Items44The creator’s order
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Lybia tessellataPom-pom Crab
On shallow reefs, a small mosaic-patterned crab holds a living sea anemone in each claw. The anemones look like pom-poms, but their stinging cells give the crab something more useful than decoration. It can wave them at intruders.0 - 2
MacropinnaBarreleye
The green tubes inside the clear dome are the eyes. A barreleye can hold them upward to look for the silhouettes of prey, then swivel them forward as it closes in. The little dark spots above the mouth are part of its sense of smell.0 - 3
Spirobranchus giganteusChristmas Tree Worm
Two spiral crowns stick out of a tube sunk into living coral. Those feathery branches collect food from the water and help the worm breathe. A disturbance can make both crowns vanish below the coral’s surface.0 - 4
Costasiella kuroshimaeLeaf Sheep
This tiny slug feeds on algae in shallow tropical water. The leaflike projections on its back can hold chloroplasts from the algae it eats. The chloroplasts keep using sunlight for a time inside the slug, while the two dark stalks on its head help it sense its surroundings.0 - 5
Mimic octopusThis octopus reshapes itself on shallow Indo-Pacific sand flats. For one impersonation it hides most of its body in a hole and makes two banded arms ripple like a sea snake. The same flexible body can suggest a flatfish at another moment.0 - 6
Jorunna parvaSea Bunny
A fuzzy-looking body and two dark ear-shaped stalks gave this small sea slug its nickname. The stalks are rhinophores, sensory organs that detect chemicals in the water. Each photographed little bump belongs to the slug’s textured surface.0 - 7
Upside-Down JellyThe jelly rests with its bell against the bottom of a shallow lagoon. Its flowerlike oral arms face the sun, where symbiotic algae in its tissues can make food from light. The pose can make a group look like a patch of plants.0 - 8
Peacock Mantis ShrimpLarge eyes on stalks rise above the face, and the folded front limbs hide club-shaped striking surfaces. The shrimp uses those clubs to crack hard-shelled prey. The striking colors make the folded arms easy to miss at first.0 - 9
Leafy SeadragonThe leafy outline helps it disappear against seaweed and seagrass on cool Australian reefs. Separate fins move the fish, while its tubular mouth sucks up small shrimp. Look for the actual eye among all the foliage-shaped extensions.0 - 10
Lepas anatiferaGoose Barnacle
A flexible stalk attaches to drifting wood and other floating objects. Hard plates protect the body at the free end, and featherlike feeding legs sweep plankton from passing water. From a distance, a cluster can look like a bunch of buds.0
