On their own, groupers and moray eels are two fearsome coral reef predators. Groupers feed by gulping down prey in the open water, while morays can pursue fish into hiding places in a reef. But when the two team up to hunt, they’re a lethal team, leaving prey with nowhere to swim or hide.
Articles
The Marine Science Institute's monthly column, Science and the SeaTM, is an informative and entertaining article that explains many interesting features of the marine environment and the creatures that live there. Science and the SeaTM articles appear monthly in one of Texas' most widely read fishing magazines, Texas Saltwater Fishing, the Port Aransas South Jetty newspaper, the Flour Bluff News, and the Island Moon newspaper. Our article archive is available also on our website.
January 1, 2009
Many things make marine iguanas unique. After all, they are the world’s only sea-going lizards. But perhaps their most amazing trait is that they have the ability to “shrink” in response to environmental changes.
December 1, 2008
Think of nature’s great migrations and you might imagine birds flying over continents or antelope crossing the African plains. But European eels make a journey that is even more incredible.
October 1, 2008
Countless illustrations and museum displays depict the battle between two of the ocean’s most fearsome predators, the sperm whale and the giant squid.
In real life, sperm whales often bear battle scars from a giant squid’s massive tentacles, or gashes inflicted by its sharp beak. But scientists have found that some sperm whales with damaged jaws or even no teeth at all have stomachs full of squid. How can these whales find and take down such fierce prey?
August 1, 2008
For many people, anchovies are simply the pizza topping they love to hate. But the humble anchovy - along with another silvery little schooling fish, the sardine - triggered scientists to look closer at a Pacific Ocean phenomenon.
Researchers have found that Pacific anchovy and sardine populations seem to take turns ruling the waters at intervals of about 25 years. When Pacific temperatures are slightly higher than normal, sardines thrive; when temperatures cool down, sardine numbers decline and anchovy populations flourish.
July 1, 2008
Fossils of prehistoric sea creatures aren’t just remarkable for their massive size and fearsome looks — they also give scientists clues about what the ocean’s polar climate was like millions of years ago.
June 1, 2008
Texas may be famous for its beautiful wildflowers, but how many Texans know about the amazing flower gardens hidden off the Texas Coast?
In the Gulf of Mexico about 110 miles south of the Texas-Louisiana border lay the Flower Garden Banks, the northernmost coral reefs in the United States. Named for their brightly colored plant and animal life, these underwater communities have a unique geological past.
May 1, 2008
In oceans across the world, fishing boats sometimes pull up their lines to find an unlucky catch: seabirds.
Seabirds, such as petrels and albatrosses, often face peril from longline fishing, which mainly targets tuna and swordfish. These fishing boats pay out very long lines with baited hooks which sink to their fishing depth to lure prized fish. But before the lines sink very far, seabirds dive after the bait and get snared by the hook and dragged under.
April 1, 2008
On some late spring nights, the beaches of southern California come alive with the silver tide — hundreds of small, shiny fish.
These silvery fish are California grunion. They’re about 5-7 inches long and found only along the coast of southern California and northern Baja, Mexico. The name grunion comes from the Spanish word for grunter because of the squeaking noise the fish make during spawning.
March 1, 2008
There’s a reason why an octopus always draws a crowd at aquariums — this eight-armed creature is considered one of the sea’s smartest animals.
For their size, octopuses have the largest brains of any invertebrate, and stories of how they use these brains are legendary. Octopuses have been known to untwist jar lids to get at food inside. They are able to distinguish colors and shapes, and they use this skill to orient themselves to visual landmarks for navigation.
