Box Jellyfish

Image: Moorea Biocode

We usually think of jellyfish as mysterious, ethereal entities that drift on the ocean currents with about as much purpose as a leaf in the wind. Their cascading trail of venomous tentacles may capture prey and sting the unwary, but it hardly seems like the jellyfish's intention. The jellyfish merely flexes what little muscle it has in rhythmic meditation, and what events may occur around them is a subject of profound indifference.

They're like phantoms and ghosts who exist in an invisible realm of darkness and void. They go about their repetitive business, completely unaware of the fact that we can see them or that their actions have consequences on the rest of us.

Box Jellyfish are different.

Picasso Sponge 2

A crab, presumably a King Crab because of the six walking legs, hangs out on a Yellow Picasso Sponge.

This particular specimen depicts a wizened, old man sitting at a small, candlelit desk. He watches with desperation and fury as a blot of ink spreads across his manuscript.

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Worm Salamander

Image: Sean Michael Rovito

Never-ending salamanders!

Giant African Land Snail

Image: Grzegorz Polak

Big snail - big appetite - big problem for your garden.

Bulbous, Bulging and Bloated Leaf Beeltes

Image: Malcolm Storey

Good Lord! Look at this thing!

What has happened? What nematode, trematode, parasite or poison could have caused this? What curse from the gods? What pesticide has gone wrong in an ironic way so as to teach us all a valuable lesson?

Picasso Sponge 1

Image: NOAA

A crab, presumably a King Crab because of the six walking legs, hangs out on a Yellow Picasso Sponge.

This particular specimen depicts a young woman staring wistfully through a window as a cup of hot tea cools, untouched, by her side.

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