**Tropical or Reef Habitat:** In warm tropical or subtropical waters,
coral reefs provide habitat for thousands of different species. Many of
these are brightly colored and adapted to very specific ways of life.
Like terrestrial rain forests, reefs are disappearing rapidly as a
result of human activities, including pollution and overfishing.

1 Reef lobster - *Enoplometopus occidentalis* - Living in crevices and
caves, these nocturnal marine crustaceans that live on the sea bottom
scavenge for dead animals but also eat live fish, seaweed, small
mollusks and other bottom-dwelling invertebrates.

2 Star coral - *Montastrea cavernosa* - One of many marine invertebrates
in the class Anthozoa, it has stinging cells and internal or external
skeletons of a stonelike, horny, or leathery consistency. The term
\"coral\" is also applied to the skeletons alone, particularly the
stonelike ones. See 6, 7, 8, 9, 28, and 67.

3 Tube sponge - Phylum Porifera - A tube sponge may be 3 to 6.5 feet
tall. Size within a species may vary with age, environmental conditions,
and food supply. See 26, 27, and 38.

4 Gorgonian - *Gorgonia* species- A \"soft coral\" composed of polyps
that grow together to form a flat structure instead of a rocky reef, it
has a central internal skeleton, composed of a flexible, horny substance
supporting the colony. See 21.

5 Butterflyfish - Family Chaetodontidae - Most often found on reefs and
in warm waters, the precise number of species in this family is unknown,
but exceeds 150. Their bright colors are usually patterned to provide
protection from predators. See also 12 and 17.

6 Long-tentacled anemone - *Heteractis magnifica* - A member of the
invertebrate order made up of sedentary marine animals resembling
flowers but closely related to jellyfish, anemones occur in all oceans
from the intertidal zone to depths of more than 33,000 feet. See 2, 7,
8, 9, 28 and 67.

7 Brain coral - *Diploria strigosa* - This species forms boulders that
are ridged and shaped like the surface of the brain. See 2, 6, 8, 9, 28,
and 67 .

8 Boulder coral - *Porites* species - Another of the many forms taken by
corals. Corals are closely related to anemones. See 2, 6, 7, 9, 28, and
67.

9 Plate coral - *Agaricia tenuifolia* - Stony corals form reefs that can
extend only a few feet or thousands of miles. See 2, 6, 7, 8, 28, and
67.

10 Sea grass - One of the non-algal plants living in salt water, sea
grasses are most common in very shallow waters near shore. They provide
food and shelter for the larvae and juveniles of many species of fishes
and invertebrates.

11 Spotted moray - *Gymnothorax moringua* - Morays generally live in
tropical and subtropical waters. Most have large flattened bodies and
often anchor their rear half in coral and rocks, extending the head in
the current, ready to grab prey that comes close. They are dangerous
when provoked, with ferocious teeth producing deep wounds that usually
become infected.

12 Butterflyfish - Family Chaetodontidae - Butterflyfish are most often
found in reefs and in warm waters. See also 5 and 17.

13 Rock beauty - *Holacanthus tricolor* - An angelfish of warm Atlantic
and Caribbean waters, reaching a length of 12 inches. Juveniles have a
different color pattern from adults. In most angelfish, the lips are a
different color from the body, appearing to be painted on.

14 Blue spotted ray - *Taeniura lymma* - Sharks, skates, and rays are
closely related; skates and rays can be thought of as flattened sharks
with very large pectoral fins. Stingrays are noted for the long, sharp
spines at the base of the tail. Each spine has a venom sac at its base,
and stings are extremely painful. Wounds are frequently the result of a
swimmer stepping on a ray.

15 Spotted wobbegong - *Orectolobus ornatus* - Carpet sharks are bottom
dwellers with the lower lobe of the tail absent. This Australian species
blends into the sea bottom, where it ambushes bottom-dwelling prey at
night. It has a fringe of fleshy barbels around its broad snout.

16 Common octopus - *Octopus vulgaris* - Distributed from the North
Atlantic as far South as Guiana, this species reaches a length of three
feet and a weight of ten pounds. The Giant Pacific Octopus span can
extend 30 feet across and it can reach a maximum weight of nearly 600
pounds. Stories of octopus attacks on divers are false; octopus are
generally shy and avoid confrontations with humans if possible.

17 Butterflyfish - Family Chaetodontidae - These are Apicker@ feeders:
they use their long snout with the mouth at the end to pick small
organisms and food particles from crevices and holes. See also 5 and 12.

18 Nassau grouper - *Epinephelus striatus* - A member of the sea bass
family, this species lives in warm waters along rocky shores and coral
reefs in the western North Atlantic. A valuable commercial species, it
is in such demand that populations have been seriously damaged by
overfishing.

19 Marine iguana - *Amblyrhynchus cristatus* - The only sea-going lizard
in the world, the marine iguana is found throughout the Galapagos
Islands in densities of 4,500 per mile of coastline. Marine iguanas eat
marine algae, crustaceans, and grasshoppers. Most feed on exposed reefs
close to shore. Larger males are famous for their offshore swimming and
diving abilities. They can reach 40 feet underwater and usually dive
five to ten minutes, although the longest observed was about 60 minutes.

20 Potato grouper - *Epinephelus tukula* - An Indo-Pacific member of a
warm-water family that includes some of the largest of all reef fishes,
groupers are disruptively colored so they can blend with the coral reef
or rocky bottom.

21 Purple sea fan - *Gorgonia ventalina* - The living tissues form a
layer over the entire surface, often in bright colors. See 4.

22 Common clownfish - *Amphiprion ocellaris* - Living among anemone
tentacles, and producing a skin secretion inhibiting anemone tentacles
from stinging, clownfishes can shelter amid the tentacles safe from
harm, taking advantage of the anemone\'s own formidable defenses. They
can also steal food from the anemone.

23 Cortez garden eel - *Taenioconger digueti* - These eels from the Gulf
of California live in colonies at a depth of 12 to 132 feet; each
individual has a burrow well-separated from the others. Because they
feed by extending the upper half of the body up into the water to catch
small animals that drift or swim by, they look like a garden that was
planted.

**Temperate Waters:** Warm and cool temperate waters extend between the
subtropical and subpolar regions in each hemisphere. They are highly
productive, but support relatively fewer species than tropical regions.
However, populations of individual species may be extremely high owing
to the rapid growth of plankton that provides food for them.

24 Giant Kelp - *Macrocystis* spp.- Giant kelp are very large seaweeds
found in colder seas and belonging to the order Laminariales (about 30
genera) of brown algae. Giant kelp is rich in minerals and produces
algin, a complex carbohydrate useful in various industrial processes,
including ice cream and tire manufacture.

25 Leopard shark - *Triakis semifasciata* - Living in the northeastern
Pacific Ocean near the bottom, females may reach a length of about 7
feet, but males only grow to 5 feet. The markings are distinctive: black
crossbars and blotches on a pale brown or gray background. It is
frequently on display in public aquaria.

26 Velvety red sponge - *Ophlitaspongia pennata* - There are more than
5,000 species of sponges in the Phylum Porifera, occurring in many forms
including tubes, balls, vases, incrustations, and shapeless masses. See
3, 27, and 68.

27 Vase sponge - *Phylum Porifera* - Sponge live in colonies or as
solitary animals attached to the sea bottom or to other solid objects.
See 3, 26, and 68.

28 Northern red anemone - *Tealia crassicornis* - Occuring in the
northeastern Pacific Ocean; they can be thought of as an upside-down
attached jellyfish. They are largest, most numerous, and most colorful
in warmer seas. See 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 67.

29 Ochre sea star - *Pisaster ochraceus* - Sea stars are in the Phylum
Echinodermata, which is generally characterized by five-rayed symmetry,
a hard, spiny covering, and tube feet. Others include sea lilies, sea
urchins, sea cucumbers, basket stars and brittle stars, and the recently
discovered sea daisies. Ochre sea stars are very common in the
intertidal and shallow waters of the northeastern Pacific Ocean. See 37
and 53.

30 Serpent star - Ophiuroidea - An echinoderm, serpent stars can climb
and some are capable of coiling their arms vertically. They are
predominantly carnivores and feed by capturing food and bringing it to
the mouth by arm looping or by moving the mouth to the food. See 50.

31 Garibaldi - *Hypsypops rubicundus* - The official California state
fish, Garibaldi occur in shallow warm waters. Adults are easily
recognized by their uniformly reddish gold color, and reach a maximum
length of about 12 inches. Young are reddish with iridescent blue spots.

32 Striped jack - *Caranx dentex* - Fast swimmers, striped jack eat
smaller fishes, squids, and shrimps. Most species have rows of large
heavy scales along the side near the tail fin, with small scales
elsewhere, reducing drag and increasing swimming efficiency.

33 California sheepshead - *Semicossyphus pulcher* - This fish can reach
a length of 3 feet and weight of 36 pounds, though most are much
smaller. They range from Monterey Bay to the Gulf of California and are
found most abundantly in kelp beds or along rocky shores.

34 Red sea urchin - *Strongylocentrotus franciscanus* - Urchins are
echinoderms having a globular body, movable spines, radially arranged
internal organs, and tube feet extending from pores arranged in bands
extending from top to bottom over the skeleton. The mouth is on the
underside of the body and teeth are extruded to scrape algae and other
food from rocks. Sea urchins live on the ocean floor, usually on hard
surfaces, and use the tube feet or spines to move about.

35 Sea lion - *Zalophus californianus* - Sea lions differ from seals in
having external ears, a coat of short, coarse hair that lacks a distinct
undercoat, and can rotate their hind flippers forward to use all four
limbs in moving about on land. Sea lions eat mostly fish, squid, and
octopus. Breeding in large herds, the males establish harems of 3 to 20
females. See 48 and 49.

36 Port Jackson shark - *Heterodontus portusjacksoni* - This is a
relatively small Australian shark with teeth in both the upper and lower
jaws small and pointed in the front, but large and flat-surfaced in the
back, allowing it to eat both soft and hard-shelled prey such as snails,
oysters, sea urchins, and crustaceans.

37 Troschel\'s seastar - *Evasterias troscheli* - Seastars are in the
class Asteroidea, having rays or arms surrounding an indistinct disk.
The 1,800 living species of starfishes occur in all oceans, although the
North Pacific has the greatest variety. See 29 and 53.

**Open Ocean:** Animals of the open waters have boundaries defined only
by water temperature and salinity. Some species are fast-moving and wide
ranging, making feeding or reproductive migrations over thousands of
miles. Because nutrients are more abundant nearer shore, productivity is
higher closer to continents than in the central regions. Thus, there are
relatively fewer organisms of all kinds (especially phytoplankton,
microscopic plants) in the center. This results in much clearer water.

38 Ocean sunfish - *Mola mola* - Molas grow very large, reaching to 10
feet in depth and weighing as much as 600 pounds. They eat jellyfish.
The young swim with the body in a vertical position like other fishes,
but adults spend most of their time on their sides, floating as though
dead.

39 Atlantic manta - *Manta birostris* - The few species of mantas range
in size from ocean giants of over 20 feet to species of only a few feet
across the pectoral fins. The two flexible head protrusions, called
cephalic fins, help direct small pelagic food organisms into the wide
mouth. The Atlantic manta can have a wing span at least 22 feet and
weigh well over 3,000 pounds.

40 Billfish - Family Xiphiidae - Billfishes live in the open ocean and
can swim almost 70 miles per hour. Their most important identifying
feature is the long upper jaw forming a bill, or spear, which may be
used to stun prey as they speed through schools of fish.

41 Great white shark - *Carcharodon carcharias* - The white shark, or
man-eater, roams all warm and temperate seas, but appears most
abundantly in waters off Australia. They average 12 feet long, but can
reach over 30 feet. They are so large and powerful that it is very
difficult to study them. Great whites are credited with many attacks on
humans, probably mistaking them for seals or sea lions. However, as a
top predator, they are an essential part of marine ecosystems and should
be protected.

42 Sperm whale - *Physeter macrocephalus* - Sperm whales occur in all
seas, are the largest of the toothed whales, and can dive to depths
below 6,600 feet. They have the largest brains that have ever existed on
earth, but it is ratio of brain to body weight that is important in
intelligence, not just brain weight. They eat squid and fish; battles
with giant squid often result in clear sucker marks on the skin of the
whale. See 70.

43 Yellowfin tuna - *Thunnus albacares* - Tunas are fast swimmers; this
species can reach speeds over 40 miles per hour. They average 15 to 25
pounds weight, but can reach 300. The long pectoral fins, pelvic fins,
and finlets are bright yellow, but the brightness fades soon after
death.

44 Arrow worm - *Sagitta macrocephala* - These planktonic (drifting)
animals are well-adapted pelagic predators, even though they are an inch
long or shorter. They are streamlined, have transparent bodies, and
possess heavy grasping spines or hooks near the mouth.

45 Blue shark - *Prionace glauca* - Named for their deep metallic blue
color and living in the open ocean in subtropical and cool-temperate
seas, blue sharks have very large pectoral fins that help keep them from
sinking. Often seen at the surface swimming slowly with the first dorsal
fin and the tip of the tail out of water, their food is mostly fish.

**Polar Waters:** Some of the coldest marine waters, the Arctic and
Antarctic regions are highly productive, especially in the spring and
fall. Their biological diversity is lower than other regions, probably
because many species cannot survive the extreme conditions. Those that
are successful tend to be very abundant. Whales make feeding migrations
into polar regions in the spring, and leave for warmer waters before
winter.

46 Lion=s mane jellyfish - *Cyanea capillata* - The largest jelly known,
this species grows up to 8 feet wide and 1000 feet long, and has up to
12,000 stinging tentacles. When an animal comes in contact with these
tentacles, it is stung and injected with a neurotoxin (nerve poison).

47 Icefish - Family Channichthyidae - Members of this Antarctic family
have a kind of antifreeze that allows them to survive in the coldest
water, even that below freezing. They have no hemoglobin (the
oxygen-carrying blood pigment) but in the low temperatures at which they
live, their blood carries enough dissolved oxygen for life.

48 Weddell seal - *Leptonychotes weddelli* - Seals survive extremely
cold temperatures by having a thick layer of blubber which insulates
them. True seals lack external ears and must drag their hind flippers.
This Antarctic seal weighs 900 to 1,000 pounds; it searches around sea
ice for prey, usually fish and squid. Its main predator is the killer
whale. See 35 and 49.

49 Ringed seal *- Phoca hispida* - Ringed seals usually live in
ice-covered waters. They live on both seasonal and permanent ice. They
can be found in all seas of the Arctic ocean and in some northern
Finnish and Russian lakes. The world population is estimated at 5
million, with 1 to 1.5 million in Alaskan waters. See 35 and 48.

50 Serpent star - Class Ophiuroidea - Serpent stars occur in warm, cold,
deep, and shallow waters. Like most echinoderms, they cannot tolerate
marked changes in salinity, temperature, or light intensity. They use
their spines and tube feet in locomotion, may move forward with any part
of the body and reverse direction without turning around. See 30.

51 Antarctic cod - Family Nototheniidae - The Antarctic cods are a
large, diverse family, dominating the Antarctic fish fauna. Most are
bottom dwellers feeding on invertebrates and occasionally algae; some
live associated with sea ice, but others live in midwater. They are a
very important food for most penguins, seals and cetaceans.

52 Arctic sea spider - Class Pycnogonida - Related to spiders but not
one, the Arctic sea spider lives in very cold waters. They walk on the
ocean bottom on slender legs, or crawl among plants and animals; some
may tread water. They have a very small body; the internal organs extend
out into the legs.

53 Bat Star - *Patiria miniata*- Starfish can digest food outside of the
body by extruding their stomach around prey. They move by walking with
their tube feet. See 29 and 37.

54 Long tentacle comb jelly - Phylum Ctenophora - Transparent,
gelatinous planktonic animals, ctenophores have cells which, instead of
stinging, have a sticky tentacle to which food particles adhere to be
drawn into the mouth.

55 Antarctic octopus - Class Cephalopoda - The cephalopods are a small
group of highly advanced, exclusively salt water molluscs, to which
octopus, squid, cuttlefish, and chambered nautilus belong. Extinct forms
outnumber the living. The best-known cephalopod features are the
possession of arms and tentacles, eight (octopus) or ten (squid) in most
forms, and the use of ink for protection.

56 Gurney\'s sea pen - *Ptilosarcus gurneyi* - Sea pens are colonial
coelenterates that stick up from the mud like a feather, feeding by
filtering water through the branches. When threatened, they pull
themselves down into the mud. When disturbed they may also display
startling flashes of brilliant orange bioluminescence.

**Deep Sea:** The deep sea is cold, dark, and relatively deserted.
Because there is no sunlight, food comes from the surface waters where
plants can live; below the photic (lighted) zone, there are no plants.
The animals are all predators; they have evolved many bizarre and unique
structures and behaviors to survive. The discovery 20 years ago of
communities of specialized animals and bacteria living around
hydrothermal (hot water) vents in volcanically active areas provides the
best-known example of organisms that do not depend upon energy derived
from sunlight.

57 Sablefish *- Anoplopoma fimbria* - Living in cold North Pacific
waters at moderate to great depths near the bottom, sablefish are a
valuable commercially-fished species, caught by trawling, trapping, or
bottom-fishing with baited longlines. They reach a length of three feet
and average 20 pounds in weight.

58 Gulper eel *- Saccopharynx harrisoni* - This deep-sea fish has a huge
mouth and sharp teeth. It can swallow animals at least as large as
itself. Despite its capacity for food, it is very fragile, with small,
weak bones. It reaches a length of at least four feet and has a
whip-like tail with a light at the tip. It is collected very rarely.

59 Deep sea squid - *Heteroteuthis dispar* - This three-inch long deep
sea squid is one of just a few animals ( in addition to some shrimp and
fish) that can expel a bioluminescent ink to confuse predators.

60 Vampire squid - *Vampyroteuthis infernalis* - Neither a squid nor an
octopus, this deep-water species has ten arms like a squid. Instead of
having two long prey-catching arms, two of its arms are sensory
filaments that withdraw into pockets. Vampire squid have large globular
eyes an inch across and, unlike octopods, many luminescent organs on the
body.

61 Oarfish - *Regalecus glesne* - The only representative of this
family, the oarfish has pelvic fins reduced to one ray but extremely
long and often expanded to a paddle tip, thus its common name. It is a
huge fish, reaching a length of at least 35 feet.

62 Viperfish - *Chauliodus sloani* - A remarkable fish, *Chauliodus* has
teeth so long that it must open its mouth to make the jaws vertical
before it can swallow prey; when the mouth is closed, the teeth overlap
the jaws. It can eat large prey by lowering the internal skeleton of the
gills, allowing prey to pass into the throat without interference.
Apparently it impales prey on the teeth by swimming at them, and the
first vertebra (right behind the head) acts as a shock absorber!

63 Deepsea dragonfish - *Grammatostomias flagellibarba* - A ferocious
deep-sea predator, this fish is only six inches long; it has a large
head and mouth armed with many sharp teeth. Attached to the chin,
dragonfishes have a long barbel, at the end of which is a luminous lure
that attracts prey.

64 Rift clam - *Calyptogena magnifica* - This deep-water clam lives
around hydrothermal vents, feeding on sulphur bacteria. Its shell is
white and the animal inside is a deep red. This fast-growing, large clam
measures almost a foot in length. It lives in a methane-rich environment
that would normally be poisonous.

65 Deep sea tube worms - *Riftia pachyptila* - These four to six foot
Aworms@ have no mouth and no gut, and live around deep-sea vents.
Blood-red feathery plumes (tentacle groups), where digestion occurs,
emerge from white tubes. *Riftia* is so different that it has been
placed in a new and distinct phylum: the Vestimentifera.

66 Vent crab - *Cyanograea praedator* - Vent crabs are one of the
characteristic animals associated with hydrothermal vents. They are
completely white, and occur in high abundance in small areas.

67 Tube anemone - Class Anthozoa (Phylum Cnidaria) - Tube anemones are
similar in basic features to other anemones but unlike them, each lives
in a slime tube. They are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical
waters. See 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 28.

68 Tube sponges - Sponges have a porous skeleton of interlocking
spicules (bony, needle-like structures), glasslike rods, or horny
fibers. Food is obtained by filtering water as it moves through the body
of the sponge. Sponges can regenerate by restoration of damaged or lost
parts or by complete regeneration of an adult from fragments or even
single cells. See 3, 26, and 27.

69 Giant deep sea angler - *Ceratias holboelli* - Called an angler
because its front dorsal fin ray is modified into a luminescent lure at
the tip, it reaches about three feet in length. Males attach themselves
to a female fish and grow to be a permanent part of her, losing their
mouths, digestive systems, and gills.

70 Giant squid - *Architeuthis princeps* - Cephalopods are the largest
invertebrates. One giant squid was reported to have been almost 60 feet
long, including the 20-foot tentacles. Architeuthis swims in the same
way as other squids, whether by jet propulsion or by using the fins.
This squid is a favored prey of sperm whales. See 42.

71 Ratfish - *Chimaera phantasma* - Most chimaeras have bodies that
taper toward the rear to a slender tail. The snout is rounded and
conical with big eyes located on the sides of the head, and there is
only a single gill opening. Ratfishes have teeth fused into large, sharp
incisors at the front, giving them the appearance of rodents.

72 Japanese spider crab - *Macrocheira kaempferi* - Probably the biggest
living arthropod; this crab lives in the North Pacific near Japan
between 150-1000 feet. Reaching over 12 feet from leg tip to leg tip,
and weighing as much as 40 pounds, its body is only about 15 inches in
diameter.

73 Deep sea jelly - *Periphylla* sp. - The deep bell-shaped body lined
by dark pigment probably masks light from the bioluminescent animals it
eats. Jellyfish move by rhythmic muscular contractions of the bell,
providing a slow jet propulsion. Hanging downward from the center is a
stalk-like structure with the mouth at its tip, opening into the main
body cavity . Unlike some other jellyfish, *Periphylla* has very short
tentacles.