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  • This is the internal shell of a deep-water cephalopod called a Ram’s horn squid, also known as a little post horn squid (Spirula spirula). This cephalopod is the only known member of its genus. The internal shell is both robust and buoyant, so often found on beaches. This one washed up during a mass stranding of thousands of Physalia utriculus amd other animals of the open-ocean, pelagic community. Attached to the shell were pelagic goose barnacles (Lepas sp.).
    rams-horn-shell-spirula-goose-barnac...tif
  • Two adjacent flukes of a pair of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) diving in synchrony. Both flukes, but particularly the one in the rear, are covered with Coronula diadema barnacles, which are found exclusively on humpback whales.
    humpback-whale-flukes-coronula-diade...tif
  • This is a small crab infested with a Sacculina barnacle parasite, a genus of barnacles that is a parasitic castrator of crabs. These barnacles are pelagic during their larval stage. Female larvae seek out host crabs. Once a suitable host is located, the female barnacle attaches to a joint area, molts into a form known as a kentrogon, and then injects its soft body into the crab, discarding its hard shell in the process. Once inside, the Sacculina develops into two parts: the interna, which comprises root-like threads that wrap around the crab’s internal organs; and the externa, which is a bulbous reproductive organ that protrudes from the crab’s abdomen, as pictured here. Male Sacculina barnacles inject themselves into a pocket in the female’s body in order to undertake the sole function of producing spermatozoa to fertilize the female. In other words, the male becomes parasitic to the female, which is parasitic to the crab. Once infected, a crab is unable to molt, though it otherwise functions normally. Nutrition that the crab ingests is siphoned off by the barnacle. Even more amazing, when a female Sacculina sets upon a male crab, as pictured here, it sterilizes the crab and causes the male crab to release hormones that cause the shape of the body to change such that it more resembles a female crab, with wider, flatter abdomen. The formerly male crab can even act like a female, performing female mating dances. When the female Sacculina is ready to release her brood into the water, she causes her host crab to do exactly what a female crab would normally do to release her own eggs. Namely, the crab finds high ground, grooms the brooding pouch on its abdomen and shoots out clouds of larvae via the hole visible at the center of the abdominal area, using its claws to stir the water to assist the newborn larvae, in this case barnacle larvae, not crabs. Once infected, a crab devotes its life to the reproduction of Sacculina. There are more than 100 species of Saccu
    sacculina-barnacle-infested-male-cra...tif
  • This is the female humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) that was the center of an extended, energetic competitive group heat run. There were two large males that were the main contenders, including one particularly aggressive male that had white pectoral fins, and a number of other males that cycled in and out of the intense activity. The barnacles on the female humpback’s pectoral fin are clearly visible.
    humpback-whale-female-pectoral-fin-b...tif
  • Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) female adult resting vertically in the water with her fluke protruding from the surface, barnacles clearly visible, and boat in the background. This female had a penchant for resting in this position while her female calf (201404) played.
    humpback-whale-hanging-in-water-fluk...tif
  • Fluke of an adult female humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) which had the habit of resting upside-down, with the ventral surface of her fluke to the sky. She was the mother of an extremely active, inquisitive female calf. Photographed in Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga.
    fluke-humpback-whale-upside-down-oce...tif
  • An adult gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) surfacing to take a breath, with tourists in a whale watch boat in the background. Note the extensive barnacle (Cryptolepas rhachianecti) cover on the whale. Photographed in Baja California, Mexico.
    whale-watch-tourists-gray-whale-baja...tif
  • This is a small crab infested with a Sacculina barnacle parasite, a genus of barnacles that is a parasitic castrator of crabs. These barnacles are pelagic during their larval stage. Female larvae seek out host crabs. Once a suitable host is located, the female barnacle attaches to a joint area, molts into a form known as a kentrogon, and then injects its soft body into the crab, discarding its hard shell in the process. Once inside, the Sacculina develops into two parts: the interna, which comprises root-like threads that wrap around the crab’s internal organs; and the externa, which is a bulbous reproductive organ that protrudes from the crab’s abdomen, as pictured here. Male Sacculina barnacles inject themselves into a pocket in the female’s body in order to undertake the sole function of producing spermatozoa to fertilize the female. In other words, the male becomes parasitic to the female, which is parasitic to the crab. Once infected, a crab is unable to molt, though it otherwise functions normally. Nutrition that the crab ingests is siphoned off by the barnacle. Even more amazing, when a female Sacculina sets upon a male crab, as pictured here, it sterilizes the crab and causes the male crab to release hormones that cause the shape of the body to change such that it more resembles a female crab, with wider, flatter abdomen. The formerly male crab can even act like a female, performing female mating dances. When the female Sacculina is ready to release her brood into the water, she causes her host crab to do exactly what a female crab would normally do to release her own eggs. Namely, the crab finds high ground, grooms the brooding pouch on its abdomen and shoots out clouds of larvae via the hole visible at the center of the abdominal area, using its claws to stir the water to assist the newborn larvae, in this case barnacle larvae, not crabs. Once infected, a crab devotes its life to the reproduction of Sacculina. There are more than 100 species of Saccu
    sacculina-barnacle-infested-male-cra...tif
  • This gray whale calf (Eschrichtius robustus) hosts a population of commensal barnacles (Cryptolepas rhachianecti) and whale lice (Cyamus scammoni) which are amphipods that scavenge for food on the whale's body, including the whale's skin and flesh. There is sexual dimorphism among adult Cyamus scammoni, so the large individuals visible in this photograph are male. The females are smaller. Unlike the young of most other marine crustaceans, which have a planktonic larval stage, juvenile whale lice mature in a pouch-like structure called the marsupium, which is located on the underside of females.
    whale-lice-cyamus-scammoni-on-gray-w...tif
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