Slate-pencil sea urchins are nocturnal feeders, meaning they hunt at night for their food. These urchins are orange-red with pencil-like spines all over. They use these spines to defend themselves, ...

Adult rock beauties usually form long lasting pairs. The rock beauty is the smallest member of the angelfish found in the Atlantic, reaching a maximum size of 1 foot (0.3 meters) long. Rock beauties ...

GPOs have special skin cells called chromatophores that help them change colors to blend in with their surrounding environment. GPOs live in water as deep as 4,900 feet (1,500 meters), and ...

Mote Marine Laboratory is an Equal Opportunity Employer and actively seeks to diversify its work force. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color ...

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 ...

Whitetip reef sharks are a smaller shark species, usually growing no more than 6 feet long. Males are slightly larger than females. At night, whitetip reef sharks feed on bottom and cave dwelling reef ...

Females in this species live longer and grow to be bigger than their male counterparts. Blacknose sharks can be found in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea living in coastal ...

Females in this species give birth to young in the springtime. These small fish range from pink and orange to red and white. They have large eyes and sharp head spines. Their name comes from the deep ...

The oceans are our passion. Marine science is our mission. As an independent, nonprofit institution with 38 programs and centers in our global research enterprise, Mote champions conservation and the ...

On average, the blue striped grunt grows to 12-14 inches (30.5 - 35.5 cm). Bluestriped grunts are bright yellow with neon blue stripes from head to tail. Their tails and dorsal fins are yellow with ...

Olive rockfish can grow up to 24 inches (61 centimeters) long. Olive rockfish are commonly found in kelp forests and rocky reefs along the Pacific coast, often schooling near the surface or midwater.

French grunts are commonly found at 6.7 inches (17.0 cm) long. In the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic Ocean, French grunts live near rocky surfaces, coral reefs, seagrass beds, lagoons and other ...