A year from the Antarctic

Siphonophores - The longest animals on the planet

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Siphonophores - The longest animals on the planet
Cousins of corals, siphonophores are colonies of specialized individuals called zoids. Some catch and digest their prey, others swim, or lay eggs or sperm.

Mollusk (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)

Les mésocosmes déployés dans la rade de Villefranche en face de l'observatoire océanologique de Villefranche (© L. Maugendre, LOV)

Deployment of a profiling float (Photo : Jean-Jacques Pangrazi)

Dinoflagellate Ceratium gravidum (Photo : Sophie Marro)

Larva of decapod crustacean (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Foraminifera Orbulina universa and mollusk larva (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Dinoflagellate Ceratium macroceros var macroceros (Photo : Sophie Marro)

Phytoplankton bloom observed in the Barents Sea (North of Norway) in August 2010 by the ocean color sensor MODIS onboard NASA satellite Aqua. Changes in ocean color result from modifications in the phytoplankton composition and concentration. The green colors are likely associated with the presence of diatoms. The shades of light blue result from the occurrence of coccolithophores, phytoplankton organisms that strongly reflect light due to their chalky shells - Source : NASA's Earth Observatory (http:/earthobservatory.nasa.gov)

Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)

Acantharia (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Dinoflagellate Ceratium furca (Photo : Sophie Marro)

Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)

Rosette for collecting seawater samples

Siphonophore Forskalia formosa (Photo : Fabien Lombard)

Dinoflagellate Ceratium arietinum var arietinum (Photo : Sophie Marro)

Colony of salps Salpa fusiformis (Photo : Fabien Lombard)