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ichthyologist: Dwarf Hawkfish (Cirrhitichthys falco) The dwarf...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:46:53 -0600

Dwarf Hawkfish (Cirrhitichthys falco)

The dwarf hawkfish is able to change sex. Hawkfish live in harems, with one dominant male to several females. If the male is removed, the subdominant female with develop into the new male.

Jan Messersmith on Flickr

mad-as-a-marine-biologist: Mating Nudibranches (Roboastra...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:46:09 -0600

mad-as-a-marine-biologist:

~~Mating Nudibranches (Roboastra luteolineata)~~ SMURF PENIS

On a recent dive, we stumbled upon a rather private moment between a couple of simultaneous hermaphrodites, Roboastra luteolineata, doing the mutual penis dance. They were poking around for a while, and had yet to manage mutual fertilization when we (reluctantly) moved on.

Some of you might have found, that after a hundred dives or more, that although you still enjoy reefs, or fish, or the ‘prettiness’ of being underwater, that other aspects of the marine world take your fancy. I have zoomed in on macro life, and relish the challenge of finding tiny critters on a sandy bottom. And for the things that are a bit bigger, behaviour starts to catch your eye…

…who am I kidding? It’s all about the smurf penis.

The spotted-winged fruit bat (Balionycteris maculata) is a...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 19:33:03 -0700

The spotted-winged fruit bat (Balionycteris maculata) is a species of Pterpodidae inhabiting the rain forests and mangrove forests of Brunei and Malaysia. They are unusually small for their family— commonly called the “Megabats”— at only 5-7cm in length. They are so named for the pale spots on their wings which occur mostly on the finger joints, but do appear on the wing membranes and body, including two spots in front of the eyes and on the ears.

Spotted-wing fruit bats dwell in the understory where they feed on small fruits like figs and persimmon, but will occasionally take small invertebrates. During the day, they roost and forage alone at night. Males will visit their roosting sites several times within a single night, suggesting to scientists that they are territorial over these areas and that prime roosts give them access to more females who will visit multiple males when breeding. Uniquely, these roosting sites are often partially excavated by the bats in old ant and termite mounds, or in the roots of trees.

rhamphotheca: The telson and uropods of the mantis shrimp,...

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 22:28:16 -0700

rhamphotheca:

The telson and uropods of the mantis shrimp, Oratosquilla oratoria (Crustacea: Stomatopoda: Squillidae), from Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku, Japan

(photo: Takahashi | Wikimedia Commons) (via: EOL)

rhamphotheca: Larva-Carrying Ant Image courtesy Geir Drange,...

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 22:21:08 -0700

rhamphotheca:

Larva-Carrying Ant

Image courtesy Geir Drange, Nikon Small World

Caught in the act of carrying its larva, an ant in the genus Myrmica—found throughout the Northern Hemisphere—is enlarged five times in this ninth-place entry by Geir Drange of Akser, Norway. Ants take their larvae in and out of the nest each day in order to regulate their temperature.

(via: National Geo)

Photo

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 09:36:30 -0700

herplove: Three-day-old embryos of red-eyed treefrog species...

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 09:34:18 -0700

herplove:

Three-day-old embryos of red-eyed treefrog species Agalychnis callidryas (A. callidryas)

frontal-cortex: Above top : Cnidaria or Coelenterata is a...

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 09:29:30 -0700

frontal-cortex:

Above top : Cnidaria or Coelenterata is a phylum containing over 10,000 species of animals found exclusively in aquatic and mostly marine environments. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that they use mainly for capturing prey. Their bodies consist of mesoglea, a non-living jelly-like substance, sandwiched between two layers of epithelium that are mostly one cell thick. They have two basic body forms : swimming medusae and sessile polyps, both of which are radially symmetrical with mouths surrounded by tentacles that bear cnidocytes. (wikipedia) (Flickr : Tamra Hays)

Above bottom : Turritopsis nutricula, the immortal jellyfish, is a hydrozoan whose medusa, or jellyfish, form can revert to the polyp stage after becoming sexually mature. It is the only known case of a metazoan capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary stage. It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation. First, the umbrella reverts itself and then the tentacles and mesoglea get resorbed. The reverted medusa then attaches itself to the substrate by the end that had been at the opposite end of the umbrella and starts giving rise to new polyps to form the new colony. Theoretically, this process can go on indefinitely, effectively rendering the jellyfish biologically immortal, although in nature, most Turritopsis, like other medusae, are likely to succumb to predation or disease in the plankton stage, without reverting to the polyp form. No single specimen has been observed for any extended period, so it is not currently possible to estimate the age of an individual, and so even if this species has the potential for immortality, there is no laboratory evidence of many generations surviving from any individual. (wikipedia) (Flickr : Mito@ / ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.THIS IS NONPROFIT)

siggi?

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 14:54:28 -0600

YO I’M NOT EVEN JOKING THIS IS *THE NUMBER ONE RESULT* WHEN YOU TYPE “SIGGI” INTO GOOGLE IMAGES

rhamphotheca: Myco-heterotrophy … a symbiotic relationship...

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 11:23:31 -0600

rhamphotheca:

Myco-heterotrophy

… a symbiotic relationship between certain kinds of plants (which often lack chlorophyll) and fungi, in which the plant gets all or part of its food from parasitism upon fungi rather than from photosynthesis.

A myco-heterotroph is the parasitic plant partner in this relationship. Myco-heterotrophy is considered a kind of cheating relationship and myco-heterotrophs are sometimes informally referred to as “mycorrhizal cheaters”. This relationship is sometimes referred to as mycotrophy, though this term is also used for plants that engage in mutualistic mycorrhizal relationships…

(read more: Wikipedia)

(images: T - Indian Pipes, Monotropa uniflora, New Hampshire, USA, by Magellan nh; B - Thismia javanica, Thailand, by หนานโตน)

adorablespiders: a spiderling “ballooning” ballooning...

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 18:36:41 -0600

adorablespiders:

a spiderling “ballooning”

ballooning according to wikipedia:

A spider or spiderling after hatching will climb as high as it can. The spider then stands on raised legs with its abdomen pointed upwards. This is known as “tiptoeing”. After that, it starts releasing several silk threads from its abdomen into the air, which automatically form a triangular shaped parachute. The spider can then let itself be carried away by updrafts of winds, where even the slightest of breeze will do. Most rides will end a few metres later, or a spider can be taken up into a jet stream, which depends on its mass, posture,the convection air current, drag of silk and parachute to float and travel high up into the upper atmosphere.

abluegirl: Patterns in Nature 3: Animalia

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 23:04:22 -0600

abluegirl:

Patterns in Nature 3: Animalia

rhamphotheca: A Scutiger, Lambir Hills NP, Sarawak, Malaysia -...

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 22:41:50 -0600

rhamphotheca:

A Scutiger, Lambir Hills NP, Sarawak, Malaysia

- long legged centipedes in the order Scutigerimorpha, that includes cave and house centipedes.

(photo: Bernie DuPont)

insectlove: A New Species Discovered … On Flickr Photo: Guek...

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 08:39:18 -0600

insectlove:

A New Species Discovered … On Flickr

Photo: Guek Hock Ping/ZooKeys

invado: Mark Laita- Serpentine King Cobra 1 Black Pakistan...

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:41:26 -0600

invado:

Mark Laita- Serpentine

King Cobra 1

Black Pakistan Cobra

Timber Rattlesnake

Red Tailed Boa Constrictor

Vogel’s Pit Viper

King Cobra 2

rhamphotheca: Various specimens of the Amphipod (Hyperia...

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:54:33 -0600

rhamphotheca:

Various specimens of the Amphipod (Hyperia galba), which is parasitic on jellies, photographed in the White Sea off the north coast of Russia, Arctic Ocean.

(photo: Alexander Semenov) (via: Wired Science)

found this.it’s...

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:11:18 -0600

found this.
it’s hot.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347201919104

cicadasymphony:

West African assassin bugs can trick both prey and predators by wearing their own “backpack” made of dead bugs. The nymph piles the remains of its meals – ants, termites, and flies – on its back, attaching them with a sticky secretion. The heap of debris, which can be larger than the assassin bug itself, confuses its predators. Should a spider or millipede decide to taste the odd-looking insect, the assassin nymph will shed its backpack and escape. The backpack made of bugs also confuses the assassin’s prey, probably by masking the scent of the lethal stalker as it approaches the unsuspecting insect.

In November 2006 Till Nowak created the image...

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 14:29:02 -0600

In November 2006 Till Nowak created the image “Salad”. For this image, he created digital vegetable models and combined them to become a tribute to the fantastic biomechanical creations of H.R. Giger and the vegetable portraits of Giuseppe Arcimboldo. “Salad” is a purely educational and non-commercial work.

rhamphotheca: Carpathian Blue Slug (Bielzia coerulans) - family...

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 14:26:32 -0600

rhamphotheca:

Carpathian Blue Slug (Bielzia coerulans)

- family Limacidae, “keelback slugs”

Species is endemic to deciduous and coniferous forests in mountains, usually at the bottom, or under dead wood logs, in the Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Europe. This is a slug which is blue when adult and 100 - 140 mm in length. Juveniles are yellowish brown with dark lateral bands. Genitalia are without penis. There is only an accessory organ for copulation. There are 30-80 eggs laid in one clutch.Adults die after egg deposition. Half grown juveniles hibernate. Fully grown slugs appear in May…

(read more: Wikipedia)

(photos: T - Branislav Turčina; BL - mating, by Jerzy Strzelecki; BM - Jerzy Opiala; BR - Martin Vaculík)

svell: Giuseppe Arcimboldo, The Water, 1566.

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 14:25:31 -0600

svell:

Giuseppe Arcimboldo, The Water, 1566.