Dispatch 13 – Critter Cam
Now that the “MOCNESS” plankton net samples are on board, Stephanie Wilson and colleagues are hard at work using microscopes to identify the tiny marine organisms caught at different depths in the ocean. Here is just a selection of their favorite critters caught thus far during VERTIGO.
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- This angler fish looks like aa big scary monster but is only an inch long! It is commonly called a sea devil as its skin it covered with small spines. The black dot next to the fish is its lure, which is used to catch dinner.
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- This is a very large calanoid copepod called Gaussia. It is a female and just less than a centimeter long. It is much larger than other common copepods and hopped right out of the dish I used to look at it under the scope. This image is not a silhouette, the copepod is actually black. A handy color to be when trying to avoid predators a night (as is red)! (Photo by Stephanie Wilson)
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- Squids have not been very common in our net tows although this species was caught twice. Notice that it is clear; you can see right through its body and even its internal organs! This is another handy (non) color to be when trying to avoid predators in the inky darkness of the twilight zone. (Photo by Stephanie Wilson)
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- This is the close up image of the head of a chaetognath, also commonly known as an arrow worm. The shiny gold color bristles on the side of its head are its teeth and can use them to take a nice bite out of another unsuspecting plankton prey. (Photo by Stephanie Wilson)
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- We noticed this large amphipod as it was rolling along the bottom of the bucket we use to collect the animals in our tows. When we picked it up, we saw that it had closed itself off completely with its legs to form a small ball. (Photo by Stephanie Wilson)