Sea Life Gallery

Slate pencil sea urchin (Heterocentrotus mammillatus)

Slate pencil sea urchin (Heterocentrotus mammillatus) spines on the sea bed. They are about 10 cm long and act as armour to encase and protect the animal's body. It has long triangular spines that deter predators, and shorter spines underneath to clamp onto the reef. Tahiti, French Polynesia

© BIOS PHOTO/AUSCAPE All rights reserved

Animal, Broken Off, Detritus, Discarded, Echinoderm, Echinoida, Echinoidea, Echinometridae, Fauna, Five Gilled, Five Gills, Heap, Heterocentrotus, Indo Pacific, Invertebrate, Marine, Numerous, Pencil Urchin, Purple, Rd Slate Pencil Urchin, Red, Sea Egg, Sea Life, Sea Urchin, Underwater, Urchins, Wildlife

Bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus)

Bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus), hauled out on ice flow. Burgerbukta Fjord, Spitsbergen Island, Svalbard Archipelago, Norwegian Arctic, Norway

Alaska, Animal, Arctic, Benthic, Bering Sea Wildlife, Blubber, Boreal, Carnivora, Day, Deep Diver, Earless, Erignathus, Eutheria, Fauna, Front View, Full Length, Hunted By Inuit, Lying Down, Mammal, Mammalia, Marine, One Animal, Phocidae, Pinniped, Relaxing, Resting, Scandinavia, Sea Life, Seal, Square Flipper Seal, Traditional Hunting, True Seal, Ventral View, Whiskered, Whiskers, Wildlife

Sponge decorator crab (Hyastenus elatus)

Sponge decorator crab (Hyastenus elatus), an extremely well camouflaged crab, member of the spider crab family, common in Sydney Harbour. Has a pear-shaped carapace with two long rostral projections, nearly as long as the body, and two shorter projections from the rear sides. It is nearly always heavily encrusted with sponge and other sessile animals. Nelson Bay, Port Stephens, New South Wales, Australia

© Mark Spencer/AUSCAPE All rights reserved