Acanthuridae are a family of ray-finned fish which includes surgeonfishes, tangs, and unicornfishes. The family includes about 86 extant species of marine fish living in tropical seas, usually around coral reefs. Many of the species are brightly colored and popular in aquaria.
Balaenoptera is a genus of rorquals containing eight extant species. Balaenoptera comprises all but two of the extant species in its family ; the genus is currently polyphyletic, with the two aforementioned species being phylogenetically nested within it.
Thaliacea is a class of marine chordates within the subphylum Tunicata, comprising the salps, pyrosomes and doliolids. Unlike their benthic relatives the ascidians, from which they are believed to have emerged, thaliaceans are free-floating (pelagic) for their entire lifespan. The group includes species with complex life cycles, with both solitary and colonial forms.
François Auguste Péron was a French naturalist and explorer.
A salp or salpa is a barrel-shaped, planktonic tunicate in the family Salpidae. It moves by contracting, thereby pumping water through its gelatinous body; it is one of the most efficient examples of jet propulsion in the animal kingdom. The salp strains the pumped water through its internal feeding filters, feeding on phytoplankton.
Pyrosomes are free-floating colonial tunicates in family Pyrosomatidae. There are three genera, Pyrosoma, Pyrosomella and Pyrostremma, and eight species. They usually live in the upper layers of the open ocean in warm seas, although some may be found at greater depths.
Ibacus peronii, the Balmain bug or butterfly fan lobster, is a species of slipper lobster. It lives in shallow waters around Australia and is the subject of small-scale fishery. It is a flattened, reddish brown animal, up to 23 cm (9 in) long and 14 cm (6 in) wide, with flattened antennae and no claws.
The Venus flytrap sea anemone is a large sea anemone that superficially resembles a Venus flytrap. It closes its tentacles to capture prey or to protect itself. It is a deep ocean species.
Chrysaora is a genus of jellyfish, commonly called the sea nettles, in the family Pelagiidae. The origin of the genus name Chrysaora lies in Greek mythology with Chrysaor, brother of Pegasus and son of Poseidon and Medusa. Translated, Chrysaor means "he who has a golden armament."
Rock oysters are true oysters of the genus Saccostrea, belonging to the subfamily Saccostreinae of the family Ostreidae.
Prionurus microlepidotus, the sixplate sawtail, Australian sawtail or sawtail surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This fish is found in the southwest Pacific Ocean.
Conus dorreensis, common name the pontifical cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.
Aequoreidae is a family of hydrozoans, sometimes called the many-ribbed jellies or many-ribbed jellyfish. There are approximately 30 known species found in temperate and tropical marine coastal environments. Aequoreids include Aequorea victoria, the organism from which the green fluorescent protein gene was isolated.
Pyrosoma atlanticum is a pelagic species of marine colonial tunicate in the class Thaliacea found in temperate waters worldwide. The name of the genus comes from the Greek words pyros meaning 'fire' and soma meaning 'body', referring to the bright bioluminescence sometimes emitted. The specific epithet atlanticum refers to the Atlantic Ocean, from where the first specimen of the species was collected for scientific description; it was described in 1804 by François Péron, a French naturalist.
Thetys vagina, or the twin-sailed salp, is the largest known solitary species of salp and the only valid species of the genus Thetys. First described by W.G Tilesius in 1802, the species is transparent and gelatinous, making it difficult to be seen in water, which is helpful in avoiding predators. The fossil range is very recent. Other animals often mistaken for T. vagina are Salpa fusiformis, Aurelia aurita, and Pegea confoederata. There is no known status of conservation in this species. T. vagina DNA was sequenced as part of a larger project in 2014 where spiny lobster larvae were found attached to T. vagina and consuming it.
Neotrigonia is a genus of living saltwater clams, in the family Trigoniidae, which otherwise consists only of fossil genera. For a long time the entire family was thought to be long extinct, but a living species that is now placed in this genus was discovered in 1802. At that time it was assigned to the fossil genus Trigonia. Currently, according to the World Register of Marine Species, 8 species in this genus are recognized.
Jelly-falls are marine carbon cycling events whereby gelatinous zooplankton, primarily cnidarians, sink to the seafloor and enhance carbon and nitrogen fluxes via rapidly sinking particulate organic matter. These events provide nutrition to benthic megafauna and bacteria. Jelly-falls have been implicated as a major “gelatinous pathway” for the sequestration of labile biogenic carbon through the biological pump. These events are common in protected areas with high levels of primary production and water quality suitable to support cnidarian species. These areas include estuaries and several studies have been conducted in fjords of Norway.
Pyrosomella is a genus of pyrosome that is usually smaller than typical pyrosoma.
Pyrostremma is a genus of marine pyrosome containing 2 species.
Pyrosoma aherniosum is a species of pyrosome in the genus Pyrosoma. It was first described in 1895 by Oswald Seeliger from material collected on the Plankton Expedition.
