The scientists collected specimens from up to 6,500 feet (2,000 metres) beneath the surface of the Southern Ocean as part of an international project to take a census of Antarctic marine life. [Nationalgeographic]

Tunicates which look like glass tubes (Image via Dailymail)

Four commonly found sunscreen ingredients can awaken dormant viruses in the symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae that live inside reef-building coral species.

The chemicals cause the viruses to replicate until their algae hosts explode, spilling viruses into the surrounding seawater, where they can infect neighboring coral communities.

Zooxanthellae provide coral with food energy through photosynthesis and contribute to the organisms’ vibrant color. Without them, the coral “bleaches”… turns white… and dies.

Think twice before applying sunscreen on the next beach visit? [Nationalgeographic]

The giant rodent in comparison with a ‘normal’ rodent (Image courtesy of Xinhuanet)

The megarodent lived in lowland rain forests between two and four million years ago and weighed about 1,000 kilograms, based on an analysis of its 53-centimetre-long skull.

The newfound species, called Josephoartigasia monesi, is reported on Jan 16 in a study led by Andrés Rinderknecht of the National Museum of Natural History and Anthropology in Montevideo, Uruguay. [National Geographic]

Naja Ashei

WildlifeDirect said the cobras were the world’s largest and had been identified as unique. The species has been named Naja Ashei (Ashe’s Spitting Cobra) after James Ashe, who founded Bio-Ken snake farm on Kenya’s tropical coast where the gigantic serpents are found.

The aggressive reptile was previously identified as a brown-colored variant of the black-necked spitting cobra, though researchers had long suspected that it merited its own species. Now blood and tissue analysis have confirmed this theory to be true.

The snake dwells in the dry lowlands of north and east Kenya, as well as in Uganda and Ethiopia.

[Nationalgeographic and Reuters]

Certain species of phytoplankton contain photosynthetic pigments that vary in color from green to brown to red, and when the algae are present in high concentrations, the water appears to be discolored or murky, varying in color from white to almost black, normally being red or brown.

Red Tide caused by Dinoflagellates off the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Pier, La Jolla California (Image courtesy of P. Alejandro Díaz)

Not all algal blooms are dense enough to cause water discoloration, and not all discolored waters associated with algal blooms are red. Additionally, red tides are not typically associated with tidal movement of water, hence the preference among scientists to use the term algal bloom. [Wikipedia]

The chimps had previously been taught the ascending order of the numbers. Using an ability akin to photographic memory, the young chimps were able to memorise the location of the numerals with better accuracy than humans performing the same task. [Newscientist]

Quahog clams are known for their longevity. A 220-year-old taken from American waters in 1982 holds the official Guinness Book of World Records oldest animal title. Unofficially, the record belongs to a 374-year-old Icelandic clam housed in a German museum. [Nationalgeographic]

405-year-old quahog clam (Image courtesy of Bangor University)

Taotao is the eldest giant panda bred in captivity in China. The average life span of giant panda is about 25 years old; zoologists say Taotao’s age is equal to that of a 100-year-old human being. [Cri]

Taotao enjoying her birthday cake

Masa Koita, the 60-year-old shop manager, noticed the abnormal Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris) after he had boiled it in preparation for market. [Pinktentacle]

Abnormal octopus with 9 arms in Japan

Octopus has 8 arms in case you don’t know… in fact the word Octopus is derived from Greek word which literally translate to ‘eight-legs’.

People often referred to the arms as tentacles, but it is not a biological correct term. Octopuses don’t have tenctacles, squids do.

Image courtesy of Caycompass

Expert later identified the fish as ‘Great Swallower’ that normally lives in deep water and could feed on fish larger than it size. The fact that the fish was found dead by the fisherman probably suggest that the fish has overestimated its belly size in this occasion.

Army of penguins (Image courtesy of Dailymail, via Spluch)

The king penguins lay their eggs in late November, with a peak around mid-December. They don’t build nests – instead the male and female of each mating couple take it in turns to incubate a single egg on their feet over the course of two months.

Poseidon the giant lobster (Image courtesy Dailymail)

Named “Poseidon”, the giant lobster measures two feet in length and a whopping nine-and a-quarter pounds. It is around five times the size of the average lobster.

Spiny lobsters don’t usually occur in British waters, but is usually found off the west coast of Africa and in the Mediterranean. It grows much bigger than its cousin and can survive at depths of up to 600 metres.

Poseidon will be kept in the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay; experts are now consulting record books to see if Poseidon is the biggest one ever landed in Britain.

Fossilized penis bone from extinct walrus (Image courtesy of Sfgate)

The item was sold to the company that runs the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museums. The price will run $9,600 when auction fees are included. [Sfgate, via Boingboing]

Baculum is a bone found in the penis of most mammals (not in human though). A male walrus’s penis is completely internal but it has one of the largest penis bone in the animal kingdom.

The auctioned walrus’s balculum was found in northern Siberia, and is from a species of walrus that went extinct 12,000 years ago. It is believed to be the largest known mammal penis fossil.