Zebra sharks can breathe via buccal pumping. Using muscles to pump water over their gills allows them to breathe while resting on the seafloor instead of continuously swimming. The diet of a zebra ...

Mote Marine Laboratory scientists have restored more than 216,000 corals to Florida’s Coral Reef—an exciting milestone. Starting in 2020, several of our restored corals spawned, engaging in sexual ...

Just like human fingerprints, each spotted eagle ray's spot pattern is unique! Mote scientists use these spot patterns to identify individual rays. Spotted eagle rays feed largely on bivalves and ...

These fish can get up to 20 pounds (9.1 Kilograms) but are commonly found around 5 pounds (2.3 Kilograms). Crevalle jack can be found in the western Atlantic ocean and in the Gulf of Mexico from ...

Mangroves help shield our coastlines from damage caused by storms. Black mangroves are native coastal plants. Despite its name, black mangroves have green leaves that are long and slender in shape.

Masked gobies are protogynous hermaphrodites, meaning they begin as female and transition to male later on in life. Hiding out near the bottom of the water column, masked gobies can be found in shaded ...

Brown banded bamboo sharks can grow to about 3.5 feet (1.10 meters) and can weigh up to 132 pounds (59.9 kilograms). Living in shallow tide pools, brown banded bamboo sharks eat small benthic ...

Unlike many other species of rays, lesser devil rays do not have a spine in their tails. The lesser devil ray's diet consists of pelagic plankton- small organisms found floating in the water column.

After reaching maturity, manatees average 10 feet (three meters) in length and weigh between 800 to 1,200 pounds (360 to 540 kilograms). Originally born at the Miami Seaquarium, Buffett came to Mote ...

When threatened, the swell shark can curve its body into a U shape, and gulp water into its stomach. This causes the shark to swell to almost twice its original size, which makes them difficult to ...

Nettles that live closer to shore in estuary or bay environments tend to be smaller, growing to be 2 inches (5 centimeters) long, while nettles that live in the open ocean grow to 7 inches (19 ...

Crustaceans like, shrimp, peracarids and amphipods are the main course on a potbelly seahorse's menu. With dorsal and pectoral fins, the potbellied seahorse can steer, propel and stabilize itself ...