1. The Spongebob character Plankton, is actually a real kind of plankton, called a copepod! He is green in color because of the food he eats, called phytoplankton, which is a plant-like plankton, and is green in color.
2. Bikini Bottom is actually kind of a REAL place. Well, the Bikini Islands are. The Bikini Islands are remote islands in the middle of the ocean where the US tested atomic bombs.
3. Sea stars do not have centralized brains that control their nervous systems, which explains why Patrick is so dumb in the show.
4. In one episode, Mr. Krabs sheds his shell, which is a process called molting. Crabs have exoskeletons, which means that his skeleton is on the outside of his body, in the form of a shell. In order for crabs to grow, they have to periodically shed their shells.
5. In another episode, Spongebob decides to never leave his house again, and eats by filter feeding. Real sponges in the ocean do not actually eat Krabby Patties, but absorb nutrients through the process of filter feeding.
6. Mrs. Puff is a puffer fish, and she inflates when shes feeling stressed or threatened. Puffer fish do this in real life by rapidly pumping water into their stomachs, making them look larger than they actually are in order to trick predators.
7. Squidward is actually not a squid- but an octopus! Octopus are EXTREMELY intelligent animals- which is why Squidward considers himself to be such an intellectual. In the cartoon, Squidward only has six legs, when in reality, octopus have 8. The producers removed two of Squidward’s legs because they thought 8 looked too bulky on screen.
8. When Patrick and Spongebob buy ice cream from a seemingly sweet old lady and then are chased by a giant fish, it is actually an anglerfish! Anglerfish, like some species of frogfish, have lures on their heads which they use to attract prey. These funky little fish are “ambush predators” which means that they sit and wait for small fish to come by and then BAM! Swallow them in one gulp.
Although Spongebob is a cartoon, it was created by a marine biologist, so not everything is fiction!
Annapolis Maritime Museum Oyster Program 