Thought to have been long extinct, scientists discovered these "living fossils" in 1938. The primitive-looking coelacanth (pronounced SEEL-uh-kanth) was thought to have gone extinct with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But its discovery in 1938 by a South African museum curator ...
Read More
Looking like something out of a science fiction movie, the anglerfish uses a natural lure to draw its next meal nearer. The angry-looking deep sea anglerfish has a right to be cranky. It is quite possibly the ugliest animal on the planet, and it lives in what is easily Earth's ...
Read More
Sockeye salmon are known for their bright red skin, but are actually blue while in the ocean. Only when they return to freshwater to spawn do they turn red. The name sockeye comes from a poor attempt to translate the wordsuk-kegh from British Columbia's native Coast Salish ...
Read More
Leafy sea dragons are brown to yellow in body color and are more ornately adorned than the reddish colored weedies. Sea dragons are some of the most ornately camouflaged creatures on the planet. Adorned with gossamer, leaf-shaped appendages over their entire bodies, they are ...
Read More
The fastest fish in the ocean, sailfish can reach speeds of 68 miles (110 kilometers) per hour. Their large size and spirited fight make them a favorite among trophy fishers. The two main subspecies of sailfish, Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, range throughout the warm and temperate ...
Read More
A streamlined torpedo shape helps flying fish generate enough speed to break the water’s surface, and large, wing-like pectoral fins help get them airborne. Flying fish can be seen jumping out of warm ocean waters worldwide. Their streamlined torpedo shape helps them gather enough ...
Read More
As their name suggests, boa constrictors slowly squeeze their prey to death. Boa constrictors wear some of the most distinctive markings of all reptiles. Depending on the habitat they are trying to blend into, their bodies can be tan, green, red, or yellow, and display cryptic ...
Read More
While no eastern coral snake-related deaths have been reported since the late 1960s, untreated bites can lead to cardiac arrest. A bite from the notoriously venomous eastern coral snake at first seems anticlimactic. There is little or no pain or swelling at the site of the bite, ...
Read More
