Whale sharks are filter feeding sharks that grow to an impressive length of about 12.2 m (40 ft) and can weigh upto 13.6 tonnes. Only called a whale due to it’s massive stature, the whale shark is actually a fish and not a mammal and it holds the record for being the largest living fish on the planet.Whale sharks are believed to have originated about 60 million years ago and have an average life span of 70 years.

With white spot much like stars on the back of this massive yet magnificent fish, whale sharks are gentle and people friendly creatures unlike its other shark relatives. An absolute joy to dive or snorkel with they are quite an attraction to divers in dive destinations around the world. A fan of tropical and warm oceans encounter with these gentle giants are common in places around the world like the Philippines, Thailand, off the Seychelles, Christmas Island, South Africa, Mozambique, Belize, Honduras, Mexico and Western Australia. Many dive operators in these regions offer special whale shark diving tours during the seasons sightings are common. The chances of seeing a whale shark in around Phuket in Thailand is very high between February and May every year.

Swimming with a whale shark is an experience of a lifetime and a must do for any diver. So there next time you’re looking for an adventure holiday put diving with the largest fish on the planet on that list and make sure to check it off in this lifetime!

*Image Credits: photos by Marcel_Ekkel on flickr

Diving With Whale Sharks: An Experience Of A Lifetime was written by Noreen for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

First discovered in 1939, the barreleye fish had scientists and marine biologists guessing and trying to figure out the mystery behind this unusual sea creature. Earlier the fish had been noticed when it was caught in fishing nets, however, it’s transparent head is destroyed once the fish died, making it hard to study why the creature is as such. It wasn’t until the researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute captured videos of a live specimen using the institute’s remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and studied the bizarre fish off the coast of Central California.

Named for its barrel-shaped, tubular eyes which are generally directed upwards, the barreleye fish’s (Macropinna microstoma) eyes were believed to be fixed in place were assumed to provide only a “tunnel-vision” view of whatever was directly above the fish’s head. However, this would mean that it would be impossible for the fish to see what was directly in front of them, and very difficult for them to capture prey with their small, pointed mouths. The ROVs sent down to the depths of 2,000 to 2,600 feet (600 to 800 meters) showed that these unusual eyes of the fish could rotate within a transparent shield that covered the fish’s head. This allows the barreleye to peer up at potential prey or focus forward to see what it is eating. The fish can rotate its tubular eyes as it turns its body literally from a horizontal to a vertical position.

Not very big fish themselves, barreleyes are thought to eat small fishes and jellyfish. The green pigments in their eyes that you can see through their transparent heads is believed to filter out sunlight coming directly from the sea surface, to help the barreleye spot the bioluminescent glow of jellies or other animals directly overhead. When it spots its prey (such as a drifting jelly), a barreleye rotates its eyes forward and swims upward, in feeding mode.

Here’s a video of the strange see through headed barreleye fish by MBARI:

* Photo credits: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

The Bizarre Transparent Headed Barreleye Fish was written by Noreen for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

For those of you who are wondering what a Dugong is? Dugongs or Sea Cows are rare marine herbivorous mammals that closely resemble dolphins or whales in appearance but are related to elephants and are referred to as ‘sea cows’ because their diet consists mainly of sea-grass. Often confused with Manatee, that are found only in Florida, Dugongs have different shaped tails and swim in the shallow coastal waters were they find protection from large waves and storms. These unusual creatures are rapidly facing extinction as their numbers gradually decline, making dugong sightings for divers a rare thing indeed.

Abu Dabab is a semi-circular bay with a sandy bottom covered in patches of sea grass. With a maximum depth of just 15m-20m and shallows of 3m the bay is relatively shallow, however with the size of several football fields to cover, locating Dennis and Dougal is no easy feat.  Scuba Divers visiting Abu Dabab are required to fan out and dive 3-4 meters apart to maximize their chances of spotting the dugongs so if one is spotted, the others divers can signal in the rest of the group. Though difficult to find at first, once spotted, the dugongs attract large groups of people to it.

The Dugongs of Marsa Alam are so popular that ever increasing  groups of snorkelers join divers everyday just to get a glimpse of the creatures. One often feels sorry for the Dugong as tourists come within inches from the Dugong despite the fact that It is required to remain a minimum distance of 3- 4 meters away from the dugong at all times. However despite the large gatherings of divers and snorkelers all around, the Dugongs of Marsa Alam do not seem to be bothered as they proceed with their non-stop cow-like grazing.  This behavior is fairly unique as Dugong are known to be extremely shy creatures and will retreat whenever a boat or diver approaches.

Abu Dabab dives are all shore dives, and apart from the area’s most popular inhabitants, there are plenty of other interesting creatures that visit the sea grass beds such as guitar sharks, turtles and remoras. Large green turtles are frequently sighted in the reef and will also graze on the lush sea grass patches. Remoras frequently accompany the Turtles, Dugong or the occasional unusual looking guitar shark removing the parasites off them while hitching a lift across the bay. Still visibility is not too great, and apart from the above mentioned inhabitants and sea grass, there isn’t much else to see in the bay.

The main attraction of the Abu Dabab dives still remains the unique opportunity to witness this fascinating species that will one day sadly be extinct.  As you witness the smiling cow-like clumsy creature vacuum up the sea floor, you can’t help but feel frustrated that there are so few Dugong left in the world. So if you haven’t seen a Dugong yet and have it on your list of marine creatures to see, head on down to Egypt’s Marsa Alam and try your luck to trying to catch a glimpse of Dennis and Dougal.

photos from flickr by: m for matthijs , Frank Gloystein

Dive with Dennis & Dougal the Dugongs in Abu Dabab was written by Nevin for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

Many years ago I saw several large squid off Green Cape south of Eden, New South Wales, Australia. I have been a diver for over 50 years, 30 years professional abalone diver from Lakes Entrance to Coffs Harbour and since 1992 to today still an active amateur diver also working with different underwater research divers and groups since 1992 for a period of 10 years. I have dived to depths of 198 ft deep and many depths between this also spent several years in the 1960’s hunting sharks and catching crayfish underwater for a living. So plenty of opportunity to observe marine species.

At the time of the sighting unusual weather conditions prevailed.

Early in the morning of said day a thick sea mist rolled in, as all that week we had experienced hot conditions and the water was quite warm. A cool breeze was blowing across the surface of the ocean. We set off from Eden in my boat, which is a 30 ft Timber Cruiser. We could clearly see all around us with the Radar and observe our position on the GPS. As we crossed the bay we observed on the radar a large echo from a 50,000-ton Japanese Wood Chip Boat entering the bay. Woodchips are exported from Eden (Australia) to Japan.

As we progressed across the bay I noticed another smaller echo heading rapidly for the chip boat, this was a shark cat abalone boat as portrayed by the classic secondary echo from the rooster tail wash or wake bar echo’s. We noticed it seemed to head straight into the chip boats echo then disappear.

A couple of days later the deck hand from the shark cat told us his boss had decided to go out diving that day in the dense fog and they nearly rammed the side of the chip boat.

On the south side of Twofold Bay near Eden is a woodchip mill that turns native forest timber into woodchips to be exported by ship to Japan for use in paper manufacturing.

We proceeded down the coast to Green Cape some 18 miles south of Eden where I anchored in the fog just a few yards offshore. Usually most Sea mist disappears by 10 am but this particular day it did not clear until 3 PM. A sea swell started to build so at about 4 in the afternoon I moved the boat offshore and anchored in about 80 ft of water.

I dived in and pulled myself down the anchor rope, visibility was clear to murky with much jelly blubber and sediment in the water. The first 40 ft was quite warm then I struck cold layer of water about 16 degrees C the unusual thing I noticed is that the current was flowing from North to South which that close to Green Cape traditionally and usually run from South to North inshore along the coast, also one would expect a current flowing from a Northerly direction would contain warmer waters instead of cold. As I swam deeper I came back into warmer water. I found a drop off from the “barren’s” reef edge onto sand and started to gather abalone.

After about 10 minutes or so I was in the process of starting to swim out from the edge of the reef across the sand to deeper water to search for more reef. Upon looking towards the surface it was then that I saw the squid. I literally froze with fear. I could see about four or five of them in about 60 ft deep, which would put them in the cooler layer of water flowing in a southerly direction. The largest was about 35 to 40 ft long including a couple of longer thinner tentacles protruding out of the main group of thicker tentacles. The smaller of these squid were about 14 or 15 foot long. Further into the gloom to the south I could dimly see another half dozen dim shapes just drifting along with the current.

Normally Giant squid are usually down thousands of feet in the pitch black. They can just hang motionless as their body contains pockets of ammonia that help them stabilize buoyancy.

They can also luminesce their eye flashing blue and red. This attracts in prey, which they quickly seize with their massive tentacles. I suppose what had happened with the unusual counter clockwise current it had swept them up from their underwater domain from canyons thousands of feet deep.

I do not know how long I observed them but in the end I slowly pulled myself along the diving hose back to the boat.

By this time it was starting to get dark so we lifted the anchor, put the boat on autopilot and headed home to Eden, The sky went quite dark and it started to rain, then I noticed on the radar about six miles out to sea two very intense echo’s on the radar screen. I would estimate them about 60 ft in diameter and about quarter of a mile apart. Suddenly the came together and formed a cigar shaped echo across the radar screen.

As the radar swept around the cigar shaped echo jumped across the screen towards us. Because of the strange weather conditions that day I imagined the two intense echoes might have been two Waterspouts and that they had collapsed into a mini tidal wave that was bearing down on us quite rapidly. I made a fast decision and told my deck hand to secure the forward anchor hatch and throw anything loose down into the fore part of my boat, along with the blankets, pillows and bedding. I thought we would head full speed towards the onrushing wave and just before it struck both of us would dive into the fore part of my boat, and maybe survive the impact.

As the echo neared my vessel I peered out into the gloom and heard a loud rushing noise. I sighted what I thought was a long wall of white water rushing towards us, it simply turned out to be an intense wall of rain chopping up the water. I did not have time to turn into it and as it struck the boat like a solid fist the whole vessel heeled over.

Then we were in the midst of the storm there was water everywhere, Lightning was striking the water around the boat and all the electrical equipment on the boat went haywire. The motor kept running being diesel powered but the compass spun around and all other equipment failed. The chap who was with me called out ‘look at the rails’ and I noticed the stainless handrails were emitting a blue glow and I looked up at the steel radar tower and metal flying bridge and they were also emitting the same blue glow.

Within a couple of minutes we came out of the storm and the sea calmed down to a long rolling swell and the skies cleared and the stars were visible. We looked to the south of us and saw the storm like a mini cloud at sea level with angry orange flashes within it.

The next day a low pressure trough came into the state bringing large rough seas and some flooding occurred for about four or five day’s.

Another such Giant Squid Encouter I’ve heard of:

A Brisbane based company WBM that I assisted with marine research Monitoring the marine environment around the construction of the Eden Naval Wharf, that have a branch in the US told me of two divers diving during the night, below them water, hundreds of fathoms of deep water.

One diver down at about 90 ft and the other another 30 ft below him in over 120 ft. Both were collecting marine specimens with use of torches and catcher equipment.

Suddenly the diver in 90 ft looked down as his diving buddy’s torchlight suddenly started to wave violently around and along with his mate disappears into the depths.

Later as his diving buddy rapidly surfaced and told him he had been grabbed by a large squid and quickly taken down to over 350 ft then released unhurt, and luckily for him had made it back to the surface.

- Peter (Aquaman)

A Scuba Diver’s First-Hand Story of His Encounter With Giant Squids was written by Noreen for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

Similar to anemone, sea pens are colonial marine cnidarians belonging to the order Pennatulacea, in other words they are a colony of polyps working together for the survival of the whole. The primary polyp loses its tentacles and becomes the stalk of the sea pen, with a bulb at its base—the bulb anchors the sea pen in the muddy or sandy bottom. The various secondary polyps form the sea pen’s “branches” and have specialized functions. The Sea Pen may grow up to 2 meters (6.6 ft) in some species, such as the tall sea pen (Funiculina quadrangularis) and are sometimes brightly colored. Rarely found above depths of 10 meters (33 ft), sea pens prefer deeper waters where turbulence is less likely to uproot them.

The Sea Pens primary source of nutrition and food is plankton. Though they don’t move around often, they are able relocate and re-anchor themselves if need be. They tend to position themselves favorably in the path of currents, ensuring a steady flow of plankton. Their primary predator and as unlikely predators as they seem are nudibranchs and sea stars some of which feed exclusively on sea pens.

Some sea pens when touched emit a bright greenish light, known as bioluminescence. They may also force water out of themselves as a defensive act, deflating and retreating into their peduncle. So the next time you’re diving keep a look out for these beautiful marine creatures in tropical and temperate waters worldwide.

*Photo Credits: photos by CW Ye, doug.deep, zlatkarp, Nick Hobgood on flickr

Sea Pens- Not The Underwater Writing Kind was written by Noreen for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

Christmas Tree Worms or Spirobranchus giganteus, are tiny cone shaped tube-dwelling worms that have spectacular twin spiral plumes containing feather-like tentacles that serve as the worms ‘mouth’ for filter feeding, as well as act as its breathing apparatus or ‘gills’. These creatures do not move, but instead anchor themselves into live coral. The worm builds a tube on the surface of the coral, and as the coral grows, the tube gets buried inside the skeleton of the coral itself. Only the two Christmas tree like feathery crowns are exposed of the worm, which it uses to catch plankton with.

The Christmas Tree Worm if threatened can withdraw its feathery head within the blink of an eye. They are very sensitive to disturbances, and even the slightest touch, disturbance in the water or even a passing shadow can cause the worm to retract its head, which it will re-emerge in a minute or so gradually testing its surroundings before reaching its fully extended state.

Instantly recognizable by its bright colors, Christmas tree worms range from orange, yellow, blue, and white, and additionally several different color combinations and patterns. This species is widely distributed throughout the world’s tropical oceans, known to occur from the Caribbean to the Indo-Pacific.

While the importance of the Christmas Tree Worm to the coral reef or its direct benefit or harm  it causes to the coral itself is unknown, the worm is an extremely popular underwater photographic subjects for scuba divers as its varied colors and complex spiral structure is magnificent to behold.

photos from flickr by: divemasterking2000, Boogies with Fish, will48324, Nick Hobgood

Hark Herald the Christmas Tree Worm was written by Nevin for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

Completely unrelated to terrestrial spiders or Arachnids, despite resembling them in appearance, Sea Spiders belong to the marine species known as Pycnogonida. This species have long legs in contrast to a very narrow and small body size and unlike terrestrial spiders, have varying pairs of legs depending on the species ranging from four pairs (Eight Legs), five and even six pairs (twelve) of legs!

There are over 1300 known species of Sea Spider, ranging in size from 1 to 10 millimeters to over two feet in length. However most range in the 1-10mm size range which makes them difficult to spot.

Sea Spiders are especially prevalent in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas and the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans and most of the smaller ones live in relatively shallow depths while those found in deeper waters around the poles are considerably larger.

These unique marine dwelling creatures have two pairs of feeding appendages with pincers and a proboscis mouth at the ends and stab and suck the nourishment out of their victims which mainly comprise of small marine worms and sea-anemones, sponges and bryozoans.

Quite unusually, the Sea Spider has no respiratory system, owing to its tiny body size, and gases are taken in and out through diffusion.

Researchers have recently been studying the Sea Spiders found in the deep frigid waters of the Southern Ocean as part of an international project to take a census of Antarctic marine life. The species of Sea Spiders found here are known as Giant Sea Spiders growing to unusually large sizes (1-2 feet) due to a phenomenon called gigantism which is commonly found in creatures inhabiting the deep waters of the Antarctic. What is fascinating is that these Giant Sea Spiders were found at depths as much as 7000 feet deep, in the complete absence of any light whatsoever.

While you may not get the chance to spot these Giant Sea Spiders in the depths of the oceans around the poles, your best chance of capturing the smaller sea spiders is probably around the rock pools during low tide. Scuba Divers passionate about underwater macro photography simply cannot resist the draw of capturing one these tiny bizarre creatures on camera if they manage to spot them. With over 1300 different species of Sea Spider, no wonder they are adored by photographers and divers alike.

photos from flickr by: Ken-ichi , asbjorn.hansen, MuseumWales

Itsy Bit-Sea Spiders was written by Nevin for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

Ghost Pipefish also better known as False Pipefish or Tube mouth Fish, are in fact not members of the Pipefish family, but are closely related to the Pipefish and sea horse family, which is perhaps why the Ghost Pipefish while having the long tube-like snout taking up 1/3 of its size is similar to the pipefish, and its body covered with external plates making its appearance and size more like a seahorse.

They are found in tropical waters of the Indian Ocean primarily and also known to be found in the western pacific up to Japan. Ghost Pipefish are tiny creatures that grow no longer than 6 inches (15cm) and are found in waters ranging from 3-30m (9-98ft) mostly around coral reefs. Ghost Pipefish feed on tiny crustaceans like shrimp, mysids (opossum shrimps) and benthic creatures that live in the substrate or seabed. These creatures are almost vacuumed up into the Ghost Pipefish’s long snout.

Ghost pipefish spend most of their lives with their head/mouth facing downwards, floating near motionlessly around coral or rocks that they blend in with making them nearly impossible to see. These fascinating creatures are also known to change their color to blend in with their backgrounds, and additionally change their shape as well, adding to their mystery and intrigue.

Some of the more well-known types of Ghost Pipefish are the Ornate, Robust and the Rough Ghost Pipefish.

Ornate Ghost Pipefish (Harlequin Ghost Pipefish)
The Ornate Ghost pipefish also known as the Harlequin Ghost Pipefish is probably the most easily identifiable type of Ghost Pipefish, owing to its elaborate form, well developed fins and brighter variable colors and spots or bands make it a prize for underwater photographers and scuba divers. Ornate Ghost Pipefish are normally found close to featherstars, soft coral, sea pens and black coral and grow up to 11cms in length.

Robust Ghost Pipefish
Varies from Green to brown and is known to mimic the appearance of rotting sea grass or sea weed and is very difficult to spot. This species of Ghost Pipefish grows up to 15cms (6 inches) and is found in lagoons and coastal bays and areas containing sea grass.

Rough Ghost Pipefish
The Rough Ghost pipefish grows to 12cms in length and is reddish brown and covered with rough scales that make it look like algae.

Photo Credits: photos by PacificKlaus, Nick Hobgood,Stephen Childs,ray ellersick on flickr

Ghost Pipefish was written by Nevin for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

With well over 16,000 marine fish species, these next 5 fish don’t even make a dent in the catalog of fish you probably haven’t even heard of but we thought we’d start somewhere. Here are some pretty Bizarre Fish you won’t forget that easily-

Crocodile Fish

Aptly named for it’s resemblance to a crocodile, this unusual looking flathead species belongs to the flathead family Platycephalidae. This bottom-dwelling ambush hunter, feeds largely on smaller fish and crustaceans and is also known as De Beaufort’s flathead or crocodile flathead. It’s closely related to scorpionfish and stonefish. The crocodilefish is a mottled brown or green and grey color, ideal to camouflaged with their habitat, on a sandy or rubble sea bed. They are native to the western Pacific region including Philippines, Borneo, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Palau, and even Indonesia. They can reach a length of 50 centimeters (20 in) and have very photographic eyes especially for underwater macro photography. Unlike actual crocodiles though, divers who come across a crocodile fish have little to worry about as the fish often remains very still, even if humans approach them.

Ocean Sunfish (Mola Mola)

This strange fish (yes, it is a fish!) that looks more like a gigantic rock or fossil is actually the heaviest known bony fish in the world. The Mola Mola, as the Ocean Sunfish is also known can grow up to 1.8 – 3.3m (5.9- 10.8 ft) and can weigh a staggering 1,000 kg (2,200 lbs)! Native to temperate and tropical waters around the World, this Pelagic fish can swim to depths of about 600 m (2,000 ft). This monster of a fish is seemingly docile towards humans and many divers have enjoyed the company of the Ocean Sunfish while Scuba diving. The fish however is not so loved by boaters as there have been instances of sunfish colliding with boats while surfacing causing significant damage to the boats. Ocean Sunfish can even jump out the water at the surface up to a height 10 feet (3 meters) in the air and land with a splash to shake off parasites that infest their skin. (For more read: Sumo Wrester of the Seas- The Ocean Sunfish (Mola Mola) )

Sea Lamprey

The Sea Lamprey native to the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America and even found in the Great lakes of America is a weird looking jawless fish. It possess an almost eel like body, but unlike the eel its skeleton is made of cartilage rather than bone. This parasitic fish has an unusual wide oral disc similar to a suction-cup in place of its mouth and is filled with many small teeth arranged in circular rows. While the sea lamprey appears headless it actually has functional eyes and gills just like regular fish, it has a single dorsal and ventral finfolds. Sea lampreys grow up to 1.2 m in length, weighing up to 2.5 kg. They feed on a wide variety of fish like herring, mackerel, salmon, trout and even some sharks usuing they sucker to latch on to the host preventing their blood from clotting until they die of blood loss or infection. Only one in every seven host fish will survive this deadly parasitic fish.

Trumpetfish

Named for its long, thin snout and body to match, the trumpetfish is a relative of the seahorse. Often spotted vertically to blend with vertical coral like sea whips, pipe sponges or sea fans, the trumpetfish is a master of camouflage. They can however sometimes be yellow or green, with blue or purple heads but can still easily change color. Trumpetfish ‘can grow over a meter in length, with its head representing about one third of that length. They are found pretty much all over in coral atoll reefs or in lagoons.

Dolphin Fish

This one you mostly know by its Hawaiian name Mahi-Mahi, but the dolphinfish is no where related to the mammals everyone knows as Dolphins. Found in most temperate, tropical and subtropical waters worldwide, the Mahi-Mahi is a popular for sport fishing as they dwell close to the surface. They also average 7 to 13 kilograms (15 to 29 lb) and come in dazzling colors like golden on the sides and bright blues and greens on the sides and back. It’s meat is popular in restaurants which is where you have hear of it as Mahi-Mahi and not Dolphin-fish.

*Photo Credits: photos by Olivier Egloff, Pachango, coda, fugm10, Nick Hobgood, andrew read, Flawka on flickr. Wikipedia.org (public domain images)

5 Bizarre Fish, You’ve Probably Never Heard Of Before was written by Noreen for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World

“It was a night dive on the wall, and I was busy scanning the rocks and coral illuminated by my dive light’s narrow beam, when my dive master frantically points out a small orange/red clam like creature attached to the wall. Upon closer inspection I was simply mesmerized. The clam had red tentacles through which a blue bolt of electricity seemed to be flashing across back and forth like a tiny lightning bolt that burned bright blue in the darkness. I simply couldn’t take my eyes off this creature.”

The “clam” that the diver above is referring to is actually known as The Electric Flame Scallop, also called the Red Electric Flame Scallop or scientifically known as Lima Sp. Belonging to mollusk family known as Limidae which comprises of only bivalve mollusks which are made up of  scallops, clams, oysters and mussels that have a shell consisting of two rounded plates called valves joined at one edge by a flexible ligament or hinge.

The Electric Flame Scallop, inhabits the waters of the Indo-Pacific, ranges in size from 1 inch to 3 inches when reaching maturity and is instantly recognizable by its soft parts being a flame red color, with several bright red tentacles protruding from the open valves (shell).  What makes this creature even more fascinating is that it seems to create bluish white electricity which can be seen shooting across the mantel like lightning bolts quite visibly in the dark.

While the purpose of the Electricity generated by this creature is unknown, it makes a remarkable spectacle for any night dive where even in the darkness; you can see the flicker of bluish electricity bolts flowing through the scallop’s filaments. For Underwater photography an electric flame scallop is truly a delight to photograph.  During the day, the bio-luminescence isn’t very apparent, which is why electric scallop sightings are more spectacular at night.

The electricity (which is actually a form of bioluminescence)  is not known to be harmful to divers or other creatures, and especially since the electric flame scallop is a filter feeder and feeds off on microscopic phytoplankton and bacterioplankton (omnivorous) it is curious why it possesses such a brilliant ability. Marine Biologists suggest that the light generated by the electric scallop attracts plankton to its filament like tentacles helping it feed from a fixed location.

Often the Electric Flame Scallop is confused with its parent species the Flame Scallop or Lima Scabra which is also similar in appearance, with a red fleshy mantle covered with tentacles, except for the absence of the strip of bio-luminescent tissue on its mantle that sends a flash of color back and forth over the mantle.  Interestingly enough the Flame Scallop, and it’s sub-species the Electric Flame Scallop are not truly scallops but a form of file-clam.

* Photo Credits: photo by Phil Camill on flickr

The Electric Flame Scallop was written by Nevin for Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog - Bringing You The Other 70% Of Our World