vancouver aquarium, may 2013. photos andy clark
(via nykanykes)
zefrank: True Facts About The Sea Pig (Scotoplanes globosa)
NOTHING ABOUT THE SEA PIG MAKES SENSE
oh M YG
(via rockerfox999)
The Great Leap
Manta rays frequently leap out of the water, though it is not clear why. Some speculate it is to evade predators, get rid of parasites, attract females, or just for fun. Though most leaps are 2-3 feet off the surface of the water, there have been reports as high as 9 feet. When they belly flop back onto the water, it make an incredibly loud bang. Spectators have described it as sounding a lot like gunfire.
-Ifuckinglovescience
(via flamingold2)
HE TRIED TO ESCAPE
FUCK THE OCEAN
I’M A BIRD MOTHAFUCK- OH SHIT
SEA PANCAKE OUT
SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH!
(via ayunthefrog)
Giant Sea Cucumber Eats With Its Anus
by Carrie Arnold
Most kindergarteners can tell you that an animal eats with its mouth, not its butt.
One species of sea cucumber, however, didn’t appear to get the memo: Scientists have discovered that the giant California sea cucumber (Parastichopus californicus) actually uses its anus as a second mouth.
Scientists already knew that the marine invertebrate, which lives in the shallow ocean waters off the Pacific coast of North America, breathes with its butt. Because they don’t have lungs, sea cucumbers rely on respiratory trees, a set of long tubes running down either side of the body with a lot of different branches. P. californicus is shaped like a hollow tube, with a mouth at one end and its anus at the other.
The respiratory trees receive oxygen when water is pumped through their anus using the muscles of their cloaca, an opening at the end of the intestinal tract.The 20 in. long (50-cm-long) animal is no slouch: It can pump 3.5 to 4 cups of water per hour through its anus, transferring the oxygen from the water into its respiratory trees, which then oxygenates its cells…
(read more: National Geographic)
(photos: T - Gary Hughes, Your Shot; BL - Lois Booth, My Shot; BR - Gerald and Buff Corsi, Visuals Unlimited/Getty Images)
…I hope it’s not the kind we eat on Chinese New Year’s… >_>;;
Carnation Corals (Dendronephthya)
Strikingly beautiful carnation corals in the genus Dendronephthya are among the most commonly traded soft corals. However, these corals are poor choices for aquarium hobbyists. Since they lack algal symbionts (zooxanthellae), they must extract all of their food from the water. But getting the right balance of nutrients is difficult in an aquarium, so most captive Dendronephthya die within a few weeks.
This spectacular specimen, hanging out with an egg cowrie snail, was photographed in the wild in North Sulawesi by Bernard Dupont. It comes to EOL via Flickr (cc-by-nc-sa): http://www.flickr.com/photos/berniedup/7970532646/
More about these corals: http://eol.org/pages/41372
“The Lions Mane Jellyfish is the largest jellyfish in the world. They have been swimming in arctic waters since before the dinosaurs (over 650 million years ago) and are among some of the oldest surviving species in the world. The largest can come in at about 6 meters and has tentacles over 50 meters long.”
LET ME LOVE YOU!
“Cyanea!” I cried. “Cyanea! Behold the Lion’s Mane!”
The strange object at which I pointed did indeed look like a tangled mass torn from the mane of a lion. It lay upon a rocky shelf some three feet under the water, a curious waving, vibrating, hairy creature with streaks of silver among its yellow tresses. It pulsated with a slow, heavy dilation and contraction.
“It has done mischief enough. Its day is over!” I cried. “Help me, Stackhurst! Let us end the murderer forever.”
There was a big boulder just above the ledge, and we pushed it until it fell with a tremendous splash into the water. When the ripples had cleared we saw that it had settled upon the ledge below. One flapping edge of yellow membrane showed that our victim was beneath it. A thick oily scum oozed out from below the stone and stained the water round, rising slowly to the surface.
-From “The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane, in “The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes”
Makes one sort of wonder - how the hell did McPherson manage to miss THAT in the tidal pool? (A juvenile, perhaps?)
(via ayunthefrog)
Cratena peregrina
The word “nudibranch” means naked gills, referring to the exposed gills of these sea slugs.
(Photographer: Jordi Benitez, Spain)
(via: OurAmazingPlanet)
