Tag Mediterranean

Placenta Cushion Sea Star 

MaNi Leave a comment

The Placenta Cushion Sea Star (Peltaster placenta) is a medium-sized marine (saltwater) sea star in the Goniasteridae family of sea stars, often called starfish but it is not a fish. It is an invertebrate echinoderm. It is also known as the Star Biscuit. 

Unlike other sea stars, the Placenta Cushion Sea Star has no arms. It is shaped like a five-sided pentagon with a slightly domed orange-coloured body. On the margins of its body are bright orange domed plates called papulae. The central disc on the underside is its mouth. 

Continue reading “Placenta Cushion Sea Star “ →

European Bass

MaNi Leave a comment

The European Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a marine (saltwater) bony fish in the Moronidae family of temperate basses. It is also known as Sea Bass and Mullet.

The European Bass is silvery-grey, sometimes with dark-blue scales on its back. It has a slightly compressed body, a medium-sized head, and prominent jaws. It has teeth and fleshy lips. It has gills to breathe underwater. There are two dorsal (back) fins – the first one has thorny rays. The fins appear yellowish.

Continue reading “European Bass” →

Broadnosed Pipefish

MaNi Leave a comment

The Broadnosed Pipefish (Syngnathus typhle) is a small marine (saltwater) fish in the Syngnathidae family of seahorses, pipefish, and seadragons. 

The Broadnosed Pipefish looks like a thin, straight seahorse or a small sea snake. It is an elongated, long, tube-like, cyclindrical fish with a greenish colour and a yellowish belly. Its flattened snout (nose) is a long tube ending in a narrow mouth which opens upwards and is toothless. It has a fan-shaped caudal fin. It has small gill openings, called slits, which enable it to breathe underwater.

Continue reading “Broadnosed Pipefish” →

European Conger Eel

MaNi Leave a comment

The European Conger Eel (Conger conger) is a medium-sized marine (saltwater) fish in the Congridae family of conger eels. It is an anguilliform.

The European Conger Eel has a cylindrical, long, thin, grey to black body with a white underbelly. It has a row of small, white spots along the lateral line. It has a smooth body – it does not have scales (it is scaleless). There are gill openings on its side. Its head is conical, with a down-turned mouth and sharp, conical teeth. Its snout (nose) is rounded and prominent. It has nostrils. 

Continue reading “European Conger Eel” →

Do sea creatures eat grass?

MaNi Leave a comment

Do sea creatures eat grass?

Many sea creatures eat grass. There are many species of aquatic and marine grasses that live underwater.

For example, Neptune Grass (Posidonia oceanica) is a flowering marine (saltwater) grass in the Posidoniaceae family of sea grasses. It is also known as  Ocean Grass Wrack and Mediterranean Tapeweed.

Neptune Grass forms a large underwater meadow. Each meadow can be 8 kilometres (5 miles) across. About 55,000 hectares (140,000 acres) of the meadows around the Balearic Islands of Mallorca and Formentera are registered as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Continue reading “Do sea creatures eat grass?” →