Saturday 28 March 2015

Picasso Sponge 37


This Picasso Sponge depicts a cloudy, autumnal morning, where a gardener stops to appreciate the weeds.

.....

Friday 27 March 2015

Mutable Rainfrog

Pristimantis mutabilis
A tale of loss, discovery and a shape-shifting frog, set in the mountain forests of South America.

Wednesday 25 March 2015

Crinoid Squat Lobster

Image: Jayvee Fernandez
Allogalathea elegans
Sometimes, we can all do with a little help from our giant, multiple-armed friend.

Sunday 22 March 2015

Jawfish

Image: Kevin Bryant
What do we humans do with our jaws? Bite, chew, talk and... that's about it. Pitiful, right? Aside from a few visits to the dentist and the odd plastic surgeon, we have a lamentable lack of imagination when it comes to finding exciting projects for the lower portion of our faces.

Well then, thank goodness for Jawfish. They'll teach us a thing or two.

Friday 20 March 2015

Sixgill Stingray

Hexatrygon bickelli

If there's one thing that should be clear to anyone who cares to notice, it's this: the pitch darkness and suffocating pressure of the deep sea does strange things to a body. It gives gigantism to the tiny, freedom to the mud guzzlers, snaggleteeth to some, and a thick layer of flab to many.

Now, at long last, it's the stingray's turn. It's what they've always wanted!

Wednesday 18 March 2015

Tiger Egg Cowry

Image: liquidguru
Cuspivolva tigris
Tigers lay eggs! And they live in the sea. And they have one foot and no legs.

Sunday 15 March 2015

Stolas mannerheimi

Image: Udo Schmidt
Stolas mannerheimi
This beautiful creature is a thumbnail-sized Tortoise Beetle from Peru. They walk about on plants and when they get worried or frightened, they knuckle down, grab firm hold of the leafy surface beneath their feet and take full advantage of their wide, shield-shaped armour.

They don't appear to have a common name but come on, just look at it! Isn't this the Kiss Me, I'm Irish Beetle if ever you saw one?

Saturday 14 March 2015

Picasso Sponge 36


This Picasso Sponge depicts a marketplace called Saint's Serpents, where St. Patrick sells on the snakes he stole from Ireland.
.....

Friday 13 March 2015

Bell's Forestdragon

Image: Bernard DUPONT
Gonocephalus bellii
Did you know there were DRAGONS in certain parts of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand?

Wednesday 11 March 2015

Pyjama Striped Squid

Image: Klaus Stiefel
Sepioloidea lineolata
Striped Pyjama Squid are always ready for bed!

Sunday 8 March 2015

Squat Lobster

Image: Tin-Yam Chan
They're not actually lobsters! Still squat, though.

Friday 6 March 2015

Red-lined Sea Cucumber

Image: Jan Messersmith
Thelenota rubralineata
Seriously. They're not joking about those red lines. This thing is covered in them!

Wednesday 4 March 2015

Feathertail Centipede

Image: Frupus
Oh no! It looks like people have put in so much effort into ruminating over the terrifying prospect of flying spiders they've completely overlooked another, far more likely, possibility:

FLYING CENTIPEDES!

Sunday 1 March 2015

Sargassum Fish

Image: Izuzuki
Histrio histrio
It's the tiger of the seaweed. The monkey of the floating garden. The... fish of the sargassum.