Marine Biology research at MBARI —
Larger animals in the open ocean
Larger animals in the open ocean
MBARI lead researchers Bruce Robison and Steve Haddock study "midwater animals"—animals that live below the surface, but above the seafloor. MBARI's remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are ideal platforms for observing slow-moving, fragile midewater animals such as jellies. This group of animals includes "jellyfish" (which scientists call medusa), ctenophores, siphonophores, and a host of other gelatinous creatures.
In addition to jellies, Robison's midwater research group has also studied deep-sea octopuses, squids, fishes, and other swimming animals. Haddock's research group performs research on "bioluminescent" marine organisms, studying how and why they produce their own light in the darkness of the deep sea.
Jellies- The undescribed species in our back yard (Feature story)
- Deep-sea jelly uses glowing red lures to catch fish (News release)
- "Sinkers" provide missing piece in deep-sea puzzle (News release)
- New "bumpy" jelly found in deep sea (News release)
- Big red jelly surprises scientists (News release)
- Discoveries of deep-sea biomass and diversity using an ROV (MBARI 20th-anniversary article)
- Mysteries of the midwater (PDF file—Summary article on midwater research from 2004 MBARI Annual Report)
- Midwater ecology (Researcher web page)
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MBARI lead researchers in this field:
Bruce Robison (Midwater ecologist)
Steve Haddock (Marine biologist)
Octopuses, squids, fishes, and other midwater animals- Researchers solve mystery of deep-sea fish with tubular eyes and transparent head (News release)
- Octopus mating games (Feature story)
- Humboldt squid on the move (News release)
- Calamari on camera—sizing market squid by video (Feature story)
- First observations of an egg-brooding squid (Feature story)
- Unknown deep-sea squid recorded by Tiburon (News Release)
- Ink utilization by mesopelagic squid (Researcher web page with video of squids releasing ink)
- A worm like no other (Feature story)
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MBARI lead researcher in this field:
Bruce Robison (Midwater ecologist)
Marine life around icebergs- Chasing icebergs—Part II (News release)
- Antarctic Icebergs: hotspots of ocean life (News release)
- Diving beneath Antarctic icebergs (Feature story)
- Iceberg Research (researcher web site)
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MBARI lead researchers in this field:
Ken Smith (Marine ecologist)
Bruce Robison (Midwater ecologist)
Glowing marine organisms- Deep-sea jelly uses glowing red lures to catch fish (News release)
- Light in the Sea (PDF file—Article from 2003 MBARI Annual Report)
- Logbook from MBARI cruise to study bioluminescent deep-sea animals
- Deep-sea bioluminescence (Article in MBARI 10-year retrospective)
- The bioluminescence web page (External web site)
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MBARI lead researcher in this field:
Steve Haddock (Marine biologist)