the ocean current
and his work is done. Then he will return to using his big
mouth for shifting sand and stones. In this way he can
keep his burrow in order and make sure that it does not
cave in. He selects stones and pieces of rock that are just
right for reinforcing the sides of his burrow.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 11⁄2–20 in (4–50 cm) long
cm 20 40 60
TC H
approx. 4–20 in
7-10 (10–50 cm)
DAYS
93
COY CURLER
TIMID RINGMASTER
When a shy shark faces danger
it curls its body into a ring and
covers its eyes with its tail, so a
SHY SHARK
predator has trouble swallowing
it whole.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 19½–29 in (50–73 cm) long
14
cm 25 50 75
19½–29 in (50–73 cm)
size of adults
WEEKS
94
95
LIFE STORIES
“The biggest
sardine schools
are so large
they are visible
by satellite”
LIFE STORIES
96
SUPER-SIZED
SCHOOL
SARDINE
Some kinds of fish love to get together, and when
sardines assemble they make some of the biggest
schools of all. Each year, billions of them follow the cool
ocean currents that stream up the east coast of Africa,
making such a spectacle that the event is called the
sardine run. The total weight of moving animals might
be the heaviest migration on the planet. Sardines
are small fish of the herring family that find safety in
numbers. A big school might look like easy pickings, but
a predator will find it difficult to focus on a single moving
target among the silver, shimmering mass of fish.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 6–12 in (15–30 cm) long
• LOCATION Worldwide
10
m 20 40 60
of others, and by streaming 98 ft (30 m)
together it might take less
effort to swim, too.
MILLION
97
REPTILE ON THE ROCKS
MARINE IGUANA
Lizards usually keep their feet firmly on dry land, but here is SEAWEED SNACK
one that is not afraid of getting them wet. On the rocky shores of the The marine iguana has a blunt snout so
it can get its sharp teeth really close to the
Galápagos Islands, off South America, the marine iguana eats nothing rocks where seaweed grows. It will nibble
but seaweed. Some of this grows above the shoreline, but a large green seaweed, but prefers a red
iguana must take a dip into the ocean to really satisfy its appetite. type that mainly grows
under water.
60
5% of seaweed grazed but in the breeding season it
below sea surface
develops pink or green patches,
which may flush a deeper color
98
Iguanas use their stocky heads to butt
rivals and may even deliberately
sneeze over one another AT A GLANCE
Super sunbather
The dark skin of a marine iguana
soaks up the Sun’s rays and helps
warm it up. The color, pattern,
and size of iguanas varies from
island to island. Males are more
brightly colored than females.
• DIET Seaweed
Face is often
encrusted with
white patches
of salt sneezed
out through
the nostrils
SALT
SN E E Z ER
Seaweed is so salty the iguana needs
special glands in its head to remove
extra salt from its blood and stop it
from building up. The iguana snorts
to clear the salty snot out of its nose.
LIFE STORIES
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 2–5 in (5–13 cm)
DISTANCE TRAVELED
AN ODD FAMILY
PENT AS LARV
ft 4 8 12 ES A The home life of a clownfish
IM
E
T
m 2 4
is centered in an anemone,
9¾ ft/3 m (max. from and involves some very odd
sea anemone)
8-12 ground rules. When a leading
female dies, a male turns into
DAYS
a female to take her place.
100
LIFE STORIES
101
UPSTREAM
BEACH CRUISER
There is plenty of prey close to
shorelines, and even more in
estuaries and rivers. Bull sharks
MARAUDER
catch fish wherever they go,
but big ones may even attack
land animals that venture into
the water.
BULL SHARK
Almost all sharks need salty ocean water to survive,
but the bull shark is just as happy in fresh water. Bull
sharks regularly swim up rivers, sometimes for thousands
of miles. In some parts of the world they even cross rocky
rapids in their river journeys. Coming so far inland can
bring them close to popular bathing spots, where they
have been known to attack humans.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 7½–11½ ft (2.3–3.5 m) long
• LOCATION Near coastlines in
tropical regions
• HABITAT Warm and tropical
coastal ocean waters, and
• DIET Fish, including other sharks,
large river systems turtles, birds, dolphins, and some
land-living mammals
Short, blunt
snout
102
LIFE STORIES
103
ANGLING FOR TROUBLE
Bull sharks are perfectly at home in the
cloudy waters of river estuaries. Tides,
waves, and bad weather stir up the mud at
the mouths of rivers. Despite this, bull sharks
can still sense their prey through the murky
water. They are drawn to activity along the
river, often inspecting fishing boats or even
anglers on the shore. By cruising into the
shallows they hope to make a grab for
anything that ventures into the water.
104
“A bull shark
head-butts its
prey to disorient
it before taking
a bite”
105
LIFE STORIES
106
UNDERWATER
VALET
BLUE–STREAK
CLEANER WRASSE
It can be difficult for a fish to stay clean and healthy
on a busy ocean reef. The reef has tiny animals called
parasites that cling to fish to eat their skin and blood.
The blue-streak cleaner wrasse is nature’s answer to
this problem. It patrols a spot on the reef that other
fish know well. When one of them visits, the wrasse
greets its “customer” with a little dance, before nibbling
away to remove its parasites and giving the fish a
thorough grooming.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 5½–8½ in (14–22 cm) long
4
STATS AND FACTS
NUMBER OF PARASITES EATEN PER DAY
YEARS
M
A A
XI
MU SP 500 1,000 1,500
M LIFE
1,100–1,340
100
20–50 species of fish per day
over its body, sometimes going
right inside the gills for a really
deep clean.
107
TIDEPOOL
CRAWLER
BROWN-BANDED
BAMBOO SHARK
Being a small shark has its advantages. The slim-
bodied bamboo shark has no trouble living in shallow
pools around tropical coastlines, where it can get plenty
of food by reaching between rocks for prey. It is so at
home that it is not even bothered by the tides. Other fish
must scurry into deeper water when the tide goes out,
but the bamboo shark is happy to find a moist spot and
wait for the water to return.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 3–4 ft (0.9-1.2 m) long
• LOCATION Coastlines of northern
Indian Ocean and western Pacific,
• HABITAT Coral reefs and
tidal pools
including India, Philippines, Japan,
and Australia
OUT OF WA
ft 100 200 300 ME TE
TI R
X.
MA
12
m 25 50 75 100
0–278 ft (0–85 m)
HOURS
108
BANDED BABY
LIFE STORIES
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE Up to 21⁄2 in (6.5 cm) long
m 300 600
1,575 ft/480 m (max.)
10,000
110
“Krill can flash
like little
headlights to
confuse predators”
FEEDING SWARM
LIFE STORIES
112
MYSTERIOUS
GIANT
MEGAMOUTH SHARK
The ocean is big enough to hide its secrets for a long
time, even something as big as the megamouth shark.
This deep-sea giant wasn’t discovered until 1976, when
one was caught off Hawaii, and hasn’t been seen much
since. It feeds on swimming shrimplike animals called
krill by gulping in seawater and filtering out the tiny
prey using its gills.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 13–18 ft (4–5.5 m) long
• LOCATION Widespread in the
subtropics and tropics; recorded
• HABITAT Mainly open ocean
in warm regions, but also seen
from California, Brazil, Africa, Japan,
SE Asia, Australia, and Hawaii
near the shore
Fifty rows of
small teeth
63
169 (on top of head) 8 (beneath head)
swimming animals, such as
krill, are then trapped by
bristlelike rakers on the gills.
113
INSIDE-OUT TRICKSTER
SEA CUCUMBER
An animal that looks like a juicy sausage is sure to attract
the attentions of a predator, but a sea cucumber may not be
Water pressure
such a tasty feast. This flabby-bodied, slow-moving animal inflates tube feet
lives on the sea floor and seems quite helpless. Some types
of sea cucumbers have bright colors as a warning that they
contain poisons in their flesh. If that doesn’t work, they resort
to drastic measures: they squirt out their innards in a sticky
mess—usually enough to send the hungriest prowler on its way.
T UBE F E ET
A sea cucumber has suckerlike tube feet that
each extend by the pressure of water inside
AT A GLANCE them until the sucker sticks to a surface. When
the pressure drops, the foot lifts. Together the
tube feet haul the animal forwards.
“Sea cucumbers
regrow their
• SIZE 4 in–11 ft (0.1–3.3 m) long
body organs
• HABITAT On the seabed, from deep sea to
in two weeks”
shallow coastlines
• LOCATION Worldwide
10
MA
YEARS
114
Bristly tips of feeding
tentacles move around
to trap food particles in
surrounding seawater
TEN
TACLE EXTENSION
The bristly tentacles around the mouth
of a sea cucumber are extra-long tube feet
(see left). They are used like sticky fingers
to trap any food particles floating by
and feed them into the body.
INNARDS OUT
It is difficult to tell if a sea cucumber is startled
until it suddenly does its nasty inside-out trick.
This is a sea cucumber’s secret weapon to
defend itself. By using muscles to squeeze its
body wall, the sea cucumber’s gut shoots
straight out of its bottom. Sometimes this is
mixed with special tacky threads too—as seen
here—and they will stick to the face of any
predatory fish that comes too close. Amazingly,
sea cucumbers have no trouble completely
rebuilding their insides after this has happened.
when alarmed
Colorful oddity
The sea apple is an especially brightly colored
species of sea cucumber but it is not as delicious
as its fruity name suggests—it releases a foul
soapy substance when alarmed. 115
CRAB KILLER
STARRY SMOOTH-HOUND AT A GLANCE
Strong jaws are more important than cutting teeth when you spend
your life munching on crabs. The starry smooth-hound, named for the
small, white, star-shaped markings on its body, eats little else and has
done away with biting blades altogether. Instead, its mouth has rows
of tiny overlapping teeth that act as a rough grinding surface, perfect
for taking a firm hold on a crab’s shell. Then it is up to the powerful
jaw muscles to crunch through to the meat. • SIZE 4½–5 ft (1.4–1.5 m)
DIET
m 100
56% swimming
200 300
1,150 ft (350 m)
34% other
400 where it is most
likely to find its
favorite prey: crabs
and lobsters.
“Smooth-
crabs crustaceans 2% fish
hounds feed in
7% hermit crabs 1% sea
cucumbers
groups – just
Starry shark
The tiny white stars that pepper
like a pack
the back of a starry smooth-hound
are clear in some individuals, but
indistinct or even missing in others. of dogs!”
Second dorsal fin
slightly smaller
than first dorsal fin
Long tail
with notch
Sting in the fin
The spiny dogfish gets its name White spots
from the short spines in front along the back
of its dorsal fins. They are mildly
venomous, but the dogfish has
to arch its back to stab attackers.
AT A GLANCE
M
U
REC AG
• SIZE 2¼–5¼ ft (0.7–1.6 m) long 12 years (for females) ORDED
22
cm 40 80 120 160
•
MA
DIET Fish, squid, octopuses, crabs, and jellyfish 8–12 in/20–30 cm (at birth)
MONTHS
117
DEVOTED DAD
SEAHORSE
Gills extract oxygen
Seahorse family life is unusual because the father is the one who from surrounding
seawater
gives birth. Like all animals, the female supplies the eggs but, after
a long courtship during which the pair dance together in the water,
she lays them in a pouch in his belly. Once he has fertilized
them, the eggs become embedded in the protective
spongy lining of his pouch until they hatch weeks later.
Then the male seahorse releases the babies into the ocean.
Swim bladder is
filled with gas and
keeps the seahorse
buoyant in the water
Jaws are fixed
into a rigid tube
so the seahorse
cannot chew
Digested food is
absorbed into
the bloodstream
from the intestine
SLY SIPPER
A seahorse feeds by sucking
in animals called copepods.
It eats so delicately that it hardly
disturbs the water—so it can get
close to its tiny blind prey without
them sensing any movement.
AT A GLANCE
SIZE 11⁄4–14 in (3–35 cm) long
•
HABITAT Shallow coastal ocean waters
•
LOCATION Worldwide
•
DIET Tiny swimming animals, such as copepods
• and plankton
Dorsal fin flutters
to propel the
seahorse forward
Armor plating
STATS AND FACTS Seahorses are named for their upright
LENGTH posture and the shape of their head. They
are very slow swimmers, but their entire
in 1 1 3 There are more
⁄4 ⁄2 ⁄4 1
than 50 species of body is encased in a casing of bony plates,
cm 1 2 3
seahorses. The largest which gives some protection
1
/16 –12/16 in/ 0.2–2 cm ones usually live from predators.
(young at birth) longer, have longer
DURATION OF PREGNANCY pregnancies, and
produce more
9–45 days
babies per brood.
Long tail is
10 20 30 40 50 prehensile,
days
meaning it can
be used to
AGE grip objects
3–12 months (age
breeding starts)
PER BR
U NG O OD
YO
months 3 6 9 12 15
UP TO
2,000
LIFE STORIES
119
SPOTTED SUCKER
Zebra sharks spend their time
cruising slowly around coral
reefs. They catch their prey by
sucking animals that live on the
ocean floor out of the sand and
into their mouth.
LIFE STORIES
120
COSTUME
CHANGER
ZEBRA SHARK
The first scientists to describe this shark had only
a zebra-striped youngster to go on, which is how the
species got its name. As the shark grows bigger, it changes
its skin pattern and the stripes are replaced with
leopardlike spots. Newborn zebra sharks are especially
striking, with a distinct black body and thin white bands.
It is possible that this protects them from danger because
predators think they are banded sea snakes, which are
highly venomous. If true, this may be the only case where
a shark mimics the appearance of another kind of animal.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 4¾–7¾ ft (1.45–2.35 m) long
30
m 20 40 60 80
0–203 ft (0–62 m)
ft
YEARS
121
DEMON
STINGER
SPINY DEVILFISH
The spiny devilfish is almost impossible to spot on
a brightly colored bed of a tropical reef. Sometimes
it is even half buried in the sand. The devilfish crawls
along the ocean floor using its fins like legs. Then
it waits very still for prey to come close before lunging
with its enormous mouth. It has little to fear: with
venomous spines sticking up from its back, it will give
a nasty shock to any shark unwise enough to make a
grab. These dangerous spines have even been known
to kill a human.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 7–10 in (18–25 cm)
OUS SPI
in 2 4 6 8 OM N ES
EN
V
cm 5 10 15 20 25
approx. 6–9 in (15–22 cm) UP TO
122
17
STINGING AMBUSH
The devilfish’s skin is covered
in wrinkles and warts to help it
blend in with the surrounding
coral and seaweed. It is a slow
swimmer and cannot catch a
meal simply by chasing it, so it
needs to take prey by surprise.
LIFE STORIES
123
“ The frilled
shark’s ancestry
dates back to
150 million
years ago”
LIFE STORIES
124
LIVING FOSSIL
FRILLED SHARK
Looking more like a mythical sea snake than a shark,
this deep-sea monster belongs to a group of sharks whose
beginnings stretch far back to the time of the dinosaurs.
The frilled shark is strange in many ways. Its spine is
incomplete, so its back is supported by a rubbery rod, and
it has six gill slits, whereas most sharks have five. Its head
looks as though it should belong to a lizard, and inside its
wide jaws there are hundreds of three-pronged needle-
sharp teeth that can bite slippery squid.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 4¼–6½ ft (1.3–2 m) long
• LOCATION Worldwide
0 5 10 15
2–12
3
connect underneath its head to cm 20 40 60 80
form a collar. This strange shark 16–23½ in (40–60 cm)
BITING BEAK
The beak is the only hard part of an
octopus’s body. It lies in the center
of the body and is strong enough
to crunch up most prey, including
tough-shelled crabs and lobsters.
AT A GLANCE
Mantle, or fleshy
cloak, contains
Head contains vital organs
big brain
Eight long
arms surround
mouth at base
0 200,000 400,000
SIZE OF EGG
2 mm
. BROODING
AX P
M
ER
mm 1 2 3 4 S EN
IOD
S ING SUC KERS
Each arm has two rows of cuplike suckers
that can grip objects or prey. They are very
65
DAYS sensitive to touch and taste and can
sense if something is worth eating.
LIFE STORIES
127
LIFE STORIES
128
STRANDING
SURVIVOR
BLIND SHARK
This shark shuns the open ocean and instead spends
its life right beside the warm Australian coastline. It is
rarely seen during the day because it hides in caves
and under rocky ledges. At night it emerges to hunt for
small animals on the coral reef. Despite its name, it has
reasonably good vision, but if it finds itself exposed to
danger, it can pull its vulnerable eyeballs inward and
close them with thick eyelids. It can also survive for
many hours out of water if it is stranded among rocks
when the tide is low.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 3¼–4 ft (1–1.2 m) long
18
m 50 100 150
of its head to sense small 0–73 m/0–240 ft (usual)
130
BURROW
BOLTER
GARDEN EEL
In the shallows of the ocean a colony of eels pokes out
from a patch of sand, looking more like a sprouting reedy
garden than a group of fish. They snap at tiny animals
floating by in the water, but keep a firm hold on their
burrows. If any danger threatens they can dart straight
back into the sand, tail first. A long body allows garden
eels to get almost everything they need within reach
of their burrows, so they rarely venture out for a swim.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 12–47 in (30–121 cm) long
cm 20 40 60 80
8–32 in/20–80 cm (distance
eel emerges from burrow)
DIET
19% tiny soft–bodied animals
ON THE LOOKOUT C
G E ST O LO
G NY
Dozens of garden eels face into BI
66% tiny shrimplike animals
a stream of plankton carried
15% eggs and larvae
on the ocean current. If a pair
of eyes spots danger, an eel
retreats into the burrow, and
1,000
all the others do the same.
131
REEF ROVER
Named for the markings on
its dorsal fins and tail, the
whitetip reef shark is one of
the main predators of tropical
reefs, but it is often docile
toward humans.
LIFE STORIES
132
CAVE CRUISER
WHITETIP
REEF SHARK
There are plenty of places to hide on a rocky coral reef,
but some hungry sharks will do their best to search all
the crevices. The whitetip reef shark has especially tough
skin and a slender body for reaching deep between rocks.
Ridges over its eyes, giving it a permanently angry look,
provide extra protection. This fish prowls around at night,
exploring caves in search of prey, specializing in hunting
animals that live on the bottom.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 5¼–6½ ft (1.6–2 m)
• LOCATION Widespread in the
tropics and subtropics
• HABITAT Clear coastal waters
around coral reefs, often resting
• DIET Bottom-living animals,
in caves including fish, octopuses, crabs,
and lobsters
miles ½ 1 1½ 2
km 1 2 3 4
0.25–1.8 miles (0.3–3 km) in 1 year
133
SHELLFISH
FLOATING FEAST
It is tough dealing with a crab
lunch when you are lying on
your back in the water. But sea
SMASHER
otters are nicely buoyant—and
can even wrap themselves in
seaweed to stop themselves
from floating off too far.
SEA OTTER
It can be tricky to break the hard shell of a mussel or
a crab. For a hungry sea otter, a small rock is the perfect
tool for smashing through to reach the meat. When it finds
a shellfish, a sea otter lies on its back with its dinner on
its belly. Then, grasping the rock in its front paws, it
bangs hard until the shell cracks. This works so well that
some otters even carry a rock around with them under a
special flap of skin in their armpit. A life spent fishing for
seafood is a cold one and the sea otter keeps warm with
a thick coat—the densest coat of any mammal.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE Head and body 3¼–4 ft (1–1.2 m)
long; tail 10–14½ in (25–37 cm) long
HOURS
Y
ft 100 200
DA
P
N
R
E
m 30 60 90 TF PE
177 ft/54 m
(for females)
270 ft/82 m
(for males)
O R AG I NG
otters even have
NO. OF BLOWS
6–88 (to open a mussel)
VE
ST
HAT USE TOO
L
a favorite
S
rock”
DI
0 25 50 75 100
UP TO
21
36 (average)
PERCENT
134
LIFE STORIES
135
WOLF OF
THE SEA
BLUE SHARK
When sharks come together and work as a pack they
can make a terrifying hunting team. Blue sharks live in
the open ocean. To catch their favorite prey—schools
of fish and squid—they use the same tactics as a wolf.
Groups of blue sharks swim around a school so that the
prey bunch closer together. They then sweep in to grab
a mouthful. Blue sharks prefer lower temperatures than
other reef sharks, but are found in oceans around the
world. When they reach the tropics, they swim deeper
to stay in cooler water.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 7¼–12 ft (2.2–3.8 m) long
• LOCATION Worldwide except
in the coldest polar waters; one of
• HABITAT Mainly in the open
ocean, but occasionally coming
the most widespread of all sharks
Narrow
Long, conical snout
lobes on tail
LIFE STORIES
137
SUPER CLUTCH
AT A GLANCE
LOGGERHEAD TURTLE
Turtles live in fresh and salty waters—but marine turtles grow • SIZE 3–91⁄4 ft (0.9–2.8 m) long
much bigger than their cousins on land. Instead of legs they have • HABITAT Tropical and warm ocean waters
huge, paddlelike flippers that are ideal for swimming, so they spend • LOCATION Atlantic, Indian,
and Pacific Oceans,
most of their lives in the ocean. All turtles produce shelled eggs, so Mediterranean Sea
Ovaries can
produce as many as
200 eggs at a time
RA
CE TO THE SEA
Loggerhead turtles bury their
eggs on sandy beaches, well
out of reach of the tide. When
they hatch, the babies have
to dig their way out—before Lower shell
waddling as fast as they can (plastron) is
to the ocean. Two or three flatter and has
claws on each fewer plates
back flipper
Back flippers are
used for swimming
and digging nests
138
Diving turtles can hold Loggerhead gets Glands near the eyes
air in their lungs for its name from its remove excess salt Hard, horny beak has
4–5 minutes, or several large, wide skull a sharp cutting edge—
hours if resting turtles do not have teeth
Neck is covered in thick
scales to protect turtle
from predators
BE AKY B I T E
The loggerhead turtle is not fussy
over its food and uses its sharp
beak to tackle anything from soft
jellyfish to hard-shelled lobsters.
139
“Pregnant lemon
sharks return to
the same lagoon
to give birth every
two years”
140
HOMING
SHARK
LEMON SHARK
The lemon shark finds safety and comfort in a tropical
lagoon. Dozens of pregnant lemon sharks gather to
give birth at the Bimini Lagoon in the Bahamas, having
returned to where they themselves were born years
before. The babies have been nourished in the bodies
of their mothers and after they are born they will stay
in the warm shallows of the lagoon, using it as a nursery.
Only when they are old enough will they join the
grown-ups in deeper coastal waters.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 8¼–9¾ ft (2.5–3 m) long
• LOCATION Warm and tropical
coastlines of America, the
• HABITAT Shallow ocean waters,
including coral reefs, mangrove
Caribbean, and western Africa
Yellowish body
with no markings
0 5 10 15 20
SER
142
143
ON THE OCEAN FLOOR
The common tope prefers to
hunt close to the bottom of
its habitat. Pregnant females
move to the shallower waters
of estuaries and coastal bays
to give birth.
LIFE STORIES
144
SHARK ON
THE MOVE
COMMON
TOPE SHARK
You will probably find a tope shark in any ocean you
care to visit: they are among the most wide ranging of
all sharks and are happy in coastal shallows as well as
the open ocean. They prefer low temperatures and move
away from warm waters in hot summers—either toward
the icy poles or down to cooler depths. They are strong
swimmers and can cover great distances in a day. Some
individuals can clock up journeys of thousands of miles
during one of their migrations.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 4½–6½ ft (1.35–2 m) long
km
(distance traveled per day)
500
1,000
1,000
2,000
1,500
3,000
in winter”
. L I F E S PA
AX N ft 500 1,000 1,500
M
60
m 200 400 600
0–1,800 ft (0–550 m)
YEARS
145
LIFE STORIES
OCEAN SHUT-EYE
Short underwater naps keep a
walrus going at sea. The tusks
are canine teeth and are used for
showing off to other walruses
or for cutting air holes in ice.
146
TUSKY DOZER
“Walruses WALRUS
can take The walrus has one of the strangest sleep patterns of
any animal. In the frozen Arctic, on the top of the world,
five–minute walruses live in icy water and can spend more than a
week at a time on fishing expeditions. It means they
naps when have to doze whenever they get a chance, hanging
off ice floes with their tusks or even when they are
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 9¾–12 ft (3–3.6 m) long
in 20 40
MA
EP
LE
X.
TI
ME TS
WITHOU cm 30 60 90 120
19½ in/50 cm 39 in/100 cm
(average) (maximum)
BODY WEIGHT 2,300–3,440 lb
(1,040–1,560 kg)
. TIME ASL
AX EE lb 2,000 3,000 4,000
M
P
19
kg 1,000 1,500 2,000
HOURS
147
BANDS FOR DANGER
SEAFARING
The striking banded pattern
of a sea snake warns predators
to keep away. Although many
SERPENT
species are not aggressive, they
all have strong venom, and
some could kill a human.
SEA SNAKE
Lots of the animals in the ocean look like snakes, but
real sea snakes are venomous reptiles that breathe air. This
usually keeps them near the surface, although they can
close their nostrils to dive deeper. They have a paddlelike
tail to help them swim and most give birth to live young
underwater—unlike other sea reptiles, they do not have to
go to land to lay eggs. This makes them the only reptiles
that spend their entire lives at sea.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 2½–5 ft (0.75–1.5 m); a few
species may grow bigger
ft 150 300 30
M
E
IZ
XI
A
MU S
m 40 80 120 R
M LITTE
330 ft/100 m (maximum)
FANG LENGTH
1
⁄8 1
⁄4 NDER WAT
in EU ER
IM
T
2
X.
mm 2 4 6 8
MA
1
⁄32–1⁄8 in (0.6–4 mm)
HOURS
148
“One drop of
sea snake venom
is enough to kill
three humans”
LIFE STORIES
149
150
MOBILE
NURSERY
BARREL SHRIMP
Here is a shrimp with a taste for flesh and a very
gruesome family life. Most animal mothers in the
open ocean scatter their eggs and leave it to chance
whether their babies survive. But the mother barrel
shrimp turns her prey into a stroller for her brood.
First she catches a plump little jelly called a salp. She
chomps away at its innards until the only thing left is
its barrel-shaped skin. Then she lays her eggs inside
this empty barrel and pushes it around wherever she
goes until they hatch.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 3⁄16–1½ in (5–42 mm)
• LOCATION Worldwide
600
around the ocean waters by 1 in/2.4 cm (average)
151
“Young catsharks
use their rough
skin to tear
food apart”
152
CAT-EYED
NIGHT PROWLER
SMALL SPOTTED
CATSHARK
Hunting in the dark is no problem for this little shark.
Its sensitive eyes help it prowl the seas of Europe, where
it snaps at small animals that live close to the sandy and
muddy bottoms of coastal waters. It is one of the most
abundant sharks in European waters and eats whatever
its jaws can tackle—including fish, crabs, and squid.
The small spotted catshark is active mostly at night and
spends the day resting motionless under craggy rocks
or elsewhere on the sea floor.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 31–39 in (80–100 cm)
long • LOCATION Northeast Atlantic
Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
12
10% other
is patterned with spots or other invertebrates
markings. They are named for
their oval catlike eyes that are
positioned high on their head.
YEARS
153
“They are too
slow to catch
swimming seals, so
they take sleeping
ones instead”
LIFE STORIES
154
SLOW MOVER
GREENLAND SHARK
Life slows down in the ice-cold waters of the Arctic,
and the Greenland shark is probably the slowest giant
fish in the ocean. It can manage only half the cruising
speed of a seal and it takes a full seven seconds just
to sweep its tail from one side to the other. As a result,
the Greenland shark cannot chase down its prey. Instead,
it relies on creeping up on its victims and taking them
by surprise. Amazingly, this is good enough to grab an
unsuspecting seal—or even a seabird.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 81⁄4–24 ft (2.5–7.3 m)
• LOCATION Arctic and North
Atlantic Oceans
• HABITAT Cold coastal ocean
waters, moving to greater depths
• DIET Fish (including other sharks),
in warmer months seals, squid, crabs, jellyfish, and
small dolphins
km/h 2 4
1.85 mph (3 km/h)
finds in shallow waters. Some
sharks have even been found 36°F typical speed of seal
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 1–4¼ ft (0.3–1.3 m) long,
depending on the species
oz 4 8
The crumbled coral
eaten by parrotfish
g 100 200 300 contains nutritious
algae, but the hard
9¾ oz/275 g
rock passes through
(per day)
their bodies.
BITES OF CORAL PER MINUTE
ILD CO CO O
BU N
TO
E
TI M
0 10 20 30 40
1–35 (less for big fish,
45–60
more for smaller fish)
MIN
156
LIFE STORIES
SLIMY SCREEN
A cocoon made from slime
hides a parrotfish from
predators. It also protects a
sleeping fish from ocean bugs,
such as fish lice, that could
infect its body at night.
157
HOME LOVER
BLACK-MARKED SHARK
The bold, black markings on
the tip of its tail and fins make
this shark one of the most
BLACKTIP
distinctive reef sharks. Its dorsal
fin is often seen sticking up out
of the water.
REEF SHARK
A tropical coral reef is so packed with life that a
hungry shark does not have to go far in its search for
a meal. The blacktip reef shark is a common predator
on the reefs of tropical Asia and Australasia—but it sticks
to hunting on a patch that is sometimes only twice the
area of a soccer field. It can stay near its favorite reef for
years on end. Only pregnant females move away from
the reef when they are about to give birth.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 3¼–6½ ft (1–2 m) long
m 20 40 60 80
0–9¾ ft/0–3 m (young)
158
LIFE STORIES
159
LAGOON RAIDERS
In warm lagoons, hungry blacktip reef
sharks are drawn to dense schools of fish.
Typically, only young sharks are found in
such shallow waters but here adult sharks
are working together to herd the schools.
The sharks push the schools ever closer
to the shoreline where the fish bunch into
tighter groups. When they think the prey
is crowded enough for a good mouthful,
the sharks lunge in for a bite.
160
“Blacktip reef sharks
often swim
in water that is
only 1 ft (30 cm)
deep”
161
4
SUPERNATURAL
SENSES
Competition is fierce in the
ocean, so it helps if you have a little
extra something that gives you an
advantage over another species.
Whether it is extraordinary
eyesight, a nose for trouble, or
downright sneaky behavior, the
tactics some marine animals
deploy are truly amazing.
WIDE-EYED SENSATION
HAMMERHEAD
It is hard to imagine what the world looks like when you have as wide a view Large olfactory
sac is excellent at
of it as a hammerhead shark. However, excellent vision is only one part of the picking up smells
hammerhead’s story. Its extraordinary head is also packed with sensors and
sweeping it from side to side helps the shark find prey. It may even
be useful in helping the shark stay buoyant while swimming.
AT A GLANCE
km 500 1,000 1,500 a metal detector so that the front edge of its
M
164
Multipurpose hammer A HEAD FOR SENSE
The shape of a hammerhead may All sharks have sensors in their head, but the
help it swim. Hammerheads are hammerhead has more than most. Each blade of
less buoyant than other sharks, but the hammer contains a large organ for smelling
the hammer helps provide lift, just prey, and the skin is dotted with jelly-filled
like an aircraft wing, in the water. pores for detecting movement.
and feelers for probing its surroundings. When the an extension of its
cm 10 20 30 40
snout. The skin is
sawshark senses a small fish or crab on the muddy covered with the 4¾–14 in (12–35 cm)
ocean floor, it slashes from side to side until the same kinds of sensory
pores that are found LENGTH OF FEELERS
teeth on its beak cripple the prey. on the snouts of
in
other types of sharks. 2 4 6
cm 5 10 15 20
2¼ –6¼ in (6–16 cm)
AT A GLANCE
SWIMMING DEPTH 3,280 ft/1,000 m (max.
for Bahamas sawshark)
. TEETH O
AX N ft 1,000 2,000 3,000
M
SA
W
m 300 600 900 1,200
80
up to 130 ft/40 m (usual)
168
BRAINIEST MOLLUSK
BROADCLUB CUTTLEFISH
Large eyes
The cuttlefish is a distant relation of snails and slugs, have unusual
W-shaped
but it may have best brainpower of any animal without pupil
a backbone. Its closest cousins are the squid and
octopus and, like them, it has arms for Suckers on arms
and tentacles for
grabbing food, and eyes that work as grasping prey
well as our own. The cuttlefish’s brain
is especially big—possibly to help
it control color changes
in its skin that signal
its fear, excitement,
or temper.
Flapping “skirt”
along body works
like a fin to help
the cuttlefish swim
Ocean chameleon
The cuttlefish’s body contains a hard,
air-packed cuttlebone for support
AT A GLANCE
and buoyancy. Its skin is dotted with
tiny sacs of pigment that expand to
make its surface change color.
sq in 50,000 100,000
133,000 per sq in
(20,000 per sq cm)
150,000 5 SUPERNATURAL SENSES
N
PI
•
KI
EN S
sq cm 10,000 20,000 30,000 T TYPES IN
• HABITAT Ocean waters near coastlines,
swimming mainly near the bottom over rocks
PROPORTION OF BRAIN USED FOR LEARNING or sand, or among seaweed
24% (cuttlefish)
L I F E S PA N
• LOCATION Worldwide
13% (octopus)
• DIET A wide range of invertebrates and fish
18-24
MONTHS
169
SUPERNATURAL SENSES
E S T
BIGG F
I N O
BRA MAL
Y A N I
AN
170
BRAINY
COLOSSUS
SPERM WHALE
The sperm whale is the world’s largest predator. Its
jaw is longer than a car and each tooth is bigger than
an ice cream cone. Sperm whales dive very deep in the
ocean to prey on giant squid. Like all hunters, a sperm
whale needs to be clever to catch its prey. Not even the
blue whale—the biggest animal of all—has a larger brain.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 36–66 ft (11–20 m) long;
mature males can be twice as • LOCATION Worldwide, in deep
ocean waters, except those
long as females covered by ice
tons 20 40 60
L I F E S PA N tonnes 25 50 75
63 tons (57 tonnes)
90
1,300 ft/400 m
This helps the sperm whale (usual)
make clicking noises, which it
uses for communication as well MIN
as for locating prey.
171
HUNTER IN THE DARK
TIGER SHARK AT A GLANCE
Few animals can match the tiger shark’s appetite. Turtles, birds,
other sharks, and even human beings, injured whales, and old tin cans
all get gobbled down if it gets the chance. This fierce predator prowls
around shorelines at night, often venturing into estuaries and harbors
in search of food. It is usually alone and is perfectly at home hunting
in dark and murky waters. • SIZE 9 3⁄4–20 ft (3–6 m)
Upper lobe of
tail fin is bigger
than lower lobe
Guzzle guts
The tiger shark has a reputation of eating
anything it comes across. This strategy
is useful when there is not much food
around, but it does mean that it Anal fin keeps
sometimes swallows objects that it fish stable while
cannot digest. Like most sharks, it has swimming
a short gut, so bones and other hard Pelvic fins help fish
materials have to stay in the stomach move up and down
much longer or be vomited back up. and stop quickly
172
SEEING IN THE DARK LEAS
EATE SSY T FU
The tiger shark has a sensitive layer
at the back of its eyes that detects
R
even the faintest amount of light.
This enables it snatch prey at night,
even if the water is very cloudy.
CU
TT I E NT
NG -
EDGE EQ U I PM
The tiger shark has especially
large teeth. They curve slightly
backward and each one
has a sharp, serrated edge—like
that of a saw—for cutting
White belly contrasts through skin and flesh.
with gray upper body
mph
1¾–3¾ mph (3–6 km/h)
bursts when chasing prey
1 2 3 4 5
ZE
M
A
SI
XI A
SP
35
E LITTER
MU km/h 2 4 6 8
M LIFE
1¼–1¾ mph (2–3 km/h)
cruising speed when hunting
Tiger sharks are strong SIZE 10¾–19¾ ft (3.25–6 m)
AG
ft 5 10 15 20 25
slowly, they are capable A
of sudden bursts of m 2 4 6 8 Pectoral fins are
speed to catch prey. 1¾–3 ft (0.5–0.9 m) size of pups at birth used to provide lift,
like a bird’s wing 173
“Tiger sharks eat
more humans
than great
white sharks”
174
SAFETY FIRST
Many sharks rely on vision for hunting,
so they need to protect their eyes when
attacking prey—even a little fish can inflict
a painful slap. At the moment this tiger shark
attacks, it automatically blinks a protective
membrane over its eyes to prevent the
flailing prey from causing damage. Many
other species of sharks lack this membrane.
Instead, they roll their eyes backward in their
sockets when they lunge for their prey.
EYE BANDS
The bands across a mantis
shrimp’s eye are actually rows
of sensors. Different types of
sensors are able to detect
movement and different
colors—as well as some kinds
of light that are invisible to us.
SUPERNATURAL SENSES
176
“The two eyes EXTRAORDINARY
of the mantis
EYES
shrimp move MANTIS SHRIMP
and work
independently Mantis shrimp need good eyesight. They smash or
spear their prey with lightning-fast claws so they have
of one another”
to be a good judge of distance to get a direct hit and
make a kill. Things could easily become confusing in the
bright and shimmering world of a tropical reef filled with
color and shining surfaces. Some creatures even have
transparent shells, making them more difficult to spot.
But the mantis shrimp’s eyes have so many different
kinds of sensors to cope with these challenges that it
can see everything clearly.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE Up to 14 in (35 cm) long, depending
on the species
90
cm 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
DEGREES
177
SNEAKY KILLER
BROADNOSE “This shark
SEVENGILL SHARK pokes its head
In coastal ocean waters close to where muddy rivers out of the water
run into the sea, conditions can get very murky. This
makes it difficult for many ocean-going predators to
hunt their prey—but not this one. The broadnose sevengill
to find prey near
shark loves this habitat: it is just right for sneaking up on
prey without being seen. This shark hunts large prey,
the surface”
including dolphins and other sharks. It does not have the
stamina for long chases, so it gets as close to its victim as
it can before attacking from behind with a quick burst of
speed. Sometimes several sharks work together during
a hunt to take their prey by surprise.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 7¼–9¾ ft (2.2–3 m) long
SWIMMING DEPTH
M LIFESP
ft 500 1,000 1,500 MU AN
XI
A
.M
50
E ST
YEARS
178
SUPERNATURAL SENSES
BLENDING IN
The gray upper body of the
broadnose sevengill shark
helps it blend into the cloudy
waters of its favorite hunting
grounds. Unlike most other
sharks, which have five gill
slits, this shark has seven.
179
SHOCK TACTICS
TORPEDO RAY
The torpedo ray looks like a harmless flatfish but it has
a stunning secret weapon. Its fleshy body is packed with
a pair of fat electrical organs that can fire a shock through
the surrounding seawater. The ray uses its organs to
electrocute its fishy prey—but, if provoked, it is more
than willing to use them when danger threatens.
AT A GLANCE Kidney-shaped
electrical organ
ELECTROCUTING ENEMIES
If something grabs its tail, the torpedo ray
arches its back and curls its white belly
outward toward its attacker. The shock
will then hit the attacker in the face.
Simply stunning
The electric organs of the torpedo ray are under
the direct control of the ray’s brain. When the ray
spots an unsuspecting fish, it gently hovers over it
Curling its body enables before zapping it with an electric shock. As it delivers
the ray to produce an
the shock, the ray wraps itself around its victim.
outward rather than
The stunned fish is then swallowed whole.
a downward shock
180
Electrical organ contains WATER WINGS
more than 500 jelly-filled
“batteries” that can Like all rays, the torpedo ray has
deliver an electric shock massive pectoral fins that are used
into the water like wings to “fly” under water.
Strong muscles flap the fins to
help propel the ray forward.
S
E
sec 2 4 6 8 10
4.5–7 sec duration
of entire shock
414
PER SHOCK
SUPERNATURAL SENSES
182
DEADLY
SCHOOL
SANDTIGER
SHARK
Sharks gather whenever there is the prospect of food,
but sandtiger sharks often work together to make the
most of a feeding opportunity. A number of sandtigers
swim around a school of fish until it is surrounded. Then
they move in closer so that the prey bunches together.
By the time the sharks dive in for a kill, they are sure to
grab a good mouthful of fish. They also snack on other
sharks and rays that come too close.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 9–10½ ft (2.75–3.2 m) long
• LOCATION Near coastlines
around the world, except for
• HABITAT Warm and tropical
coastal ocean waters, including
the eastern Pacific Ocean
LIFESPAN
. SCHOOL S
AX I Z
M
E
years 5 10 15 20
80
16 years (max. recorded)
183
“Although they
look fierce,
sandtigers prefer
to stay away
from humans”
184
SCARY SMILER
The sandtiger shark has one of the toothiest
grins of any shark and a distinctly menacing
look. Its teeth project forward and the shark
swims with its mouth slightly open. Some
sandtiger sharks have tiny animals called
hydroids growing on their teeth. This probably
happens when they have gone for a long
period of time without feeding. Some
scientists think that female sandtigers stop
hunting while they are pregnant.
WIRED FOR
SOUND
SILKY SHARK
It can be difficult to find a decent meal in the wide
expanse of the open ocean. However, silky sharks can
pick up low-pitched sounds and are especially good
at detecting rumbles that are deeper than a bass drum.
In the ocean these may signal that a feeding frenzy is
nearby: rumbling sounds are made when lots of sharks
gather at a kill and frantically chase and snap at their
prey. Many sharks sense blood in the water—but silky
sharks are also drawn to the sounds of other sharks
eating, so they can get a share of the meal.
AT A GLANCE
• SIZE 7½–11 ft (2.3–3.3 m) long
• LOCATION Worldwide in
tropical oceans
• HABITAT Warm waters, mainly
of the open ocean, often near
• DIET Fish and squid
islands; younger sharks occur
in more coastal waters
Long, rounded
snout
10-20
Hz
186
SUPERNATURAL SENSES
SMOOTH SWIMMER
Silky sharks get their name
from their smooth skin. The
prickles that make the skin of
other sharks so rough are tinier
and more closely packed on
the skin of a silky shark.
187
5
EXPLORING
THE DEEP
The ocean is the last great
unexplored part of our planet.
We have little idea of what lies
beneath the waves, let alone how
many species there are or how
they live. The only way to find out
is to go down there and get up
close—even if some of the animals
that live there are really scary.
VERTICAL MIGRATION
Tiny floating animals that live
as part of the plankton gather
OCEAN DEPTHS at different depths in the water.
Many of them avoid bright light,
coming to the surface at night
The Earth’s continents are rimmed by stretches of rocky shelf but then then sinking deeper during the
plunge straight down into the deep sea. As the water gets deeper, it gets day. Predators who feed on
darker and the pressure increases. At the surface, it is icy near the poles and these animals, such as the giant
filter-feeding basking shark,
warmer near the equator, but deeper down it is always cold. Many ocean have to move up and down
animals live at certain depths, but some swim from zone to zone. in the water as they follow
their food.
SUNLIG
HT ZO
0–655 NE
ft (0–2
00 m)
TWILIG
HT ZO
655–3 N
Caribbean reef (200–1
,300 ft E
sharks cruise ,000 m
)
over eelgrass Frilled sharks prey on
squid in the gloom of
the twilight zone
MIDN
IGHT Z
3,300– ON
13,100 E
(1,000 ft
–4,000
m)
THE ABYSS
Many animals that live in the
deepest parts of the ocean eat
bits of dead animals sinking
down from above, but the black
swallower catches live prey.
It slowly gulps its victim down
whole, coiling it tightly inside its
sacklike stomach. It can survive Animals living here have
without another meal for a long time. A black swallower’s expandable flabby bodies and flexible
stomach can hold prey twice skeletons to cope with the
as long as the fish itself crushing water pressure
RED
in the water provide a feast for the
BLUE
GREEN
VIOLET
ocean’s vegetarians. To make food, Ocean trenches are the deepest parts
YELLOW
ORANGE
algae need sunlight, which is made of the ocean—very little life exists here,
but some trenches have been visited
up of different colors. Most algae
100 ft by humans in submersibles
30 m
prefer the energy of red light, but this
cannot reach very far, so algae and
200 ft almost all other ocean life live near
60 m the surface. Blue light can penetrate
farther, giving the ocean its color,
300 ft but no light reaches deeper than
90 m 3,300 ft (1,000 m).
191
LIVING IN THE
UNDERWATER GARDEN
A tropical reef can be as vibrant
and colorful as any garden.
The sea floor is carpeted with
COMMUNITY
an astonishing variety of corals,
seaweeds, and sponges. Teeming
with life, coral reefs are called
rain forests of the sea.
CORAL REEF
Coral reefs are richer with life than anywhere else
in the ocean. Here, basking in the tropical sunshine,
hundreds of different species of corals grow and provide
a habitat for thousands of snails, fish, and other animals.
Some creatures graze on the coral, whereas others are
hungry predators. Other animals even form partnerships
and help each other survive.
WORKING TOGETHER
Some animals work together to make
their lives easier. This shrimp plucks
scraps of food from a moray eel’s mouth,
giving the eel a teeth-cleaning and
getting itself a meal.
Eels provide
easy pickings for
hungry shrimp
HUNTING GROUND
Reef sharks are surrounded by so
much prey that they don’t have to
move far to satisfy their big appetite.
Many can squeeze between rocks
to grab fish that are hiding there.
120
192
EXPLORING THE DEEP
193
EXPLORING THE DEEP
194
DIVE, DIVE, DIVE!
SHINING A LIGHT
Modern submersibles are operated
by a three-man crew and are agile
enough to explore many parts of
SUBMERSIBLES
the ocean. Big windows and a source
of light help make the view as clear
as possible.
DEEP-SEA SMOKERS
Scientists diving in Alvin—the best
known of all the submersibles in
use—were the first to see the
strange animals that live around
hot, underwater volcanic vents
known as black smokers.
Alvin’s robot
arm takes the
temperature
of a vent
PER YEAR
195
EXPLORING THE DEEP
196
GETTING
UP CLOSE
DIVING
Trained human freedivers can hold their breath for
minutes underwater, but with the right equipment this
can stretch to over an hour. Scuba divers use a tank filled
with compressed air that is fed to the diver through a
mouthpiece. Scuba gear enables many people to dive
for fun, and allows scientists to spend enough time in the
water to study the ocean and the life that lives there.
BEHIND BARS
Protection in a cage is the only safe way to
get close to great white sharks. The bars
are strong enough to withstand the force
of sharks crashing into them.
FEEDING TIME
Some predatory sharks are
approachable enough for divers
to get up close and even feed
them with scraps of food. Divers
are always careful and treat
these animals with respect.
RICH PICKINGS
The wide variety of life found on a
wreck attracts big predators that make
the most of available prey. Reef sharks
patrol older shipwrecks that are
home to smaller animals.
SAFE HAVEN
A shipwreck provides shelter for
ocean animals, hiding them from
bigger predators. Animals use them
the same way they would use natural
caves and rocky crevices.
UNDER
INVESTIGATION
Marine biologists are
interested in understanding
how life can colonize wrecks.
Archaeologists use shipwrecks
to study how humans lived and
198 used the oceans many years ago.
EXPLORING THE DEEP
TAKING OVER
Anemones, barnacles, and sea
urchins are among the first
animals to set up home on a
sunken ship. About a year or
two later, corals start building
up, turning the shipwreck into
an artificial reef.
199
DESCENT INTO
DARKNESS
BOTTOM OF THE SEA
The surface of the ocean is bright with sunshine, wild
with waves and, in the tropics, it is warm. Deeper down,
the Sun’s rays cannot reach: it is always dark and colder
than inside a refrigerator. The deepest part of the ocean
is home to some of the strangest animals on the planet.
There is so little food down there that fish swim slowly
to save their energy. Anything that comes within range
is a potential meal—even if it’s bigger than you are.
HOT-BED OF LIFE
In places the ocean floor has volcanic
ridges that spew out super-hot water.
The animals here survive the high
temperatures and feed on chemicals
dissolved in the water.
Mouthlike hood
snaps shut when
food drifts inside
UNDER PRESSURE
Some animals, such as this
predatory tunicate, live attached
to the ocean floor. It catches tiny
floating animals in its “jaws” and,
like other deep-sea animals, has
a flabby body that can withstand
200 the high water pressure.
GHOST OF THE DEEP
This ghost shark is happiest in coastal
seas but sometimes descends to
deeper, darker waters where it
spends most of its time swimming
slowly along the bottom looking for
equally slow prey. Its strong sense of
smell and ability to detect electric
fields help it search in the gloom.
201
EXPLORING THE DEEP
HELPING A FRIEND
Manatees are slow-moving mammals that
can be injured by collisions with ships and
other motorboats. They are also harmed by
pollution. Scientists keep a check on their
numbers to see if they need extra protection.
202
KEEPING TRACK
PROTECTING THE SEAS
The ocean looks so vast that it seems endless and
everlasting. In fact, many animals are fished so much that
their numbers are dropping. Garbage from land pollutes
the water, while ocean life is harmed by climate changes.
All around the world people are studying the ocean and
doing what they can to protect the animals that live
there and prevent them from being driven to extinction.
TRACKING MOVEMENTS
By fitting animals with trackers that
send out detectable signals, scientists
can keep track of where they go.
This helps them protect species that
rely on certain habitats to survive.
REPLANTING REEFS
In places where reefs have been
destroyed, special frames are used to
replace them. These have been “seeded”
with fragments of coral, encouraging the
growth of new reefs as habitats for animals.
SP
EC
200,000
203
GLOSSARY
ABYSS COLONY FEEDING FRENZY INVERTEBRATE
The abyss, or abyssal zone, is the A group of animals that live closely When a group of predators, such as An animal without a backbone.
deepest part of the ocean, stretching together, often relying on each other. sharks or sailfish, work together to Includes corals, mollusks, starfish,
13,100 to 19,700 ft (4,000–6,000 m). Corals live in colonies. herd and attack prey, often with few jellyfish, shrimp, and sponges.
It is intensely dark and cold and few of the prey surviving.
animals are able to live there. CORAL JUVENILE
Soft-bodied animals that live in large FEELER A young animal that is not yet able
ALGAE groups or colonies, usually in warm, Part of the body that is used to sense to reproduce.
A group of simple plants that include shallow seas. They secrete a substance or touch things, especially when
microscopic green plankton and that hardens into stone around them searching for food. LARVA
enormous multicelled seaweeds, for protection. A young stage of an animal that looks
such as giant kelp. FILTER FEEDER very different from its adult form. Many
CRUSTACEAN An animal that feeds by filtering out marine animals spend part of their
BELL An animal such as a shrimp, crab, or plankton or small particles of food early life as a larva, including crabs,
The umbrella-shaped body of lobster that has a hard outer shell and suspended in water. corals, and lobsters. (Plural is larvae.)
a jellyfish. four or more pairs of limbs. They have
to molt the outer shell to grow. FLATFISH LURE
BIOLUMINESCENCE A flattened species of fish that swims A part of the body of a marine animal
The production of light by animals. DECIBEL on its side, close to the seabed. Both that is used as bait to attract another
It can be used to attract a mate, for A unit that measures the intensity or eyes lie on the same side of the head. animal when hunting. Lures can
camouflage, as a decoy, for catching loudness of a sound. Total silence is just Members of this group include plaice, resemble a food animal, such as a
prey, or for communication. It is above 0 decibels (dB). soles, and halibut. worm, or be bioluminescent to attract
created by a chemical reaction in prey in darkness.
the animal’s body. DISK WIDTH GAPE
Term used to describe the body size The wide opening of an animal’s MAMMAL
BUOYANCY of a fish, such as a ray, that has “wings.” mouth or shell. A warm-blooded animal that has hair
The ability of a marine organism and feeds its young on milk. Marine
to float in water. DORSAL FIN GESTATION mammals include whales, dolphins,
An unpaired, upright fin on the back The period of time, also called a and seals.
CAMOUFLAGE of a fish, whale, or dolphin. pregnancy, between the fertilization
Colors and patterns on an animal’s of an egg and the birth of an animal. MEMBRANE
skin that help it blend in with ECHINODERM A thin, flexible piece of skinlike tissue
its surroundings. A marine invertebrate that has a chalky GILLS that acts as a barrier.
outer skeleton and tube feet, such as a The structures used by fish and other
CANINE sea star (starfish) or sea urchin. aquatic animals to obtain oxygen MIDNIGHT ZONE
A pointed tooth that is often enlarged from water. Usually arranged in pairs, The cold, dark zone in the middle of
in meat eaters and is used for tearing ELECTRORECEPTION they also get rid of waste carbon the ocean. It generally describes depths
food. In walruses and narwhals the The ability of an aquatic animal to dioxide from the blood. between 3,300–13,100 ft (1,000 and
upper canines grow long enough to detect an electric field or current. 4,000 m) below the surface. Animals
form tusks. It is used for detecting objects or HERTZ that live here have to cope with intense
for communication. A unit (Hz) used to measure the pressure and constant darkness.
CARTILAGE frequency of sound waves. One hertz
A tough, light yet flexible substance EGG CASE is equal to one cycle per second. MIGRATION
that makes up the skeleton of a shark The tough case that surrounds the The higher the frequency of cycles, The regular return journey that an
or ray instead of bone. fertilized egg of some sharks or rays. the higher-pitched the sound. animal makes every year to reach
It protects the developing shark until feeding or breeding grounds.
COLD-BLOODED it is ready to hatch. HYDROTHERMAL VENT
Describes an animal whose body A crack in the seabed that pours out MOLLUSK
temperature varies with that of ESTUARY superheated water that is full of An invertebrate animal that has a soft,
its environment. It controls its The mouth of a large river at the point minerals. Vents are often home to muscular body. Sometimes the body
temperature by moving to hotter where it meets the sea. The amount of unique colonies of animals that can is surrounded by a hard shell. Mollusks
or cooler areas as needed. salt in the water changes with the tide. survive in harsh conditions. include snails, clams, and sea slugs.
204
MOLT REEF SUBMERSIBLE WARM-BLOODED
The process of shedding an outer A ridge of jagged coral, rock, or sand A small underwater craft designed Describes an animal that is able to
layer of skin or an external shell so lying just above or below the surface for research and exploration. keep its body temperature constant
that an animal can grow. This occurs of the sea. regardless of the temperature of its
at certain times of the year or at SUNLIGHT ZONE surroundings. All marine mammals
particular points in the animal’s REPTILE The uppermost layer of the ocean, and some sharks are warm-blooded.
life cycle. A cold-blooded vertebrate with scaly, which is bathed with sunlight during
waterproof skin, such as a marine the day. In clear water it can extend WATER PRESSURE
MOUTHBROODER iguana or a sea snake. down as far as 655 ft (200 m); in The weight of the water pressing
Species of fish in which one of the murky water as little as 50 ft (15 m). down on an animal as it goes deeper
parents holds the developing eggs SALINITY Most fish live in this zone. into the ocean. At the bottom of
in its mouth until they hatch. During The amount of salt dissolved in water. the deepest trench it is as much as
this time the adult cannot feed. Seawater has 35 g of salt for every TENTACLE 8 tons per square inch (1 tonne per
liter of water. Fresh water is usually Thin, flexible limb mainly used for square cm).
NOCTURNAL less than 0.5 g of salt per liter. grasping and feeding. Some carry sense
Describes an animal that is active organs for touch, taste, smell, or VENOM
at night and sleeps during the day. SCAVENGER vision. Others may be equipped with A poison, or toxin, produced by
An animal that feeds on dead plants suckers, stingers, hooks, or even teeth. an animal that is used in hunting
NUTRIENT or animals. or self-defense. It is injected into
A substance that provides vital TIDE another animal through a bite
nourishment needed for the growth SCHOOL OR SHOAL The twice-daily rise and fall in sea or sting.
and maintenance of life. A large number of fish that swim level that is caused by the pull of the
together. Sun and Moon. VERTEBRATE
OCEAN TRENCH An animal that has a backbone or
A very deep canyon in the ocean floor. SENSORY PORE TOXIC spinal column made up of individual
The temperature is barely above Part of a network of jelly-filled Describes a substance that is bones or pieces of cartilage called
freezing and the water pressure is pockets on the skin of sharks and poisonous. The bite or sting of an vertebrae. (Single is vertebra.)
crushing. Few animals can survive here. other electroreceptive fish. These animal may have a toxic effect on
pores help fish detect electric fields. another animal. VERTICAL MIGRATION
PARASITE A pattern of movement of animals
An organism that lives on or inside SKELETON TWILIGHT ZONE (and plankton) between deep and
another animal to gain food or shelter. A framework of bone or cartilage The region immediately below the shallow waters. This may happen
It is usually harmful to its host. that supports the body of an animal sunlight zone, from 655 to 3,300 ft daily or be seasonal. It also occurs
and provides attachment points (200–1,000 m). Very little light reaches in animals that spend different stages
PECTORAL FINS for muscles. this level and plants cannot grow. of their lives at different depths.
A pair of fins that lie either side of
a fish’s head that help control its SKIN PIGMENT
direction of movement. Color found in the skin of an animal.
ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS BOOK
PITCH SLIME
The high or low quality of a sound. A soft and slippery substance that is / per—for example, km/h means kilometers per hour
produced by the skin of an animal. It °C degrees Celsius
PLANKTON helps fish swim more easily, but also cal calories
Tiny animals and algae that drift protects them against parasites and cm centimeter
or float in the sea and other water infections. Some slimes are poisonous dB decibel
bodies. They provide food for to predators. °F degrees Fahrenheit
larger animals. fl oz fluid ounce
SPAWN ft foot
PREDATOR The eggs of a fish, amphibian, or g gram
An animal that hunts and kills other invertebrate. Spawning is the laying Hz hertz—see glossary for definition
animals (its prey) for food. of the eggs. in inch
kg kilogram
PREY SPECIES km kilometer
An animal that is killed and eaten A group of animals that look like one lb pound
by a predator. another and can reproduce with each m meter
other—animals cannot reproduce min minute
PROPULSION with members of another species. ml milliliter
GLOSSARY
205
INDEX
eggs continued
A
abyssal zone 191
cleaner wrasse, blue-streak 106–7
clownfish 100–101
coastal waters 7
jawfish 92–3
lionfish 33
ghost shark 201
giant clam 40–41
gills 58, 59, 107, 125
algae 41, 111, 191 colors 70, 114, 127 loggerhead turtle 138 Great Barrier Reef 192
anemones 76, 77, 100, 199, 201 communication, sperm whale 171 pygmy seahorse 29 great white shark 36–9, 79
angel shark 35 cone snail 48 seahorses 118 Greenland shark 154–5
anglerfish 18–19 copepods 118 electricity, torpedo ray 180–81 groupers 15
Antarctic Ocean 34, 110–11 coral reefs 6, 192–3, 199, 203 eyes 12, 13, 50, 129, 152, 164, 173, 174, 177
Arctic 56, 155
arms, starfish 54, 55
courtship, seahorses 118
crabs 116, 134, 153
blue swimming crab 26–7 F H
hammerheads 164–7
B
bamboo shark, brown-banded 108–9
boxer crab 76–7
crocodile icefish 34
cuttlefish, broadclub 169
feeding frenzies 47, 68, 186
feelers 129, 168
filter feeders 60
harpoons 23, 48
hearing, silky shark 186
horn shark, California 16–17
banded sea snake 121 fins 17, 33, 35, 47, 51, 52, 66, 67, 70, 71, hydroids 185
barnacles 81, 199
barrel shrimp 150–51 D fish
181 hydrothermal vents (black smokers) 7, 195
C
California horn shark 16–17
moray eel 14–15, 192
eggs
barrel shrimp 151
flying fish 66–7
frilled shark 124–5, 190
lemon shark 140–43
light zones 191
lionfish 32–3
camouflage 13, 25, 29, 30, 35, 50, 52, 122,
127, 169
catshark, small spotted 152–3
blue swimming crab 27
California horn shark 17
common octopus 126, 127
G
garden eel 130–31
lion’s mane jellyfish 56–7
liver, shark 10, 172
lizards 98–9
clam, giant 40–41 giant clam 40 gentoo penguin 88–9 loggerhead turtle 138–9
206
sharks continued
M
mackerel 47
red blood cells 34
red-lipped batfish 52–3
reef sharks 190, 192, 198
shy shark 94–5
silky shark 186–7
T
tails 35, 50, 78, 79, 82
mako, shortfin 82–3 blacktip reef shark 158–61 small spotted catshark 152–3 teeth 15, 16, 19, 21, 25, 36, 49, 58, 63, 73,
mammals whitetip reef shark 132–3 spiny dogfish 117 99, 116, 117, 125, 146, 171, 173, 185
manatee 202–3 reef worm, biting 44–5 starry smooth-hound 116 tentacles
sea otter 134–5 reefs 6, 192–3, 199, 203 swell shark 30–31 anemones 100
walrus 146–7 remora 72 thresher shark 78–9 lion’s mane jellyfish 56–7
see also dolphins; whales reptiles tiger shark 172–5 Portuguese man o’ war 22–3
manatee 202–3 marine iguana 98–9 whale shark 58–61, 197 sea cucumber 115
manta ray 7 sea snakes 121, 148–9 whitetip reef shark 132–3 thresher shark 78–9
mantis shrimp 176–7 turtles 138–9, 172, 203 wobbegong 24–5 tides 7
marine iguana 98–9 ribbon-tailed stingray 50–51 zebra shark 120–21 tiger shark 172–5
megamouth shark 112–13 shells 26, 27, 40, 138 tope shark, common 144–5
midnight zone 191
migration 10, 49, 58, 82, 97, 137, 139,145, 164
mimicry 121
S
sailfish 7, 70–71
shipwrecks 198–9
shoals see packs and schools
shortfin mako 82–3
torpedo ray 180–81
tracking animals 203
tube feet 55, 114, 115
mobula ray 84–5 sandtiger shark 182–5 shrimp 192 tuna 47, 82
mollusks 40 sardine 87, 96–7 barrel shrimp 150–51 tunicate 200
moray eel 14–15, 192 sawshark 168 mantis shrimp 176–7 turtles 172, 203
mouths 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 28, 33, 49, 51, 54, scalloped hammerhead 166 shy shark 94–5 loggerhead turtle 138–9
58, 63, 73, 75, 93, 113, 118 schools see packs and schools silky shark 186–7 tusks 21, 146, 147
muscles scuba divers 197 skin 99, 123, 127, 133, 152, 169, 187 twilight zone 190
giant clam 40 sea apple 115 sleep 146, 147, 156
great white shark 36, 37
shortfin mako 82
mussels 54, 134
sea cucumber 114–15
sea floor 12, 200–201
sea lamprey 49
slime 100, 156, 157
Sloane’s viperfish 62–3
small spotted catshark 152–3
V
venom
sea lion 94 smooth-hound, starry 116 biting reef worm 44
NO
narwhal 20–21
sea otter 134–5
sea snakes 121, 148–9
sea urchins 199, 201
snails 48, 169
snakes, sea 121, 148–9
speed
cone snail 48
lionfish 32
Portuguese man o’war 22–3
nurse shark 72–5 seahorses 118–19 blue shark 136 pufferfish 42
oceanic whitetip shark 46–7 pygmy seahorse 28–9 broadnose sevengill shark 178 ribbon-tailed stingray 51
octopuses 126–7, 169, 191 seals 36, 39, 154, 155 California horn shark 17 sea cucumber 114
otter, sea 134–5 seaweed 98, 99 flying fish 66 sea snakes 148, 149
sensors 164, 165, 168, 176 gentoo penguin 88 spiny devilfish 122
P
Pacific Ocean 195
sevengill shark, broadnose 178–9
sharks 6, 197
angel shark 35
great white shark 36
Greenland shark 155
mobula ray 85
spiny dogfish 117
viperfish, Sloane’s 62–3
R
rays 183
nurse shark 72–5
oceanic whitetip shark 46–7
reef sharks 190, 192, 198
submersibles 191, 194–5
suckers 114, 115, 127, 169
sunlight zone 190
worm, biting reef 44–5
wrasse, blue-streak cleaner 106–7
zebra shark 120–21
INDEX
207
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Dorling Kindersley would like to thank 40–41 Scubazoo.com: Adam Broadbent. 100–101 Scubazoo.com: Adam 166–167 Naturfoto www.naturephoto-
Alex Lloyd, Simon Murrell, Amy Child, Clare 40 Scubazoo.com: Jason Isley (cl). Broadbent. 102–103 Scubazoo.com: Jason cz.com. 168 Alamy Images: Marty
Joyce, Richard Biesty, Vanya Mittal, Sanjay 43 FLPA: Biosphoto / Jean-Michel Mille Isley. 104–105 imagequestmarine.com: Snyderman / Stephen Frink Collection (cl).
Chauhan, and Sudakshina Basu for design (br). Scubazoo.com: Jason Isley (tr). James D. Watt. 106–107 Corbis: Chris 169 Corbis. 170–171 FLPA: Hiroya
assistance; Frankie Piscitelli, Vineetha 44–45 Corbis: Steve Jones / Stocktrek Newbert / Minden Pictures. 107 Scubazoo. Minakuchi / Minden Pictures.
Mokkil, Suefa Lee, Deeksha Saikia, and Images. 44 Scubazoo.com: Jason Isley (cl). com: Adam Broadbent (cr). 108–109 FLPA: 172 Scubazoo.com: Jason Isley (tr).
Rohan Sinha for editorial assistance; Liz 46–47 Alamy Images: Norbert Probst / Bruno Guenard / Biosphoto. 110–111 173 Scubazoo.com: Jason Isley (tr, br).
Moore for additional picture research; Katie Imagebroker. 47 123RF.com: Krzysztof Corbis: Paul Nicklen / National Geographic 174–175 SeaPics.com: Eric Cheng.
John for proofreading; Hilary Bird for the Odziomek (cr). 48 Corbis: Alex Kerstitch / Society. 112–113 naturepl.com: Bruce 176–177 Dreamstime.com: Beverly Speed.
index; Steve Crozier for creative retouching; Visuals Unlimited (b). 49 Alamy Images: Rasner / Rotman. 115 Getty Images: Borut 177 Photoshot: LOOK (cr). 178–179
and Peter Bull for additional illustration. Blickwinkel (c). Photoshot: NHPA (cra). Furlan / WaterFrame (br). 117 Getty Alamy Images: Tobias Friedrich / F1online
51 Dorling Kindersley: David Peart (cl). Images: Doug Perrine / Photolibrary. digitale Bildagentur GmbH. 178 Scubazoo.
DK would also like to thank Simon 52–53 Alamy Images: Steve Bloom 118 Scubazoo.com: Gil Woolley (br). com: Jason Isley (cl). 180 Science Photo
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