Full Steam Marine Queen

Hi I'm sara I like marine invertebrates!

[thewriterkb]

Oceanographer PT Hirschfield’s most Extraordinary Encounter. 

Check out the full podcast with PT on iTunes (Click Here), at thebluntreport.com (Click Here), YouTube (Click Here) and everywhere else you can find podcasts!⠀⠀

[lenfantdelalune]

The Giant Clam Sanctuary in the province of Camiguin employs local children to tour and educate visitors about the life history and physiology of the giant bivalves, as well as of other marine organisms such as gastropods, sea stars, and sea cucumbers. Apart from promoting responsible and sustainable ecotourism, the sanctuary also actively educates the youth about the importance of marine life and keeping the marine environment healthy and free from anthropogenic threats, while providing them a humble source of livelihood. The sanctuary is maintained by a municipal cooperative and supported by Silliman University. Barangay Cantaan, Guinsiliban, Camiguin, Philippines. November 2016.

[scubaguys]

Today, October 8, is World Octopus Day!

Octopus are surely the most fascinating underwater animals (possibly most fascinating of ALL animals). Whether it’s their movement, their intelligence, or their ability to change colour and texture.

The oldest known octopus fossil dates to 296 million years ago, and the broader cephalopod family has existed for 500 million years.

This guy was seen during a night dive on a coral wall edge in Belize.

[astronomy-to-zoology]

Grimaldi Scaled Squid (Lepidoteuthis grimaldii)

…a unique species of large squid which belongs to its own family, Lepidoteuthidae.L. grimaldii is one of the larger species of squid, with individuals reaching mantle lengths of 1 m! L. grimaldii is most noted for the rows of overlapping scale-like dermal cushions which cover its mantle which are likely used in defense. L. grimaldii is very rare and only a few individuals have been observed/captured, so in turn not much is known about their biology/ecology. Despite being rare Grimaldi scaled squid are known from the tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. 

Classification

Animalia-Mollusca-Cephalopoda-Coleoidea-Teuthida-Oegospina-Lepidoteuthidae-Lepidoteuthis-L. grimaldii

Image(s): Darren Stevens

[ninawolv3rina]

Big ol snail: *dies*

Hermit Crab:

[carudamon119]

[audrocur-deactivated20221128]

put it back and lets pretend this never existed

[skidar]

Don’t put it back, its an aggressive invasive species 

[jeza-red]

Christ

[aniseandspearmint]

That’s a lot of nuggets right there

[cervinesatyr-deactivated2021083]

can u imagine going noodlin and this chomps down on you oh my god

[sisterofsteam]

Duuuuude!! Catfish grow to the amount of food there is which means the river these guys came from must be plentiful as fuck, or it’s eating the native species.  PSA: do NOT catch and release catfish. The fuckers will screw with the rivers ecosystem if they’re not native to the area. These are the sort of size fish that WILL have a go at eating people as well, they will probs chock but yeah. Catfish have little to no sight, since they’re bottom feeders they scout for food mostly using their feelers, and just swallow whatever they think can fit in their mouths.  I watch a lot of Jeremy Wades River Monsters when I’m bored. The shit he films is ridiculous and I love it.

Edit: Cat fish are also cannibals if there’s no other food source.

[threesideddream]

[sensorygif]

sensory

[sensorygif]

♡  lesbeeans ♡

[cool-critters]

Gymnetis stellata

Gymnetis stellata is a Mexican species of Gymnetis. It is approximately 2 cm long.

photo credits: Didier Descouens

[vaginavision]

Phyllocrania Paradoxa aka ghost mantis. Native to Madagascar.

@sixpenceee

[ecuadorlife]

Treehopper nymph, Cymbomorpha sp., Membracidae by Andreas Kay Via Flickr: from Ecuador: www.flickr.com/andreaskay/albums

[molluscfacts]

Limpet teeth found to be the strongest biological material

A team of researchers at the University of Portsmouth discovered that the teeth of these molluscs is made from the strongest material ever to be discovered in the natural world. 

Limpets are small marine molluscs with conical shells that are closely related to snails. Most limpet species can be found strongly adhering to rocks on the shore or in the sea, where they graze on algae using a tongue-like structure known as a radula that is coated with rows of teeth.

The teeth of a limpet are comprised of millions of aligned nanofibres of goethite - an iron-based mineral - embedded in chitin, which is what gives them their unique strength. This material has an greater tensile strength than spider silk, which was previously considered to be the strongest natural material, and is even comparable to that of some of the strongest artificial materials, such as carbon fibre.

Images from University of Portsmouth

Original article published in Journal of the Royal Society Interface

[todropscience]

CORALS ARE MORE COLLABORATIVE AND FEROCIOUS THAN WE THOUGH

Corals are sessile animals, they feed on zooplankton. Coral polyps come out of their skeletons to feed, stretching their stinging tentacles to capture floating preys, which will then be digested in their stomachs. But a recent observation of a rare behavior is changing our mind about how coral catch and consume large animals. Marine biologists noticed in waters around italian island how orange coral (Astroides calycularis) catches and consumes mauve stinger (Pelagia noctiluca), a large jellyfish, potentially stinging.

The Orange Coral is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea where it can be reef forming, where colonies frequently occur in dense aggregations. High water movement promotes massive colony shapes, leaving little space for the settlement of other benthic organisms. Polyps coral form a “wall of mouths, where they coordinates to feed on large jellyfish. Researchers saw 20 mauve stinger eaten by corals in 2010, 2014, and 2017, during field survey campaigns carried out in different localities of the Mediterranean Sea.

- Gifs of a mauve stinger being eaten by a “wall of mouths”.

Corals and jellyfish are related, both belonging to the cnidarians, a group of soft body animals with stinging tentacles surrounding a single mouth.

This is not the fist time a coral has been spotted consuming a jellyfish, medusivory have been described several times. In 2009, researchers described a mushroom corals slurping up moon jellies in the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea), also, in 2014 Indonesian anemones were discovered feeding on several kinds of swimming jellies.

Photo: Musco et al., 2018.

Reference: Musco et al., 2018. Protocooperation among small polyps allows the coral Astroides calycularis to prey on large jellyfish.  The Scientific Naturalist.

Full video here.

[Image description: a group of yellow polyps of coral stick to a large single jellyfish]

[catchymemes]

[yofiel]

pee is stored in the shark

[anudibranchaday]

The Dendronotus iris is often called the Giant nudibranch, and for good reason. This nudibranch can grow to a whopping 30cm in length! It lives in muddy subtidal areas from northern Alaska to northern Mexico, at most 200m below the surface. Like many other nudibranchs, the Giant nudibranch has a very specific diet- it feeds solely on the tendrils of the tube-dwelling anemone (as seen in the picture). Funnily enough, the anemones sometimes pull the nudibranch into their tube when they try to hide, although no one seems to be harmed in the process.

[mooonjellies]

Charlene-SJ

[lake-erie]

girl: come over me: i can’t, i’m using my sensitive barbels scour the riverbed for morsels of food girl: i hollowed out a nesting cavity under a flat stone me: