Mud eel’s wonky body may help it ambush prey
A pair of sea-floor-dwelling eels found off the coast of West Africa have lopsided features that may help them operate as ‘sit-and-wait’ ambush predators
Two-headed porpoise caught in fishing net is first ever found
Fishers caught more than they bargained for when they pulled out the first known two-headed porpoise, one of only 10 recorded cases of cetacean conjoined twins
Ocean plastics from Haiti’s beaches turned into laptop packaging
Laptop packaging is an unlikely new destination for plastic otherwise destined for oceans – but will it make a difference to the clean-up efforts?
Giant bumphead parrotfish begin mating in their hundreds
The metre-long fish, which live on tropical reefs, usually mate in pairs. An uptick in their numbers around Palau may explain why they have begun mass mating
Corals that grow faster in warm water could beat climate change
The unique history of the Red Sea means that reefs in its northern part may be able to adapt to higher water temperatures, at least for a while
Pregnant rays tangled in trawler nets have small, sickly babies
Rays, and possibly sharks, could suffer reproductive loss from being dragged around by fishing nets before being released
Seabed images show the scars icebergs carve into polar sea floor
A new atlas shows scars gouged into polar sea floors by glaciers and icebergs in unprecedented detail, which could help our understanding of how they behave
First living example of giant ancient mollusc found in the wild
The giant shipworm has mostly been known for its elephant tusk-like shells. Now we’ve finally found some live ones - they eat noxious mud and smell like rotten eggs
Sea urchin emits a cloud of venomous jaws to deter predators
When predators get too close, this normally serene pincushion releases hundreds of tiny “jaws” that pack a nasty chemical punch
Mass bleaching hits Great Barrier Reef for second year in a row
The reef’s central portion is bleaching fast this year, following huge losses in the northern part last year – and climate change is the culprit