When cozying up with would-be predators, cleaner shrimp follow a dependable script. Duke Today, June 20, 2018. It’s a mystery how cleaner shrimp partner with would-be fish predators — sometimes even climbing in their mouths — without getting eaten. A new study reveals how the shrimp convinces fish not to eat them, and the fish conveys that it’s a friend and not a foe. Picked up by National Geographic.
Category Archives: oceans
Pinpointing extinction risks for ocean animals
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Pinpointing extinction risks for ocean animals. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, October 23, 2012. What makes some ocean animals more prone to extinction? An analysis of roughly 500 million years of fossil data for marine invertebrates reveals that ocean animals with small geographic ranges have been consistently hard hit — even when populations are large, the authors report. Picked up by LiveScience.
New study examines how ocean energy impacts life in the deep sea
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New study examines how ocean energy impacts life in the deep sea. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, September 5, 2012. A new study of deep-sea species across the globe aims to understand how natural gradients in food and temperature in the dark, frigid waters of the deep sea affect the snails, clams, and other creatures that live there. Similar studies have been conducted for animals in the shallow oceans, but our understanding of the impact of food and temperature on life in the deep sea — the Earth’s largest and most remote ecosystem — has been more limited. The results will help scientists understand what to expect in the deep sea under future climate change, the researchers say
For deep sea animals, food can be a double-edged sword
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When the dinner bell rings for seafloor scavengers, larger animals get first dibs. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, April 5, 2010. Surplus food can be a double-edged sword for animals in the ocean deep. Picked up by Science News and Down to Earth Magazine.