Deep-Sea Poop, Amoebas, Basket Stars, Pinwheel Crinoids and MORE! Pics from the NOAA Deep-sea Photo Archive!

Gulf of Alaska 2004 Expedition. NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration 

This week I have been researching images from deep-sea video on the home page for the NOAA Photo Library, which has housed ALL of the deep-sea and other imagery from NOAA's deep-sea expeditions since 2003, including those of the Okeanos Explorer!

Many of you know that I have participated in the last two R/V Okeanos ROV dives as an onshore advisor. I often identify asteroids (i.e. starfish) and provide other information as I am able. I've only helped them out since 2013 but found lots of their images useful for my research.

You can find NOAA-Okeanos dive screengrab recaps on my blog here for 2013 and here for the recent 2014 dive. 

Those of you on my Twitter account (@echinoblog) have been watching me post links to various pictures as I have been reviewing these pics.. There are literally THOUSANDS of pictures of deep-sea biology, geology and history !!!  Who would be crazy enough to go through all of it one by one???  Yes. Me!

So, for your education and infotainment I have cherry picked many noteworthy images and have showcased them below. (note that ALL images have original links below them)! Enjoy!

Giant Amoeba Houses??
Here's a cool structure made by a giant amoeba called a xenophyophorean! (deep-sea Galapagos) Take a moment to consider that a UNICELLULAR organism could have made this! (and yes, they will eat proper animals!)

From the 2011 NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Galapagos Rift Expedition 2011 

But in contrast, what about this from Indonesia??? A Mystery?? Another xenophyophorean?? 

From July 2010 NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, INDEX-SATAL 2010

Basket Stars Behaving uh... badly? 

What is going on here? I've honestly never seen TWO basket stars so close to one another. What are they doing? Fighting? Doin teh sex? The gorgonocephalid equivalent of a backrub?   Only they know for sure.  (North Atlantic)

From Lophelia II 2008: Deepwater Coral Expedition: Reefs, Rigs, and Wrecks 

Brittle Stars Doing Crazy Things! 

From the Atlantic... Probably just filter feeding, but I don't know that I've ever seen so many of them with their arms all curled up like that just FLAT on the sediment. Weird.

From the Lophelia II 2008: Deepwater Coral Expedition: Reefs, Rigs, and Wrecks 

and more of the same...

from Lophelia II 2008: Deepwater Coral Expedition: Reefs, Rigs, and Wrecks 

Here is what we call in science "a fancy pants brittle star" (note the gorgeous red and white pattern though) on a really extended whip coral (aka antipatharian). Video from the Bahamas in 2009. 

From Bioluminescence 2009 Expedition, NOAA/OER 

And still MORE!

From 2009 Bioluminescence 2009 Expedition, NOAA/OER 

PIN WHEEL CRINOID?? 

A cool looking "pin wheel" stalked crinoid (Hyocrinidae) from Indonesia, a new species currently being worked on by colleagues in Paris. This is what it looks like "open"

From NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, INDEX-SATAL 2010 

and curiously, this species retracts its arm in repose like this! As the kids say these days "That is pretty whack! "

From NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, INDEX-SATAL 2010

BIG PACKS OF FILTER FEEDING ECHINODERMS! 

Stalked isocrinid crinoids! From the Marianas Arc, Pacific Ocean! All turned into the current!! 

 Image courtesy of Submarine Ring of Fire 2006 Exploration, NOAA Vents Program 

Also from the Marianas Arc, Pacific Ocean: A crazy huge field of basket stars (Gorgonocephalidae)..

Image from the Submarine Ring of Fire 2006 Exploration, NOAA Vents Program 

Some translucent Swimming Sea Cucumber intestine showing POOP?? 

 from NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Mid-Cayman Rise Expedition 2011 

Is this Sea Cucumber Poop??
Exotic Indonesian Sea cucumber poop?  Or possibly from an Acorn Worm? (below)

 From NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, INDEX-SATAL 2010 

From NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, INDEX-SATAL 2010

Deep-Sea Urchin POOP! 

Here is a great shot of an Echinothuriid urchin (aka the pancake or tam o shanter urchin) taking a poop!! A Gulf of Mexico species. Contrary to what the labels on the website say, this is defecation and NOT gametes being released.

NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Gulf of Mexico 2012 Expedition 

 Deep-sea Urchin Poop! 

NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Gulf of Mexico 2012 Expedition 

and a special non-echinoderm poop bonus! Acorn Worm POOP! 
Images from Indonesia.. Worms leaving unique castings in the sediment...

From NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, INDEX-SATAL 2010 

From NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, INDEX-SATAL 2010 

What I hope is that this will provide a spotlight on NOAA's very EXTENSIVE library of images!

MANY valuable and interesting things in there! Enough for many more posts. But what's most amazing? A lot of it is UNPUBLISHED stuff!!

But its hard to make a guess as to what kinds of things you will find (sometimes because you don't know what you are looking for)  This provides a taste of the diversity and abundance of tantalizing images. Sponges! Corals! Worms! Even protists!
                              

UPDATE! Ophiothela brittle stars Invade the Atlantic!

UPDATE: New pictures provided by Gustavo Beolchi show Ophiothela from Angra in Brazil..
on sponges..


on a gorgonain



BEFORE....
A recent alert went out from ophiuroid biologist at the Los Angeles County Museum- Dr. Gordon Hendler that a six-rayed brittle star from the Indo-Pacific has invaded the Atlantic! 

A pdf account of this from Coral Reefs can be downloaded here.

Invasive species are those which are artificially introduced into regions where they are not native. Their presence can directly or indirectly have significant to dire consequences on the ecology of a particular region.

Ophiothela is a clonal, six-armed brittle star that typically occurs in the Indo-Pacific as seen here (species shown is Ophiothela danae).  Photo by Wild Singapore.


Wild Singapore has a great page on these (note that not all of these seem to be Ophiothela however)
go here to see it!

But Ophiothela mirabilis seems to have invaded Brazil and St. Vincent as reported above. The species was first observed in Brazil of 2000 and has been observed slowly spreading throughout Brazil and the Caribbean.

This brittle star is asexual, specifically it is fissiparous and so it clones itself, thus facilitating its spread. Unlike other tiny commensal brittle stars, this one seems to have "low host specificity" which means that it can live on just about anything that it is compatible with (as seen below) from gorgonians to sponges..

Courtesy of the Brazillian website Cifonauta here is one of several videos of this invasive species in Brazil! They have several more pictures of this species also...

Can Crowd-Sourcing Help???
A quick look on Flickr indeed shows Ophiothela mirabilis as observed on Polymastia janeirensis (a sponge) from João Fernandes Beach - Buzios - RJ - Brazil (image from August 16, 2009). O. mirabilis is the tiny little orange thing clinging on below...

Photo by "Sea Girl".

Here's another pic from Brazil of what look to be Ophiothela (or maybe not hard to say without a close up) wrapped around what the photographer calls Leptogorgia punicea (a gorgonian)


The many eyes and cameras of the internet permit greater powers of tracking and observation of this species!  Got one from the Atlantic?  Post links to pics in the comments! Or contact me (or Dr. Hendler) for more info!