Sunday 29 September 2013

Common Cuttlefish

Image: Eric Burgers
Sepia officinalis
They call it the Common Cuttlefish but I don't think there's anything "common" about any cuttlefish. In the land of the weird, cuttlefish reign supreme.

Friday 27 September 2013

Sentinel Crab

Image: budak
It's the perfect guard dog...

Wednesday 25 September 2013

Rhinochimaera

Image: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, Gulf of Mexico 2012 Expedition
Who ever heard of a spook
With quite so much of a snoot?
It swims in the dark
It's called a Ghost Shark
And its face looks like an elf's boot

Sunday 22 September 2013

Giraffe Weevil

Image Frank Vassen
Trachelophorus giraffa
Forget the wide-eyed lemurs, grotesquely overweight trees and miniature chameleons who could live a full and eventful life clinging to a perm, the real majesty of Madagascar is in its Giraffe Weevils.

Friday 20 September 2013

JAWS: Bobbit Worm

Image: Ria Tan, wildsingapore.com
It's always a treat to catch up on the murderous antics of old friends!

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Moss Ball

Image: Nancy O
Some tribbles are no trouble at all!

Sunday 15 September 2013

Fangtooth

Anoplogaster cornuta
If you heard "Fangtooth" and thought you were about to see a single fang, prepare to be disappointed. This is more like Fangface.

Friday 13 September 2013

15 Poison Dart Frogs


There are over 200 species of Poison Dart Frog found in South and Central America, each one advertising their stomach-curdling defences with bright colour and vivid pattern. Some, like the Strawberry Poison Dart Frog, have more than a dozen wildly differing morphs within the same species.

Here's but the slightest taste of aposematic colouration which duly caught my eye!

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Worm Snail

Image: California Academy of Sciences
Ahhh! Sometimes I just have to lie back and bask in nature's boundless capacity to be completely stationary!

Sunday 8 September 2013

Chimaera

Image: NOAA
The original Chimaera was a mythical Greek monster composed of a lion with a goat's head sticking out if its back and a snake instead of a tail. You have to admit, a goat's head on a lion's back is way more impressive than the ear on a mouse they did in that primitive age known as 1997. Those Greeks were way ahead of their time.

Friday 6 September 2013

Aplacophora

Image: NOAA PMEL Vents Program
Proof that molluscs can worm with the best of them!

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Lace Bug

Image: Gilles San Martin
Look at this lovely Lace Bug! How could anyone hate something so pretty? You'll see!

Sunday 1 September 2013

Grimalditeuthis bonplandi

Image: MBARI
How the weak shall inherit the earth. Or at least the sea.