Just thought i’d also showcase some of the beautiful drawings by Ernst Haeckel of radiolarians and diatoms (left and right respectively).
A Nudibranch laying an egg spiral on a Polycarpa aurata sea squirt.
Irrelephant wanted some information on Sea Squirts/ascidians, so here we go. Prepare for some proper marine science.
I think ascidians are actually somewhat ignored, they’re some very beautiful animals. Consisting of around 2300 species it’s quite a diverse class although they all have some common characteristcs: They’re all sessile (attached to a hard substrate), they’re all filter feeders (meaning they filter out organic matter from the water column) and unlike other similar Tunicates they have a much tougher tunic made of polysaccharides. They can either be solitary or form colonies several meters in diameter. They have a relatively simple nervous system, with receptors for chemical changes, light and touch. All are hermaphroditic and capable of both asexual & sexual fragmentation.
Interestingly, Nudibranchs (amongst other animals) feed on them, but also use them as a substrate for egg attachment.
Due to the incredible filtering capabilites of these animals, they’re incredibly sensitive to pollution.
As for some interesting species, Polycarpa aurata and Rophalaea are incredibly pretty, but Didemnum (shown above overgrowing green algae) species might be more interesting due to it being a major invasive species (and only one of the many invasive sea squirts) and generally a big nuisance.
5 Favourite Cephalopods, No. 4:
The Blanket Octopus, Tremoctopus is not actually a single species but a genus of 4 different species: Tremoctopus gelatus, robsoni, gracilis & violaceus, with T. violaceus being the most common one.
Blanket Octopus females may grow as large as 2 meters, while males achieve a measly 5-6 cm. They’re also immune to the Man o’ Wars poison, and while they don’t predate on it, young octopus may rip off tentacles and use them for defence. Beautiful thing.
a 1964 US Air Force instructional video on how to defend yourself against sharks. Rather amusing.
The Frilled Shark, Chlamydoselachus anguineus, has some of the coolest teeth in the animal kingdom. Feeding on Octopus and Squid, the small, sharp teeth prevent escape.
It’s listed as near threatened by the IUCN, this isn’t due to overfishing though: it so seldom reproduces even accidental catches may deplete its population.
5 favourite cephalopods countdown, no.2: Japanese Flying Squid, Todarodes pacificus.
Commonly growing to around 40-50 cm, these squid can jump out of the water and have been seen covering distances of 50 m above the surface. Often mistaken for Flying Fish, they are commonly found in the northern pacific. Pretty cool.
Time to deal with some requests. hannibalism wanted to see more deep sea creatures, so lets see what we can find down there..
There are a lot of big bad fish down there, viperfish, anglerfish, pelican eels etc, and that’s all very good, but some of the coolest creatures are generally much smaller: Amphipods. Some of these, like the Phronima (top) even acted as inspiration for the alien movies (note the similarity between their appearance and the alien queen). They often inhabit bodies of Salps and other similar animals. A lot of the coolest ones are found in the deep waters of the antarctic and southern oceans, like the Epimeria rubrieques (funny looking thing in the middle) and the recently discovered Amphipods of the coast of New Zeeland that can grow up to 30 cm long, which is incredibly large for Amphipods.
More to come..
Blue Shark, Prionace glauca
What happens when a bird tries to eat an octopus? this does.
Did you know that barnacles have the biggest Penis:body size ratio of all animals? It can grow up to 40 times the size of its body.
While this may appear to be an art project of some kind, these Carrier Shells like to collect shells. As they grow they attach small shells or stones to their own shells.
