All About Nature: Animals to Paint Online

Oceans cover almost 3/4 of the Earth's surface and contain roughly 97% of the Earth's water supply. Life on Earth originated in the salty seas, and contines to be home to an incredibly diverse web of life.

The Earth's oceans are all connected to one another. There are five oceans: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic. There are also many seas (smaller branches of an ocean); seas are partly enclosed by land. The largest seas are the South China Sea, the Caribbean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.

To find out why the oceans are salty and what causes waves and tides, click here.
Click on an animal below to go to an online coloring page:

Angelfish Angelfish are brightly-colored, flattened fish that live in shallow warm waters.

Angelshark Bottom-dwelling, relatively harmless sharks with flattened bodies and a blunt snout.

Basking Shark A huge filter feeder and the second largest fish.

Beluga Whale A small, white, toothed whale that lives mostly in cold, Arctic waters.

Bivalves Bivalves are soft-bodied animals that are protected by two hard shells, hinged together. Scallops, oysters and clams are bivalves.

Blowfish Also called pufferfish and fugu, this poisonous fish can swallow water to double its size.

Bluefin Tuna A large, bony fish in danger of extinction from over-fishing.

Blue Ring Octopus A small but very venomous octopus from warm reefs in Australia and nearby regions.

Blue Shark A sleek, fast-swimming shark with blue skin.

Blue Whale A baleen whale that is the largest animal that ever lived on Earth.

Bottlenose Dolphin A bottlenose dolphin is a small, toothed whale.

Bowhead Whale A baleen whale with very long baleen.

Brittle Star A bottom-dwelling marine invertebrate with long, spiny arms.

Bull Shark A blunt-nosed, dangerous, gray shark that can also live also live in fresh water rivers and lakes.

Clam Burrowing bivalves with a soft body.

Clown Fish Colorful fish that live among sea anemone.

Coelacanth The Coelacanth (pronounced SEE-la-canth) is a primitive lobe-finned fish that was thought to have been extinct for millions of years, but a living Coelacanth was caught in the Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa in 1938.

Conch A marine invertebrate with a large, beautiful shell.

Cookiecutter Shark A small shark that takes circular bites out of its prey. Also known as the luminous or cigar shark.

Copepod Copepods are tiny crustaceans from fresh and salt water.

Coral Coral is a tiny marine animal that often lives in colonies. Huge colonies of hard corals form coral reefs.

Coral Reef Animals Coral reefs are warm, clear, shallow ocean habitats that are rich in life. The reef's massive structure is formed from coral polyps.

Crab A crab is an animal with a shell. It has eyes on stalks on its head.

Crustaceans Crustaceans are animals with a hard exoskeleton, jointed legs, and a segmented body.

Cuttlefish Cuttlefish are cephalopods with relatively short legs, a fin along the entire mantle, and an internal cuttlebone.

Dall's Porpoise A black-and-white toothed whale that makes a distinctive spray when it surfaces.

Dinichthys Dunkleosteus was a extinct, armored fish from the family Dinichthys. This extinct family of fishes lived during the Late Devonian period, about 400 million years ago.

Dogfish Shark A small, very common, relatively harmless shark found worldwide.

Dugong Dugongs are gentle, slow-swimming, aquatic mammals.

Dunkleosteus An extinct, heavily armored fish from the family Dinichthys. It lived during the Late Devonian period, about 400 million years ago.

Echinoderms Spiny-skinned, bottom-dwelling marine invertebrates with five-fold symmetry.

Elasmosaurus An extinct, swimming, fish-eating reptile (a plesiosaur) that had four flippers and a very long neck.

Electric Eel A fish that can generate electricity.

Seal, Northern, Elephant The Northern Elephant Seal is a huge seal that lives in the northern Pacific Ocean. (Family Phocidae, Subfamily Monachinae)

Fin Whale A huge baleen whale that is the second-largest animal on Earth.

Fish Fish live in the water and breathe with gills.

Fish Anatomy Fish live in the water and breathe using gills.

Galapagos Shark A large predator found near islands in warm water.

Gastropods Gastropods are a class of mollusks with a single (or absent) shell and a muscular foot.

Giant Squid Giant Squid swim deep in the oceans. They have ten arms and their eyes are the size of basketballs.

Gray Whale The gray whale is baleen whale that is a bottom feeder; it migrates very long distances each year.

Great Hammerhead Shark A large predatory fish with a hammer-shaped head.

Great White Shark An enormous, ferocious predator found worldwide.

Greenland Shark A large, slow-swimming shark with glow-in-the-dark eyes.

Gulper Eel The Gulper eel is a long, bony fish with huge, weak jaws.

Hammerhead Shark Large predators with a hammer-shaped head.

Harbor Seal Harbor Seals live in the ocean but breathe air. They are marine mammals.

Harp Seal Harp Seals are marine mammals that live in the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean.

Hatchetfish Hatchetfish are oddly-shaped fish from South and Central America.

Hermit Crab Hermit crabs are crabs that lack a hard shell; they use a discarded shell for protection.

Horseshoe Crab The horseshoe crab is a hard-shelled animal that lives in warm coastal waters on the sea floor.

Humpback Whale A long-flippered baleen whale that sings and frolics in the water.

Ichthyosaurus An extinct marine reptile from the time of the dinosaurs.

Jellyfish Jellyfish are animals that have stinging tentacles.

John Dory John Dory is a spiny fish with a black spot on its side.

Killer Whale or Orca A toothed whale that lives in small pods in the Arctic.

Knobbed Whelk The Knobbed Whelk is a marine invertebrate with a spiral shell.

Krill Small crustaceans that are eaten by many animals, including baleen whales.

Kronosaurus A huge marine lizard that lived during the time of the dinosaurs.

Lanternfish Fish with light-producing organs and very large eyes.

Lemon Shark Large, yellowish predators found near the surface and at intermediate depths.

Limpet The limpet is a marine invertebrate (a gastropod) with a flattened, cone-shaped shell.

Liopleurodon Liopleurodon was the biggest plesiosaur. It was a huge, swimming reptile that lived over a hundred million years ago, during the Jurassic period.

Lobster A hard-shelled marine invertebrate with 10 jointed legs.

Luminous Shark A small shark that takes circular bites out of its prey. Also known as the cookiecutter or cigar shark.

Mako Shark Large predators that are the fastest swimming fish!

Manatee Manatees are gentle, slow-swimming, aquatic mammals.

Man-of-War The Portuguese man-of-war is a floating colony of animals that has very long, stinging tentacles. It lives in warm ocean waters.

Manta Ray Manta rays are harmless fish related to sharks. They are the biggest ray.

Marine Mammals Mammals that spend most of their lives in the seas.

Megalodon A huge, extinct shark.

Megamouth A large, filter-feeding shark that was only discovered in 1976.

Minke Whale The smallest baleen whale. It sings and has a white band on each flipper.

Mollusks Mollusks are soft-bodied invertebrates. Some mollusks include the octopus, squid, clam, snail, slug, and tusk shells.

Narwhal A toothed whale from the Arctic. The male has a huge, spiral tooth.

Elephant Seal, Northern The Northern Elephant Seal is a huge seal that lives in the northern Pacific Ocean. (Family Phocidae, Subfamily Monachinae)

Northern Fur Seal The Northern Fur Seal is a marine mammal that lives in the northern Pacific Ocean.

Nurse Shark A large bottom-dweller with rounded fins.

Octopus Octopi have eight legs and live on the sea floor.

Orca or Killer Whale A toothed whale that lives in small pods in the Arctic.

Orthacanthus A spined, extinct shark.

Oyster The oyster is a bivalve, a soft-bodied marine animal that is protected by two hard shells.

Pink Conch Also known as the queen conch, a marine invertebrate with a large, beautiful shell.

Pinnipeds Pinnipeds are marine mammals. They spend most of their life in the seas, but go onto land or ice at times.

Plankton Plankton are tiny organisms that float in the seas and other bodies of water.

Plesiosaurus An extinct, fish-eating marine reptile with four flippers, a plesiosaur.

Pufferfish Also called blowfish and fugu, this poisonous fish can swallow water to double its size.

Purple Sea Urchin A spiny, globular animal that lives on the ocean floor off the western coast of North America.

Queen Conch A marine invertebrate with a large, beautiful shell.

Rays Rays are flat fish with no bones, only cartilage.

Right Whale Baleen whales with a huge head and an arched mouth.

Sand Dollar Sand Dollars are echinoderms, disk-shaped spiny-skinned sea bed animals that have 5-part radial symmetry.

Scallop Scallops are bivalves, shelled animals that live on the ocean floor.

Sea Anemone A predatory animal that looks like a flower and lives on the ocean floor.

Sea Cow Sea cow is another name for manatee. Sea cows are gentle, slow-swimming, aquatic mammals.

Sea Horse The sea horse is a very strange fish that lives in warm water.

Sea Lion Sea lions are eared seals that live on coastlines.

Seals Seals live in the ocean but breathe air. They are marine mammals.

Sea Otter Sea otters are marine mammals with very dense, waterproof fur.

Sea Star Sea stars, another name for starfish, are animals that live on the ocean floor.

Sea Turtle Sea turtles are large marine turtles.

Sea Urchin A spiny, globular animal that lives on the ocean floor.

Sharks Sharks are a type of fish that have no bones, only cartilage.

Shrimp Shrimp are small, bottom-dwelling crustaceans with a translucent exoskeleton.

Snail A soft-bodied animal with a hard, protective shell.

Spectacled Porpoise A porpoise (a small toothed whale) from the Southern Hemisphere.

Sperm Whale The Sperm whale is the largest toothed whale; it is over 50 feet long. It eats giant squid.

Spotted Dolphin The Pantropical Spotted Dolphin is a small, toothed whale from tropical waters worldwide.

Squid The squid is a fast-swimming invertebrate with ten arms.

Starfish Sea stars, another name for starfish, are animals that live on the ocean floor.

Stingray Stingrays are flat fish with a stinger and no bones (only cartilage).

Swordfish The swordfish is a large fish with a long, sharp bill.

Thresher Shark The Thresher Shark is a shark whose tail fin has a greatly elongated upper lobe.

Trilobite Trilobites are extinct marine arthropods that lived from about 540 to 245 million years ago.

Tuna The Bluefin tuna is a large, bony fish in danger of extinction from over-fishing.

Tiger Shark Large predators found worldwide in warm seas.

Walrus The walrus is a large mammal that spends most of its life in icy seas.

Weddell Seal The Weddell seal is a large, nocturnal pinniped from Antarctica.

Whales Whales are marine mammals.

Whale Shark The largest fish and a filter feeder that eats tiny marine organisms and small fish.

Whales vs. Fish Determine which characteristics belong to fish, which belong to whales, and which belong to both.

Whelk Whelks are marine invertebrates with a spiral shell.

Zebra Bullhead Shark A bottom-dwelling shark with zebra-like stripes.

Zooplankton Zooplankton are tiny animals that float in the seas and other bodies of water.

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