Komodo Dragon

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The Komodo Dragon is a kind of monitor lizard and at some 10 feet, is the longest monitor and the longest lizard in the world. It is believed to be among the last of a whole host of giant monitors that once dominated Indonesia and Australia, filling in the apex predator niche usually taken up by mammals. Like a lot of old giants, or megafauna, in this part of the world, most of these gigantic lizards probably died out when they came into contact with humans. Today, the Komodo dragon survives on a few islands in central Indonesia, including one that happens to be called Komodo.

Underwater Arthropods

No matter how much you might like the sea and swimming and such, we humans are fundamentally landlubbers. We just lub the land. Quite right too, what with our spindly limbs and conspicuous absence of gills. It's no wonder then that we usually think of arthropods, insects and arachnids as equally at sea in the sea, what with their spindly limbs and, usually, conspicuous absence of gills. But a number of our exoskeletal friends have taken to water and haven't looked back, relying on various adaptations to get around, feed and breathe. Live, basically. Which is the whole idea. It's often fascinating to see how various skills and lifestyles shared with their terrestrial kin are put to use in this new environment. First though, grasping the nettle, let's quickly step over some arthropods that are so incredibly aquatic they require adaptations to stop being quite so mercilessly aquatic...

Vampire Squid

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The Vampire Squid's scientific name, Vampyroteuthis infernalis, translates to 'vampire squid from Hell'. Which is odd because it isn't a vampire, doesn't have any particularly vampiric habits and isn't actually a squid. Oh, and there is no evidence to suggest that it was created by devils and demons from the Underworld to spy on humanity and prepare for an infernal attack on the Land of Mortals. It still could be of course, but there is no real evidence to suggest it. It's all circumstantial.

Portuguese Man o' War

"Gosh" you might say, "that's one weird looking jellyfish". Well, you'd be partly right. Certainly it looks rather odd but it isn't a jellyfish, it isn't even one animal. The Portuguese Man o' War is in fact a whole colony of four different kinds of organism, each adapted to perform a specific function for the benefit of the whole.

They are all either a kind of polyp, which are like really small sea anemones, or medusae, similar to tiny jellyfish, but here they are all connected to each other and are unable to survive on their own. Such is the way of the siphonophores, an order of colonial creatures related to... can you believe it? Sea anemones and jellyfish. In case you were wondering, the whole thing develops from one egg that sprouts all the other parts, rather than loads of little polyps undertaking an epic journey of self discovery in search of their People.

Frogfish

Image: Clark Anderson/Aqua Images

The frogfish is a darling of a monstrosity. Plump and round, rather eccentric, available in an incredible variety of colours and patterns, they are, in all honesty, quite cute. Cute in a monstrous way of course! There are some 45 species of frogfish found in tropical and subtropical waters all over the world and ranging from just an inch long to 38 centimetres. They mostly keep to shallow waters, around 100 meters or so, keeping to the ocean floor where their extraordinary colours camouflage them against corals. Others are camouflaged against rocks and plants. One, the sargassumfish, lives among clumps of drifting sargassum, a kind of seaweed. Another mimics a sea urchin of all things, some even have algae growing on them. They can be so well camouflaged that sea slugs might crawl all over them without even realising!

There's a bit of a theme developing here: yes, most frogfish don't like to move too much. If you're willing to have a slug crawl all over you then you clearly aren't strongly wedded to the notion of motion in the ocean. (Erk. That sentence made me think of a song by Enya and so I listened to it and now I feel a bit melancholic. Anyway, tally ho.) Such stillness can be an important part of anyone's day, but it doesn't get you fed. So how does the frogfish get itself fed?

What is the Biggest Flower in the World?

When it comes to the biggest flower in the world, there isn't quite so clear cut an answer as you might imagine. Technically speaking it's simple, but when it comes to the impression one gets and sheer awe, not so much. There are three contenders, but one of them is on a boring palm tree and looks impressive, but not much more. Let's confine ourselves to the other two.