Underwater experiments, p.2
Beautiful monsters from the White Sea, season 2011
Beautiful monsters from the White Sea, season 2011
Another part of photos of amazing underwater life from the cold water of the White sea. Tiny creatures live here in the environment you can hardly imagine: water temperature sometimes is below zero, darkness under 20m depth - there is absolutely no light there, strongest tidal currents flow for six hours four times a day. I work in these conditions too... but I have a dry suit, warm underwear and I spend only 1 or 2 hours there. So, there are some creatures much more specialized to live there than me:
Sarsia tubulosa (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) 0,8 cm
Colony of very small crustaceans Ericthonius difformis (Crustacea, Amphipoda) 2-3 mm each
Hydrozoan colony of Ectopleura larynx (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) 9-10 cm the whole colony
Young Cyanea capillata (Cnidara, Scyphozoa) 4 cm
Moon jelly Aurelia aurita (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) 25-30 cm
Living fossil Hemithiris psittacea (Brachiopoda) 1,5 cm, this thing is much older than dinosaurs
Ambulacral legs of sea star Asterias rubens (Echinodermata) 6 cm
Nudibranch Coryphella polaris (Mollusca, Nudibranchia) eating hydrozoan polyp of Tubularia indivisa
The same guys here, but much more beautiful. Very rare scene, really.
Nudibranch Coryphella polaris (Mollusca, Nudibranchia) 4 cm
Trees of gold on the back. Nudibranch Dendronotus frondosus (Mollusca, Nudibranchia) 2 cm
Jellyfish parasite Hyperia galba eating jelly's tentacle (Crustacea, Amphipoda) 0,4 cm
Dark side of Hyperiids. Inside the jelly.
Skeleton shrimp Caprella septentrionalis (Crustacea, Amphipoda) 1,2 cm
Huge deep water anemone Urticina felina (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) 30 cm
Unique basket star Gorgonocephalus arcticus (Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea) 25 cm
Living fireworks. Pair of stalked jellyfish Lucernaria quadricornis (Cnidaria, Stauromedusae) 4 cm
Very strange marine worm Pterosyllis finmarchica (Polychaeta, Syllidae) 1,5 cm
Fluorescence of scaleworm Lepidonotus squamatus in UV light (Polychaeta, Polyniodae) 3 cm
This is only a small part of our underwater world. I'll show you more soon ;)
Stay tuned!
