The Little Blob That Could: The Sea Walnut & The Black Sea
In the 1980s, the Black Sea was overrun by non-native comb jellyfish in a storming that put even the most successful invasive species until that point to shame.
Ocean Features
The Polka-Dotted Hero of the Reef: How Coral Crabs Defend Their Homes
Humans messed up the reef. Now a coral-eating starfish is taking over. Is all lost? Not if the Trapezioidea can help it, it’s not. Sometimes good things really do come in small packages.
Blind Faith: The Reef’s BFFs are a Goby and a Gunslinging Shrimp
Life on the reef is no picnic. These underwater jungles give life to countless fish and invertebrates, but danger lurks in every nook and cranny. Reef inhabitants defend themselves in any way possible: oversized teeth, neurotoxin, barbed spikes, full-body armor. Two unexpected best friends, however, have devised some particularly unusual security measures. The rowdy pistol … Read More
The Sun Coral and the Oil Platform: How Tubastraea Conquered the World
On a coral that doesn’t need light to thrive, and how it conquered the seas half a world away from its place of origin—but not without a little help from Big Industry.