The Beluga Whale lives in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters in social pods of 2-25 whales. It is a carnivore that hunts fish, squid, and other bottom-dwelling prey using echolocation. The Northern Elephant Seal was nearly hunted to extinction but has recovered to over 100,000 seals today. These intelligent seals live in large colonies on land and smaller groups at sea. Eels hatch from eggs as transparent larvae that metamorphose multiple times into glass eels and then mature adults.

1. beluga whale
The Beluga Whale
(Delphinapterus leucas) is a
toothed whale that lives in
cold Arctic and sub-Arctic
waters. Belugas are very
social animals, congregating
in pods (social groups) of 2-25
whales. They are slow
swimmers who are hunted
by killer whales, polar bears,
and people.
Diet: The Beluga is a carnivore (meat-eater). It hunts and eats bottom-
dwelling prey, including fish, squid, crustaceans, octopi, and worms.
The Beluga uses echolocation to locate the prey

2. elephant seal
The Northern Elephant Seal is a
huge seal that lives in the Pacific
Ocean (above 30 degrees North
latitude). This marine mammal
has very thick blubber. In the
1800's, the Northern Elephant
Seal was hunted to the brink of
extinction for its blubber (which
was used for lamp oil). There
were only about 100 of these
seals remaining around 1890;
now, more than 100 years later,
the species is still recovering.
Social Behavior: These intelligent and social animals congregate in large groups on land
(called colonies) and smaller groups in the water (called rafts). Breeding areas are
called rookeries. Males fight roughly for mating dominance, and they often bear many
scars from these battles.

3. eel
Life Cycle of True Eels: Eels hatch
from eggs that the female lays. A
newly-hatched egg (called the
larva or leptocephalus) is
transparent, gelatinous, leaf-
shaped, and free-floating. As the
larva grows and is carried along
by ocean currents, its body
changes shape (it
metamorphoses) into a tiny,
transparent, cylindrical-shaped
eel (called a glass eel). As it
matures and develops some
Eels are bony fish that have a muscular,
color, it is called an elver. It will
snake-like body. There about 500 species
metamorphose one more time,
of eels worldwide. Some eels live in salt
becoming an adult (having adult
water, but many also live in fresh water.
coloration and able to breed)

4. horseshoe crab
The Horseshoe Crab (also known
as the King Crab) is a hard-shelled
invertebrate that lives in warm,
shallow coastal waters on the sea
floor. It is not really a crab; it is
more closely related to
arachnids (spiders and scorpions).
The Horseshoe Crab first appeared
about 500 million years ago
(during the Ordovician Period),
and has changed very little since.
There are four species of
Diet: The Horseshoe Crab eats sea worms Horseshoe Crabs alive today; they
and mollusks (like young clams). They find live off the coasts of India, Japan,
their prey while walking along the sea bed; Indonesia, the eastern USA, and
they are predominantly nocturnal (most active the Gulf of Mexico.
at night).

5. Ichthyosaurus
Ichthyosaurus was
an ichthyosaur, a marine reptile;
it was not a dinosaur. This sleek
animal could perhaps swim at
speeds up to 25 mph (40 kph).
Ichthyosaurus lived from the
early Jurassic period until the
early Cretaceous period, roughly
206 to 140 million years ago.
Anatomy: Ichthyosaurus was about 6.5 feet (2 m) long and ay have weighed about 200
pounds (90 kg). It had a tall dorsal fin, a half-moon-shaped tail, paddle-like flippers, and
smooth skin. The nostrils were near the eyes on the top of the head. It had massive ear
bones and large eyes, probably indicating that it had acute hearing and keen eyesight.
These marine reptiles gave birth to live young.

6. john dory fish
The John Dory (Zeus faber) is an olive
green-colored fish with a black spot
on the side. These weak swimmers
live near the sea floor, when it is
from 15-120 ft (5-360 m) deep. John
Dory are found in Western Indian
Ocean, the eastern Atlantic Ocean,
the Mediterranean Sea, and off New
Zealand and Japan. They are edible.
Anatomy: John Dory have 10 long, distinctive spines on their dorsal fin. They average about
2 feet (60 cm) long and weigh roughly 5 pounds (2.4 kg). These fish are covered with tiny
scales.

7. manta ray
Manta rays (Manta birostris) are the
largest rays and are closely related to
sharks. These harmless fish have a short
tail, a flat body, and no stinging spine.
Rays have no bones, only cartilage.
These huge ray rays are over 22 feet
(6.7 m) wide and up to 3,000 pounds
(1350 kg).
Mantas are very acrobatic; they can even leap from the water. Remoras (another type of
fish) are frequently seen with mantas, staying near the manta's mouth (even going inside
the gill cavities). The remoras probably feed on parasites on the manta's body and eat bits
of the manta's food.

8. Lemon shark
The lemon shark's back is deep yellow
(giving it its name); its belly is off-white. It
is used extensively in scientific research
since it does well in captivity. It is requiem
shark that is fairly common along the
southeast coast of the USA.
The triangular teeth are slightly curved.
These long, thin, sharp teeth are
designed to catch slippery fish, the
mainstay of the lemon shark's diet.
A young lemon shark loses an entire set of teeth, one at a time, every 7-8 days. The teeth are
located in rows which rotate into use as needed. The first two rows are used in obtaining
prey, the other rows rotate into place as they are needed. As teeth are lost, broken, or worn
down, they are replaced by new teeth that rotate into place.

9. Lobster
Lobsters are animals that have a tough shell and
live on the ocean floor. There are many different
types of lobsters, including the Maine (or
American) lobster (an aggressive lobster with
large front claws), the spiny lobster, and crayfish.
Lobsters are invertebrates, animals without a
backbone. Lobsters are cold-blooded; their body
temperature depends on the temperature of the
wate
Anatomy: This crustacean has a hard
exoskeleton, 4 pairs of jointed walking legs, a
segmented body, sensory antennae, a tail fan,
and compound eyes on stalks.
Diet: Lobsters are carnivores (meat-eaters). Most lobsters are nocturnal (most active at
night). They are predators that eat crabs, clams, worms, snails, mussels, flounder, and other
lobsters.

10. Queen Conch or Pink
Conch
The Queen Conch or Pink Conch (Strombus
gigas, named by Linnaeus in 1758) is a
gastropod, a soft-bodied type of mollusk that
is protected by a very hard shell. This
invertebrate (animal without a backbone) is
found in warm shallow waters in grassbeds of
the Caribbean Sea.
Conchs are eaten by many animals, including
rays and people. The beautiful shell is also
collected by people; the shell is also used for
jewelry and for conch trumpets. The Queen
Conch is a relatively slow-growing animal.

11. Purple Sea Urchin
The purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus
purpuratus) is a small sea urchin. It is a spiny,
hard-shelled animal that lives on the rocky
seafloor, from shallow waters to great depths. It
is found off the west coast of North America, in
the Pacific Ocean, from Canada to the Baja
peninsula. It lives from the intertidal zone down
to depths of about 33 feet (10 m). These globular
marine invertebrates move very slowly along the
seabed.
Adult Anatomy: The purple sea urchin
averages about 3 1/4 inches (8.5 cm)
across; the spines are about 1/3 inch
(1 cm) long. This bottom-dweller
ranges from a light purple to a deep
reddish-purple color (juveniles are
green).

12. Sand Dollar
The Sand Dollar is a spiny, hard-skinned animal
that is shaped like a coin (a flattened disk). There
are many different species of sand dollars. They
live on the sandy sea floor, from the intertidal
zone (the area between high tide and low tide)
down to the subtidal zone (the area below low
tide). Most sand dollars are found at depths of
30 to 40 feet (9-12 m). Sand dollars partly bury
themselves under the sand, with an edge poking
up out of the sand. You can often find the dead
"shell" of a sand dollar (called a "test") washed
Sand Dollars are echinoderms (which up on sandy beaches. If you break open a test,
means "spiny skin") and are related to there are many hard, loose, white pieces; these
sea urchins and sea stars. Their tiny were the teeth of the Sand Dollar.
larvae (baby Sand Dollars) travel many
miles as they are swept along by ocean
currents.

13. Bowhead Whale
The bowhead whale is an Arctic baleen
whale with a large, bow-shaped head that is
up to 40% of its body length. The arched
mouth is up to 10 feet (3 m) wide and 20
feet (6 m) deep. Bowheads live in pods, are
rich in blubber (a subcutaneous fat layer 20-
inch (50 cm) thick in places), and have 2
blowholes.
Anatomy: Bowhead whales grow to be about 50-60 feet (15-18.5 m) long, weighing over 80-110
tons (72-91 tonnes). The bowhead whale's skin is usually black with a white spot on the lower
snout. Calves are blue to gray colored. Bowheads have no dorsal fin and no throat grooves.
Bowheads have short, narrow flippers; the flukes (tail) are 27 feet (8.1 m) wide. The eyes are
very small and lips are huge. The females are slightly larger than males, as with all baleen
whales.

14. angelfish
There are over 70 different species of
Angelfish found in warm ocean waters
around much of the world; a few species
are from fresh water. Angelfish belong to
the family Pomacanthus. These brightly-
colored fish live in coral reefs in tropical
seas and shallow subtropical waters.
Angelfish reproduce by laying hundreds of
eggs at a time.
The Emperor Angelfish (Pomocanthus
imperator, also known as the Imperator
Anatomy: The Emperor Angelfish grows to be Angel) is a warm-water ocean fish. The
about 12 to 15 inches (30-38 cm) in the wild. juveline and adult Emperor Angelfish have
Angelfish have a flattened body. The first gill very different coloration. The juveniles are
cover has a spine; this can help distinguish striped black and white; adults are yellow,
Angelfish from the closely-related butterfly blue, black, and white.
fish.

15. angel shark
Angelsharks are benthic sharks (bottom-
dwellers) that hide in the sand and mud by
day and hunt in the reefs by night. They
have a flattened body and long, wide fins
that look like wings, giving these sharks their
name. These slow-swimming predators are
sometimes called monkfish because the
blunt snout looks like a monk's hood
Different species of Angelsharks live on
ocean floors at depths from 10 to 4,300
feet (3 to 1300 m). They live in warm
Diet: Angelsharks eat fish, crustaceans, temperate oceans, mostly in the southern
and mollusks (like squid). hemisphere.
Anatomy: The Pacific Angelshark is up to 5 feet (1.5 m) long. It has tan skin with brown
markings. It has large spiracles near the eyes, which are used for respiration.
Classification: Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Class Chondrichthyes,
Order Squatiniformes, Family Squatinidae (angelsharks).

16. Killer whale
The orca or killer whale is a toothed whale
that is an efficient predator, even attacking
huge young blue whales. Their only enemy is
human beings. Orcas live in small, close-knit,
life-long pods and have 1 blowhole. The killer
whale belongs to the family of dolphins and is
the biggest dolphin. It is sometimes called the
"wolf of the sea" because its behavior is
similar to that of wolves.
Orcas grow to be about 27-33 feet (8-10 m)
The Orca's skin is mostly black with distinctive long, weighing more than 8,000-12,000
white patches. Orcas have stocky bodies and a pounds (3.600-5.400 kg). The male orca is
rounded head with a distinctive beak. They larger than the female. They are the largest
have a tall, falcate (sickle-shaped) dorsal fin member of the dolphin family.
and large, paddle-like flippers. The dorsal fin
of the male is taller (up to 6 ft tall) and more
upright than that of the female (whose dorsal
fin is up to 4 ft tall).

17. manatee
Manatees are aquatic mammals that are called
sea cows (named this by Georg Wilhelm Steller,
because they taste like beef). These plant eaters
are slow swimmers; they have two flippers,
each of which has three to four nails on the end
(there are no external hind limbs). Short
whiskers adorn the short, boxy snout.
Manatees are closely related to the elephant
and the hyrax (a small mammal that looks like a
rodent)! Many years ago, there were legends
that sailors, seeing manatees from a long
distance, thought they were mermaids.
The average adult manatee grows to be about 10-12 feet (3-3.6 m) long and weighs about
1,000-1,800 pounds (450-800 kg).
The average adult manatee grows to be about 10-12 feet (3-3.6 m) long and weighs about
1,000-1,800 pounds (450-800 kg).

18. octupus
The Octopus: The word octopus means
"eight feet." Octopuses are solitary, eight-
armed animals that live on the ocean floor.
There are over 100 different species of
octopuses. The Giant Octopus is the biggest
octopus. This huge mollusk is up to 23 ft (7
m) from arm tip to arm tip, weighing up to
400 pounds (182 kg). The smallest is the
Californian octopus, which is only 3/8 inch
(1 cm) long.
Anatomy: An octopus has a soft body and eight arms. Each arm has two rows of suction cups. If
it loses an arm, it will eventually regrow another arm. It has blue blood. An octopus has an eye
on each side of its head and has very good eyesight. An octopus cannot hear.

19. Jelly fish
Jellyfish are fish-eating animals that float in the
sea - only a few jellyfish live in fresh water.
They have soft bodies and long, stinging,
poisonous tentacles that they use to catch fish.
Venom is sent out through stinging cells called
nematocysts. A jellyfish is 98% water.
There are many types of jellyfish. The smallest
jellyfish are just a few inches across. The
largest jellyfish is the lion's mane (Cyanea
capillata), whose body can be over 3 feet (1 m)
across, with much longer tentacles. Some
Many animals eat jellyfish, including sea jellyfish glow in the dark (this is called
turtles and some fish (including the sun fish). phosphorescence). Some of the deadliest
Classification: Kingdom Animalia, Phylum jellies include the box jelly (Genus Carybdea)
Cnidaria (corals, jellyfish, sea anemones, and the tiny, two-cm-across Irukandji jelly
hydrozoans), Class Scyphozoa (Jellyfish), many (Carukia barnesi); the venomous sting of these
Orders, Families, Genera and Species. jellyfish can kill a person.

20. Sea horse
Seahorses are a type of small fish that have
armored plates all over their body (they don't
have scales). There are about 50 different
species of seahorses around the world. They
live in seaweed beds in warm water and are
very slow swimmers. Seahorses can change
their color to camouflage (hide) themselves in
order to hide from enemies. The most unusual
seahorse is the Australian sea horse, which has
leaf-like camouflage all over its body, making it
almost disappear in the seaweed bed.
Anatomy: Seahorses have a long, horse-like head (hence their name) and a curled tail.
Seahorses range in size from under a centimeter long (Pygmy Seahorses) to about 1 foot (30 cm)
long.
Reproduction: The female seahorse produces eggs, but they are held inside the male's body
until they hatch; he is pregnant for about 40 to 50 days. The sea horse is the only animal in
which the father is pregnant.

21. Swordfish
The Swordfish, Xiphias gladius, is a fast-swimming fish
that has a long, sharp bill. Swordfish may swim up to 60
mph (100 kph). They are found worldwide in all tropical,
subtropical, and temperate seas, from the surface down
to 400 or 500 fathoms. Swordfish migrate from rich
feeding grounds to spawning grounds each year. Their life
span may be about 9 years.
Diet: Swordfish are carnivores (meat-eaters). They
eat squid, octopus, fish, and crustaceans. Swordfish often
kill their prey by swinging their sharp bill from side to side
in a school of fish. They then eat the dead and wounded
fish.
Predators: Swordfish have very few predators. Orcas, sperm whales, some large sharks, and
people eat swordfish.
Anatomy: The biggest swordfish are about 14.5 ft (4.5 m) long, and 1190 pounds (540 kg) in
weight. Females are larger than males.
Reproduction: Females produce tens of millions of eggs and fertilization is external.